Dec. 16, 2014 Where Can I Turn for Peace Part 1

Things are going good right now. We have picked up a new investigator named Richard. I was asked to give a talk this last week in sacrement meeting on Peace. I have been thinking about it for a long time and though I would share my thoughts with you.

 

We all have or yet will face enormous trials and challenges in our lives. This is part of Gods plan to mold and shape us to who he wants us to be. It is a continuing on going process that is not necessarily easy or enjoyable. It may be loss of a job, family member or friend that breaks our hearts. It could be a sickness or disease that seem overwhelm. It may even be a struggling testimony or doubts that push us to our limits. With all of these trials I ask you, where can we turn for peace?

 

On top of all of our own individual circumstances that we deal with day to day we live in a world that dosen't make anything easier. Paul taught:

 

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3: 1-5)

 

Elder Bednar said, " We live in a world that grows increasingly confused and Chaotic - ever more evil and dark." He then quoted comments made by President Packer who said, " The world is spiraling down at an ever quickening pace." Now pay close attention to what he says next. "I am sorry to tell you it will not get better." President Packer continued on to say, " I know of nothing in the history of the Church, or in the history of the World to compare with our present circumstances. Nothing happened in Sodom and Gomorrah which exceeds in wickedness and depravity that which surrounds us now. Words of profanity, vulgarity, and blasphemy are heard everywhere. Unspeakable wickedness and perversion were once hidden in dark places; now they are in the open, and even accorded legal protection. At Sodom and Gomorrah these things were localized. Now, they are spread across the world and they are among us." 

 

Now I am not trying to scare you, but I am simply trying to show you how things really are. In a world like the one we live in, can peace even exist? If so where can we turn to find peace?

 

At Christmas time we often reflect on the story of the Saviors birth. At the birth of Jesus Christ, a multitude of the heavenly host praised God and proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." ( Luke 2:14) Throughout the Saviors life he went about spreading the peace of the gospel, and working mighty miracles. King Benjamin taught, "And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him." The savior was able to maintain his peace throughout countless persecution, rejection, and the challenges of his time. Elder Cook said that, " It is clear that universal peace did not exist on earth during Christ's mortal ministry and it does not now."

 

Prophets have declared that peace had been taken from the earth. We will not see World peace until Satan is bound and the long awaited Millennium begins. Where can we turn for peace until then?

 

Elder Cook said, "We earnestly hope for pray for universal peace, but it is as individuals and families that we achieve the kind of peace that is the promised reward of righteouseness."

 

In the Doctrine and Covenants we read, "But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward , even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come." ( D&C 59:23) 

 

As we turn to our Savior and follow his example that he has set, we can achieve peace as individuals and families. Through Faith, obedience and Repentance. Next week I will show how faith can help us gain peace in our lives.

 

Elder Paget

Dec. 8, 2014 He Is The Gift

This week has been pretty good. Believe it or not we actually got an inch of rain here in Southern California this last week. Crazy. I think I can still count on both hands how many times it has rain since I began my mission. Of course the rain makes missionary work lots of fun. We get to walk around, get soaked, and gain wife points. Yes, Wife points. If you walk around in the rain or extreme weather, or do good deeds you gain wife points. The more points you have the better looking your wife will be. Haha, yeah it is just something fun that missionaries do. I am not sure if sister missionaries gain husband points. I will have to get back to you on that one.

So we are having a hard time getting a hold of Joey. We were able to teach him a lesson this last week about the Priesthood, but were unable to talk to his Dad about his baptism. However Joey's dad went up and talked to the Sister missionaries that we split the ward with and told them about how his son was going to join the church and get baptized. He didn't seem against it in anyway. So we are going to see what is going on tonight.

Anthony and Little Eli are getting closer to baptism. They said that they will be baptized for sure by March, because that is when one of their favorite missionaries goes home. However I told them that I was going to get transferred at the end of this month so they are considering being baptized on December 27. Please Pray for them. They are so close. They just need a little extra push from the spirit to set the date and get them baptized.

I think that it is important to remember that at this time of year we should focus our thought and intentions to Christ. After all that is what Christmas is all about. Celebrating Christ's birth, and the gift he was and gave us. It seems like we get too caught up, in shopping, decorations, and other things. Things that take away and distract us from what really matters .

“The first gift was not wrapped, had no bow, wasn’t purchased online or in a store. The first gift of Christmas was a simple gift, a sacred gift. It wasn’t gold or frankincense or myrrh. It was a gift of love and life and peace and hope given by a Father to all His children. ‘For God so loved the world.’ And so loved you, and every single one of us. He gave His Son. He is the Christ. He is Christmas. He is the Gift. This Christmas season, discover the gift, embrace the gift, share the gift.”

He is the Gift. He provided the way for us to receive the gift of Eternal life with our families. Not only is he the Gift that he gave us. But he is the perfect gift to give someone else this Christmas season. The perfect gift is to help someone gain faith in Jesus and help them achieve the gift of Eternal life. One way you can do share this gift is to watch the movie called "He is the Gift" on christmas.mormon.org, and share it. It is a simple way to do missionary work, and I would invite everyone to share it with everyone they know, and watch a christmas miracle take place.

Elder Paget

Dec. 1, 2014 Disco December

Wow I can't believe it is Already December! It is crazy! Our last week of November went well. We had a lot to do with so little time because of Thanksgiving. It didn't turn out like we would have hoped but we got everything done that we need to.  

We were crazy busy preparing for Joey's Baptism. We taught him Monday night about Tithing, Fasting, and Following the Prophet. Then got him ready for his baptismal interview. His Dad came in and talked with us. We thought he was going to tell us that he was not going to let him get baptized. But he told us that he didn't really have a problem with Joey being baptized. He just wanted to make sure that he was not going to regret it.  Wednesday we had his baptismal interview. Everything at this point was a little stressful, just trying to get everything ready. So far so good. 

Everything was all good to go except we still needed was his Dad signature on his baptismal application. Thats all. We texted him Thursday. No answer. No big deal. He is just busy with the holidays, visiting his family. No worries. We call him Friday morning. No answer. We then shoot him a text. No answer. Now we know things are going to be tight and are starting to worry. We only have a few hours left in the day and we still need to get his Dads signature before his baptism the next day. We go to dinner and we have a member drop us off at his apartment. He is not home. Then we got a call from him. FINALLY! We were so glad to hear from him so we could work out the last and final loose ends before his baptism. However it was not the news that we wanted to hear. He called to tell us he was not going to get baptized the next day. His Dad was not going to give him permission to do it. He said that his Dad is fine with him making his own choices in his life, but he wasn't going to sign anything that would help his son turn away from his families traditions and beliefs. It was sad! Especially because we were supposed to baptize him the next day. This next week we are going to talk to his dad and see what happens. Wish us luck! Hopefully he can be baptized soon.

Thanksgiving was great.  We started off the morning playing football, then basketball in the Afternoon. It was a lot of fun hanging out with our district. Then we had dinner. Of course I stuffed my self as full as I could. Luckily we were not having a weight gain competition like we had last year, or else I would be hating life right now. 

We are excited for this next week. We have picked up a few more potential investigators and are looking forward to teaching them this week. 

Elder Paget

Here is a picture of the our district after Football.

Nov. 24, 2014 Crunch Time

Things are going good with Joey. He is almost ready for his baptism this Saturday. He gave us quite the scare when we lost contact with him for the last week. His phone got shut off and he lives really far away so we could not really just stop by. We made a few trips over to his house and he was never home. Luckily he came to church and we were able to talk to him then. It is now crunch time to teach him about tithing and give him his baptismal interview during this busy Holiday this week. 

We have been meeting with our Investigator Albert, off and on for the last 3 months. We really had not been able to teach him even half of a lesson. Every time we try to stop by he says he is busy and tells us to just call him the day of to set something up. Needless to say he is very hard to set anything up with. Finally we were able to meet with him this last week and teach him the Restoration. We gave the First Vision and we asked him what his thoughts were. He said it is True. Then we asked him how he knew it was true. He replied I just know it is true. It is always amazing to see the miracle of someone letting the spirit touch their hearts and confirm the truth of our message to them. If only there were more people who would remove the barriers blocking their hearts to let God communicate with them. I often think to myself what barriers do I put up that is blocking God from fully communicating to me? I would ask you to do the same. Really think about that. Then most importantly do something about it. Break down the barrier. Do what ever you need to.

Elder Paget 

Here is a picture of me and a Brand new Corvette  

Nov. 17, 2014 Split Wars

This week was pretty good. Another 6 weeks have come and gone already. It is going to fast! I am not going to be getting transferred because I am finishing up the training of Elder Woolsey. So I will be sticking around on the "Dark Side" of the ward, as Sister Ryan and Sister Higley, the sisters we split our ward with, call it until the end of December. But unlike Star Wars in our "Split Wars" father and son are teaming up to take on the Rebels. We know we are going to win because we have the force and they don't. Haha It is a lot of fun in a split ward. We pull a lot of pranks on each other. You have to have fun on your mission or you are wasting your time. If you don't enjoy it then

Training Elder Woolsey has been going good. He has been making a good transition. He is getting the hang of things and is now starting to take lead in the lessons. He is still a little quiet and doesn't say much, but when he bears his testimony it is amazing.

We saw a lot of crazy things this week. A guy trying to commit suicide, a drug bust in our apartment complex, and needles on the side of the street, and my companion dumpster diving for beer bottles. We are trying to recycle to get district ties. I think he might be taking it a little too far but, it is funny. He has his agency.....Just another a regular week in San Marcos. Don't worry mom there was nothing out of the usual.

Joey is still on date for November 29. He is making a lot of progress. He still needs to come to church one more time before he is baptized. Then his baptismal interview, and we are all set.  He was unable to come this last Sunday because he was working at McDonalds. He came to church last sunday and loved it. It was pretty amazing, members kept telling us that they can tell he is converted by the look in his eyes. He participated a lot in the lessons and even said a prayer in sunday school. 

Anthony is slowly making progress, he knows he needs to get baptized but his family doesn't want him to. We will keep working with him.

Elder Paget

Nov. 3, 2014 We Are His Hands

This week was good. Nothing new has really happened. Everyone was supper busy because of Halloween. 

 Scott our investigator is a personal trainer so we spent one morning working out with him. He worked us super hard. I have never thrown up after exercising until last Thursday. It was terrrible. Unfortunately he isn't really making any progress, and he is in love with a married member of the ward. It is and interesting situation.  We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it, He told us he would consider it. 

Anthony is coming closer to baptism. He is having a hard time understanding the Book of Mormon but he said this last week that he know that an ordinary man could not have written it. So that was cool. Then at a dinner appointment we asked a family in the ward to pray for our investigators. At the end of our lesson with them we ended with a prayer. Then at the end, a sister in the ward, was in tears and asked us who Anthony was. We told her that he was just one of our investigators. She then said that he was going to be baptized soon. That was pretty cool. Everyone else is slowly progressing.

I think it is important to remember that we are God's hands. We can be instruments in his hands to answer others peoples prayers. We need to be good examples. It is hard, but people see the difference. That is how many people come to the gospel.  I love this story and thought I would share it.

"A story is told that during the bombing of a city in World War II, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the towns people found the statue among the rubble, they mourned because it had been a be loved symbol of their faith and of God’s presence in their lives.

Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had beendamaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was—a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: “You are my hands.”

There is a profound lesson in this story. When I think of the Savior, I oftenpicture Him with hands outstretched, reaching out to comfort, heal, bless,and love. And He always talked with, never down to, people. He loved thehumble and the meek and walked among them, ministering to them andoffering hope and salvation.

That is what He did during His mortal life; it is what He would be doing if He were living among us today; and it is what we should be doing as His disciples and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On this beautiful Easter morning, our thoughts and hearts are drawn to Him—the Hope of Israel and the Light of the World.

As we emulate His perfect example, our hands can become His hands; our eyes, His eyes; our heart, His heart." - President Uchtdorf 

Oct. 27, 2014 Slow & Steady Wins the Race

This week was a little slow. We had pretty much all of our appointments cancel on us. But hey it could be worse. Right? Anyway we still are working with a few people who are slowly progressing towards baptism. It doesn't help when they cancel our lessons with them.... But slow and steady wins the race. At least that is what we are hoping for. Anthony is having a hard time understanding the scriptures so we have been reading with him. Scott is Scott. Eli has been busy.

We were able to pick up a new investigator this week named Joey. He is 17 years old. We taught him the plan of salvation and set a baptismal date for November 15. We are really excited. We went to go teach him and his family but his dad and his younger brother were not home so we just ended up teaching him. We have a lesson with him tonight and hopefully we will start teaching the rest of the family as well.

We also went to the temple this week. It was a lot of fun. William and Linda, our recent converts, drove us. We had a blast! Here is a picture of our district that went. 

Sorry not a whole lot happened.... and I don't know what to write about.

Elder Paget