Week-3-4
Hello everyone I know
this one took a little longer but I’m finally in the mission field! My New and
first area is in Madison Connecticut and so far it’s been wonderful. The MTC
was great and all but I’m so glad to finally be out in the mission field! The
flight was only 4+ hours but it felt so long not watching anything to keep me
busy. Turns out 20 missionaries flew out with us and 2 came from the MTC in
Mexico.
Lets start from last two Thursdays ago November 1st. If I have learned anything
from the MTC, it would be teach simply, Jesus Christ’s Gospel is so simple even
8 years olds can understand it. As we teach simply and ask open ended questions
it lets the ones we teach have time to think and I’ve a good answer and as it’s
silent you can tell the Holy Ghost is working on them and that’s amazing.
Today Elder Bond and I had two TRC's back to back and it went great!
Our first one Racheal
had a lot of good insight and a lot of good questions we helped her to see the
truth. Then we had Justin. He was a little more difficult but we got through to
him. We invited him to go and read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. As
that was our last time seeing both of them we hope the Holy Ghost will help
along their journey.
Saturday the 3rd, Today was the last two classes with our whole district
with Brother Duncan and Sister Evans. The next few days were emotional as the
week came we went our separate ways. Today in class we had about an hour to share
testimonies, and there was so much love in that room. I know that our Savior
loves all of us individually. He knows us. As it came to me to share I made it
short to have time for others to say what they wanted. (Here is mine) "I
don’t really know EXACTLY why I am here, but I do know that I made the correct
choice, as I prayed about it I got the answer I NEED to go, and I couldn’t
ignore that. I also know its part of my priesthood duty, and If I have learned
anything this month, its the power of the priesthood, I have grown so much of
an appreciation for, it all comes with Faith. As I know through Faith this is
what I should do, I know it is something I WANT to do because of the Love I
have for our Savior.
Sunday
the 4th, it was our first fast Sunday and it was our last Sunday in the MTC. There
were a lot of devotionals today and all of them were great. As I fasted with a
purpose it was much easier to do so, because I chose to Fast I know blessings
come along the way. My favorite part of the day was the talk given by Elder
Bednar, we watched as a district. He talked about the Holy Ghost, and how can
we tell if it’s the Holy Ghost or just our own good thoughts. He simply said
WHO CARES, if it is a good intention even if you don’t know why you will
do it, DO IT. Blessings will come from it and it might not come immediately. Blessings
will come from acting on what the Holy Ghost teaches us.
Monday the 5th, this morning I woke up early (not by much) to say our
final good byes to the 4 that are serving in Richmond Virginia. I know they
will all do great. After class all Elder Bond and I did was pack and laundry.
We also got our suits from the dry cleaners so they would look nice when we
finally met our Mission President. We were so busy and excited we didn’t’ get
to bed till 1 am and I regret it so much because I was so tired the next
day.
Tuesday
the 6th, the day of the flight. If you are reading this just know I am safe I
landed smoothly in Boston. Lets backup a few hours at 4 am wake up call. As we
only had 30min to get everything packed and the room cleaned, we also waited
for the other 2 in our district to get out of bed so we could leave together. We
didn’t leave till after the time we had to be at the travel office, but we got
there in time to hop on a bus to take us to the Front Runner. We then transferred
to the Green Line to the Airport; it was about an hour and a half travel time.
As everyone got settled in at the airport we still had about 2 hours before our
airplane took flight. In that time I went to go get McDonalds and it was glorious
after having MTC food for three weeks. I also had the AMAZING chance to call
and talk to my parents for a couple minutes just to hear them again was
amazing. Finally the flight, like I said earlier it was really long, best part
about is I took a good hour nap. As we all landed safely and got our luggage
President Mavromatis was there. It was awesome to finally meet him! With him
there were his assistants to help take us all to the mission home for the night.
Wednesday the 7th, Today was anticipated to meet my first official
companion for the field! As the morning went along we learned some of the
important stuff about driving, cell phones, medical and all the "good
stuff". We soon came to the chapel and got paired up with our companions I
am now with Elder Pulu. He was the tallest one there and I am the smallest. It’s
okay though because he is also a Spiritual Giant and has so much to teach me.
It turns out I am the Driver for the first 6 weeks, and the drive back was over
2 hours. That night I had my first lesson with a recent convert, we helped him
understand more about the Aaronic priesthood, in prep to having it soon.
Thursday the 8th, I have been focusing on just planting a seed, but Elder
Pulu helped me realize that "The field is white and ready to harvest ”As a
missionary we should also look for those who have a seed planted already and
the ones who are looking to be harvested. In the New England states with it
being mostly Catholicism, you will get them saying "I’m all set".
They pretty much mean no I have my religion and I’m okay with it. I got that
quite a lot while tracking. On my first day I got a door slammed in my face and
it felt great because it was a reality check saying "hey I am actually on
my mission now". Elder Pulu and I taught a lady whose father was a member
that recently passed away. She wanted to know more about why people find joy in
it. As we helped her realize it was partly because of the Book of Mormon, she
wanted to know more about it. We invited her to read the one we gave her and on
our next meeting to talk about what she learned.
Friday
the 9th, after Saturday time we had district council and I met Elder
Hodgkinson, He is an amazing service Missionary and is our third companion. He
is a service missionary and he doesn’t let that stop him from what he knows to
be true. Later on that day we had an appointment to go meet a lady who has had
a few lessons before and she waned to start over so her husband could be there.
We got there and it was just her husband, as she had to work late. It was amazing
that I could tell he felt the spirit. As he bore a personal testimony on prayer
we helped him realize God is watching out for his children all it takes is
asking for help.
Saturday the 10th, most of today was helping a lady move and helping
her pack so she wasn’t all by herself. It was fun talking to her and getting to
know her more. As we helped pack, she has a giant moving crate outside
and it was not big enough for all the stuff she wants, Her parents decided to
get her a U-Haul. While I was helping out I was in the crate moving stuff
around so I could help fix and put stuff in the best place possible. Later on
we had a dinner appointment with a cute family with 5 kids. The travel there
was kind of creepy in the dark, we had to go through many woods. That is one
thing I feel creepy in New England the drives at night look like they could be
a horror show.
Sunday
the 11th, Today was Stake Conference and one of the weirdest things happened,
they had sacrament during it. I was so confused I have never seen that happen
before. It was great that there were many good speakers, but my favorite was
one about ""Sneaker Waves". At a beach in Maine there are many,
many warning signs and even speakers telling people to not hop the fence and go
onto the rocks. A lot of the times waves will creep up and be much bigger than
expected aka Sneaker Waves". I asked the owner why you go through the
trouble of putting up signs if they were to just ignore it. Now lets put it in
a spiritual view, Satan is like sneaker waves he will pull you into the ocean
when you least expect it. As we look and listen to the warning signs (the
Holy Ghost) we can avoid being brought into Satan’s path and drown in doubt and
trails. As we put on our Armor of God, we can avoid life’s sneaker waves.
I still know I
have so much to learn and I can’t wait to be the Harvester to the ones in need,
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Elder Brayden Knowlden is having a great time on his mission in Boston.
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