Monday, July 20, 2015

Search and Find Him

From Ethan Monday, July 13, 2015

Hello! Sorry for not writing for a couple of weeks.  It gets way too easy to get lost in activities on P-day. 

A couple weeks ago we went to a dairy farm in Gooding, ID.  We fed baby calves, one sucked on my finger, and we milked adult cows!  That’s sure an experience.  I could tell that when an Elder or Sister was afraid to touch a cow, it became uneasy.  So I put my belt of courage on and just went for it!  It turned out to be pretty easy. =)  This week we went with a family to Eureka Cave just out of Mountain Home.  Then we took out trip a little farther north to Anderson Ranch Dam where we skipped rocks and fun things like that.  Hopefully, the 2nd Counselor in the Mission Presidency, Pres. Owsley, who lives in Hagerman, will take us Sturgeon fishing.

As for the missionary work, we’ve seen some good progress.  The church members here are awesome missionaries!  Recently, a young man, Cole Kress, brought Cameron Lochler, a girl he is dating, to church. On top of that, one of her good friends invited her to Young Women’s Camp.  At camp she expressed an interest in learning more about the church, so they set up an appointment for us.  We have been teaching her for two weeks.  She told us that she felt the Spirit at a testimony meeting they had at camp, so she seems open to accepting the gospel.  This week will teach The Gospel - faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. So, we’ll talk about baptism and see where she is at.

Yesterday we read more scriptures with Vanessa Stone and her two kids.  We read 2 Nephi 25 one of my personal favorite chapters because it focuses on how Christ is the center of our faith.  Three verses capture that vision:

“there is none other name given under heaven save it be this  Jesus Christ . . . whereby man can be saved” (2 Nephi 25:20)
“for we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God: for we know that it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23)
“and we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26)

What great scriptures, right? After reading those scriptures it was easy to testify with the Spirit that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that we must look to Him as our example and the author of our faith.  We must believe in Him in order to return to live with God one day. That’s what the gospel is all about!

I love moments like that where we can testify of our Savior.  It makes this work so real and so worth it! If you haven’t read those scriptures, I would invite you to do so on your own time and find your own personal faith in Jesus Christ. I know He is my Redeemer and my Savior and yours as well. Search Him out and you’ll find Him in your heart.

With that have a joyous week!
Elder Howard

P.S. My mailbox is starving.  Write me a quick note.

Elder Howard
560 State Street North

Hagerman, ID 83332

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