Follow the First Prompting (April 10th 2017)

What a week we had, started to see a family, gonna start teaching Teresa again, Bishop Shipley is awesome. MLC was amazing. So we started to teach a family out in Mound City which is about 45 minutes from Cape Girardeau. A great little family she requested a Book of Mormon. We had the opportunity to share how we got it and why it is important. On the way back we drove through Mounds which is next to Mound city don’t ask me why they have basically the same name and are different towns right next to each other. Teresa lives in Mounds. I said Bishop was awesome we meet every Saturday to discuss missionary work. We have great conversations with him, it is great to have a bishop who can support the work in the area. We did service for the Perkins on their Farm we reconnected electric fencing and prepared a large field for their cows which was fun to do. When we let the cows in all the calves were bucking around and looked so happy all because of green grass and open fields. 

I have given a basic rundown of the week but now I would like to share what I have learned. I will be using quotes from General Conference and possibly scriptures. Our Heavenly Father invites us to come unto Christ Through his messengers the Prophets, a part of coming unto Christ is stated in the following Scripture Moroni 10:32 "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." I love how Moroni a Book of Mormon Prophet invites us to Come unto Christ and Then be Perfected in him and deny ourselves of all ungodliness, the people who come unto Christ are not already perfected but through Jesus Christ and His Atonement we can be made something that we are not yet, but striving to become. So how does one come unto Christ? We come unto Christ through our Savior Jesus Christs Gospel which Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End, but these are not just one time events, they are lifelong quests. We should always be searching for stronger Faith and Opportunities to change who we are and become like Christ which is what Repenting is, and by taking the Sacrament to be forgiven of our sins and receive the Holy Ghost to be with us. Christ Grace through his atonement is Sufficient for us, and I learned this week that sufficient is the Atonement individually reaching out for us because our problems and wrong doings are individual and personal that we have similar experiences but don't necessarily feel the same pain as everyone else does. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland a member of the quorum of the twelve Apostles stated the following in his last General Conference address “Come as you are,” a loving Father says to each of us, but He adds, “Don’t plan to stay as you are.” We smile and remember that God is determined to make of us more than we thought we could be." I know that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he gave his only Begotten Son (John 3:16-17) so that we could have Everlasting life by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead who helps us learn Truth (Jacob 4:13), he will teach us all things and bring all things to our remembrance (John 14:26) He can also give us direction on things that are right that we should do. Moroni 7:13 & 16 "(13) But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, everything which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God. (16) For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for everything which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God." Whatever is good comes from God to help us know what is right and what is wrong. Elder Ronald A. Rasband also a member of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles shared this in his last General Conference address "First promptings are pure inspiration from heaven. When they confirm or testify to us, we need to recognize them for what they are and never let them slip past. “If we pay attention to the promptings that come to us, we will grow in the spirit of revelation and receive more and more Spirit-driven insight and direction" I was able to see this happen this week we had 15 minutes left before the night was over and we had a set of missionaries with us so we split up and I was trying to know where to go. So i received a distinct place to go, so I acted, wanting to act on my first Prompting. We went to the neighborhood and talked to two people who were not very interested but last night I saw the results of acting on the first prompting. We were visiting a less active members home and we were talking about how individual the Plan of Salvation we talked about how we were with God before we came here to earth and how Adam and Eve had eaten of the Forbidden fruit but it was all part of Gods plan (2 Nephi 2:20-25) also about how we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ to prepare to meet God in Judgment and many more things. We began to talk about how the Atonement of Jesus Christ is able to heal us and lift us up like Elder L. Whitney Clayton a member of the Seventy said in General Conference "Every day, consciously or otherwise, we all choose “whom [we] will serve.” We demonstrate our determination to serve the Lord by faithfully engaging in daily acts of devotion. The Lord promises to direct our paths, but for Him to do that, we have to walk, trusting that He knows the way because He is “the way.”We must fill our own water pots up to the brim. When we trust and follow Him, our lives, like water to wine, are transformed. We become something more and better than we ever otherwise could be. Trust in the Lord, and “whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” The part I really want to take from his statement is transforming from water into wine. How Christ is able to help us become something better. She began to get emotional the I received a prompting to see if she would like a Priesthood blessing, The Priesthood is the authority to act in God’s name to bless and comfort his Children not to control. We gave her a priesthood blessing with her Nonmember husband in the room the Spirit was so strong, testifying of the truth of what had taken place. The Priesthood has been restored so we can be comforted in our time of need from our Heavenly Father. 

It has been a wonderful week, times are hard and we may fear the outcomes of situations but we can do as Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said "Let us set aside our fears and live instead with joy, humility, hope, and a bold confidence that the Lord is with us." I know God is always watching over us and he cares for us, he wants the best for us. We must pray and seek his will for our lives to know him more fully. I love you all I am excited and happy because My Savior Jesus Christ lives but not just my Savior but yours as well have a great week and have fun!!!

Love, 

Elder Washburn

21 months out serving and this is what we get back for a picture this week.