Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/28/13 On to November!

This has been a really great week for us.  We've had some rough moments where nothing is happening and we're not sure where to go, but as we have done our best to be diligent and keep working our best, good things have happened.  We were able to set six baptismal dates this week, all for November.  One thing that we have really been struggling with though is getting investigators to church.  For the second week in a row we had zero investigators attend.  We've prayed and discussed this and we believe the key to changing this is going to be working with members.  We plan on setting up church tours with some of our baptismal dates and having a member family invite them into their home for a lesson.  I'm certain that this will help increase our sacrament meeting attendance.

Three of those dates are for Nov 17 with M and two of her kids, J and S (17 and 20 respectively).  They're the ones I wrote about last week.  Maria usually works Sundays at a flea market in Madera.  Yesterday, her car wasn't working, so they were going to go to church.  But they needed a ride.  So they tried to call us, but for some reason couldn't get a hold of us.  Super sad!  They're for sure coming next week though.  S really wants to be baptized and it sounds like Maria is just going to stop going to the flea market on Sunday so she can go to church.  I'm really excited for them!    

I was studying about patience the other day and it turned into a study of diligence.  I've never really thought about how closely linked those two attributes are.  It seems to me that there are two types of patience:  Patient diligence and patient endurance.  Patient diligence has to do with consistently working on things that are in our control and patient endurance has to do with being long-suffering with the things we can't control.  Diligence also has to do a lot with hope.  We are much more likely to consistently work at something when we have a sure hope that the end result will be worth it.  As we work hard but consistently we can patiently hope for the Lord's promises to be fulfilled.  I feel that that attitude and that diligence has been key to the success we have begun to find in the last couple of weeks.

I'm excited for November.  We didn't baptize in October, the first month I haven't baptized since I got to the mission field.  Part of that was how I'd let discouragement weaken my faith like Preach My Gospel warns you not to do on page 10.  You just don't baptize in Merced!  That's how it's always been.  Well, that's not how it's always going to be.  My faith has been increasing as we have started inviting more and more people to be baptized right from the start.  There are prepared people even in Merced!  We've been finding more and more investigators and teaching more and more lessons.  I really, really hope that when transfer calls come on Saturday we'll find out that Elder Moody and I are staying.  I would also love to keep Elder Benson as a district leader.  We have plans for this branch!

I love you all so much!  I know this church is true and I know that as we patiently endure our trials and patiently work to overcome our weaknesses, we will see miracles and blessings.  Don't ever lose hope!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/21/13

This week felt super long.  We had Specialized Training on Wednesday which was really great.  W talked about following spiritual promptings, dealing with stress and adjusting to missionary life, applying the Atonement in our lives, controlling our thoughts, and knowing when we've been forgiven of our sins.  It was a really great conference!

Only really great experience I had was on Friday. We were on exchanges Thursday, and as I was planning for Friday I was considering when would be the best time to see an investigator named M and her daughter, J. I thought about 4pm, but something told me I should plan them at 7. When I got back with my companion, we reviewed the days plans, he said they sounded good and we went to work. When we went to M's at 7, they were waiting for us with their copies of the Book of Mormon. Turns out, when our appointment for them fell through on Wednesday, my companion had rescheduled for Friday at 7 and had forgotten to tell me. But the Spirit told me!

Then, about 15 minutes into the lesson, a member knocked on the door. He was the one who had referred us to M. We had not been expecting him, but he was a great help in the lesson. When we told them about the First Vision, the Spirit filled the room and both Maria and her daughter said they felt something in their chest, a warm, peaceful feeling. We testified that that was the Spirit of God and invited them to be baptized. They are progressing very well.

This work is hard, but if you focus on the positive and you express gratitude for all the blessings you receive, you realize how wonderful it is.  

I hope you all have a great week!  I love you!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/14/13 11 Months Already?

Today is exactly 11 months since I entered the MTC.  How crazy is that?  I still feel like a such a new missionary sometimes! 

This was a pretty good week.  We found 6 new investigators and taught 21 lessons, finally passing the 20 mark that's supposed to be the minimum for each week.  And our goals for this week feel so inspired!  We're pretty excited.  We also have Specialized Training on Wednesday and it's going to be great.  I have the feeling that things are going to really start rolling here in Merced if we'll just step it up and keep moving forward.

Earlier this week, we talked briefly to a man named J who said that he first met Mormon missionaries many years ago in Alabama.  He said we could stop by on Saturday.  So we knocked on his door and a woman named F answered.  She said J was out of town and probably wouldn't be back until next week.  We asked if we could say a prayer with her and she said yes.  The Spirit was strong as we prayed and she thanked us for coming.  I asked if their was anything we could do for her.  After hesitating a bit, she confided to us that her husband had gotten deported the day before.  We read a scripture in Alma 7 about the atonement with her and taught her how to pray and invited her to say a prayer.  She did, and she invited us to come back the next day.  She has a beautiful family of 6 kids, and I know that it was not coincidence that we were led to them during this difficult trial.

I've been thinking a lot about humility lately.  I never used to get it.  To avoid become proud and arrogant I would always beat myself up, emphasizing my faults and minimizing my strengths.  Anytime that I would start feeling confident and good about myself, it always seemed to slip into arrogance and conceit.  So I thought it was better to just be down on myself.  However, I recognized that that wasn't really humility either.  I just couldn't figure out why exactly.  

I had my "Aha!" moment a few months ago when I read about humility in True to the Faith.  It says, "To be humble is to recognize gratefully your dependence on the Lord."  That is the key!  Gratitude!  It is not enough to see ourselves in our fallen state.   If we recognize our dependence on the Lord, but resent it, we are proud.  If we see the many blessings our Heavenly Father gives us but then say that we aren't deserving, we aren't worthy, then we are resenting those blessings, and we are showing pride, not humility.  

So how do we develop humility?  Expressing gratitude!  As I have made more effort to express gratitude for my blessings, as I have tried to recognize the hand of the Lord in my life and then tell Him how thankful I am for it, I have not only come to realize that I cannot do this work without His help, I have also come to realize that with His help, I CAN do it!  For in His strength, I can do all things.

I love you all so much!  

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/7/13 I Love Conference!

That was a great General Conference!  I loved Elder Scott's talk (I'd never thought about the fathers of the stripling warriors before), Elder Uchtdorf's talk from the Priesthood session, President Maynes' talk, and several others too.  There seemed to be quite a few talks about enduring to the end and persevering so that we have no regrets at the end of this life.  "You will be eternally grateful that you made the choice to rise up," said President Uchtdorf, or something like that.  That is so true!  We can either push forward and do uncomfortable things now, and then experience eternal joy and gratitude that we did, or we can give up now, stay down, and regret it forever and ever.

We've been struggling to find new investigators and to set baptismal dates.  We've also noticed that there has been a lack of the Spirit in the work.  We can't do anything without the Spirit!  We have some potential for baptism here.  An investigator just moved here who already had a baptismal date for the 19th and we're going to meet with her tonight.  V seems to want to be baptized but has some deeper concern we haven't addressed yet.  We think it has to do with his catholic family.  M, J's wife is reading every day, she came to the last session of conference, but she wants to read the Book of Mormon three times before she gets baptized.  What each of these people need is a witness from the Spirit, and honestly, we have not been doing a good job of inviting the Spirit into our lessons.  We've gotten lazy and uncaring and have not been using our time wisely.  So I'm fasting today, to humble myself and to know what specific things I need to change so the Spirit can be my companion in this work.

All of us need the Atonement of the Savior in our lives.  No matter how good we are or how far we've come, we aren't good enough and we haven't come far enough to have no need for repentance.  Also, I just heard this from Pres. Uchtdorf as I'm listening to his talk. "One of the adversary's methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire."  What do we really want?  Do we want to be Christlike, have the Spirit with us always, and inherit eternal glory?  Or do we want to express our frustrations, indulge in the natural man, and accept temporary comfort over eternal peace?  An eternal perspective is the only way to progress in this life.  We must remember WHY we are here and WHO we are.  What is the most important?  What is essential?  And while we will fall short and lose focus, we must keep going, rise up, and not quit until the very end.  

I love this gospel, because as many times as we fall, we can get back up.  The Atonement is real, and everyone needs it.  Through that Atonement we can become better, we CAN change, we CAN correct our course and one day we WILL attain perfection.  It is only possible through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, but it IS possible.  Never give up!  No regrets!

I love all of you so much!  We are so blessed!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

 

Here's the quote:

"I give you this promise in the name of the Lord:  Rise up, and follow in the footsteps of our Redeemer and Savior, and one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the atonement and its power to lift you up and give you strength ... no matter how many times you have slipped and fallen, rise up.  Your destiny is a glorious one."  - President Uchtdorf