It's been an interesting week. Elder Pottle and I somehow convinced the Zone Leaders to let us have a trio exchange with Elder Sharp who is up in the Merritt Island ward. We are both close to him and wanted to do an exchange before he leaves in a week. He came down to our area and spent Tuesday together. We were able to go onto the Air Force base in our area. I haven't been able to go out there since being here. We have to get clearance from members who live there or work there. We went out there and visited a few less-actives who we've never met before. It was really successful as we had great sit down conversations with them. Elder Sharp was really loving and genuine. It was a great example to me because it's not even his area and he leaves very soon, but he was engaged and invested in their lives. That is a sign of a good missionary.
We taught Mark with the Satellite Beach Sisters. They are going to take over from here on out because he is moving to their area soon. It's really sad for us to not be able to teach him anymore, but the lesson went really well. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We read 2 Nephi 31 with him and talked about the importance of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. The lesson was full of the He accepted a baptismal date of October 27th and because we taught him three lessons, we'll be able to go! He is really awesome and the Sisters will be great for him.
On Saturday, our ward put on a family history event at the library. We helped a lot of people set up accounts for FamilySearch.org and helped them search for families. It was a really great way to introduce them to the gospel and allow friendships to naturally occur. Family history has been a tender mercy in my life. I have seen the blessings of taking family names to the temple and allowing them the opportunity to accept the gospel. The Spirit is really with us when we do that, testifying to us the truthfulness of the work.
As for the rest of the week, it was pretty normal. Today we woke up at 4:20 to take a bus to Cocoa Beach with the whole zone. It was a really good time. We watched the sunrise and saw cruise ships in the distance. I always love seeing the ocean and being reminded of my own nothingness but at the same time, the supreme love God has for His children.
I have been using the institute student manual to go along with my Book of Mormon reading and studies. Something that hit me hard was the story of Nephi going into Jerusalem the third time, not knowing what he should do. Here's what it says:
"Sometimes it takes courage to be led by the Spirit. There will be times when the world’s logic and reasoning will suggest a course of action that is contrary to the Lord’s teaching. Elder John H. Groberg of the Seventy challenged us: 'Be willing to take reasonable risks. We live in an age of reason, logic, facts, and figures. These can be useful if kept in subjection to faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. But if they ever take precedence over faith in Him, then they are not useful and can be very harmful. I have found in my life that most of the good decisions I have made may not have been made if they were based solely on logic or reason. 'Nephi was determined to do what God wanted him to do even with logic to the contrary. The scriptures tell us in 1 Nephi 4:6 that he went forth not knowing beforehand what he should do but knowing he should obey God and get the plates. 'I suspect had he listened only to reason, Nephi and his brethren would still be waiting outside the walls of Jerusalem. I sometimes wonder if by our listening to reason and logic too much, and not trusting God enough, we may find ourselves waiting outside the walls of His holy city.'"
I encourage each of you to start trusting in the Lord a little bit more. Know that He works in mysterious ways and that logic cannot fully explain everything. Heed the counsel of King Benjamin when he said, "...believe that [God] has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." Mosiah 4:9.
Have a wonderful, blessed week. I love you all.
Elder Poulsen
Elder Pottle, Elder Sharp, and me at Second Light Beach
Just the Viera District in a canoe
A family in our ward has an old
slot machine from The Golden Nugget
5:30 a.m. bus ride
Transfer calls are on Saturday.
We are both hoping to stay.
I love these people
