Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The 34th Epistle of Paul to the Funk Family

The 34th Epistle of Paul to the
Funk Family

Hey Yall. Greetings and blessings from the state of texas and the TSAM to yall! I am loving the work and finding alot of success in really developing my character. It's amazing how fast the refinery will change you if you allow it too. I really can't begin to comprehend the magnificence of the Atonement. It shapes every facet of life. Even when we don't recognize it. Every emotion that we have felt, are feeling, or will feel, has already been felt by someone so much greater than little ol' me. A Brother who walks beside me. It's an awesome feeling.

Well in the life of Paul this week we started off good, we got back to the apartment and Elder Dayton wanted to re-arrange the furniture. I'm not gonna lie, it works a bit better and it is a nice change. But yeah. That's what we did last P-day. So it was cool. We had all of our lessons fall through on us that night and it was sorta frustrating, so we just kinda walked home and whatever. We talk pretty much about the gospel 24/7. It is really so nice because I see all the energy and enthusiasm for the gospel that he has, and it's nice to be able to help direct him. It's really different training him rather than the first time. Like polar opposites. One had to be trained alot on the basics and now him he is really close but a bit full of himself at times.. Heck so am I.

Tuesday we helped a widow Sis Morgan. I pretty much just think of her as My Widow. I love to go over and help her with stuff. She always loves to talk and likes to let us come over and help her. She tries so hard to do missionary work. She lets us go talk to basically everybody that she knows. She gives us phone numbers and things like that. It is really so awesome. She and I get along so great. It is amazing that the age barrier is so tiny in so many people. The spirits are truly what connect two people. She is one of my best friends, I really love the scripture:

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27.

It really is so true about what that scripture means. If we really forgot ourselves and go after those that are less fortunate than us we truly learn alot of the principles that governed the savior's Ministry. The comparison between the 4 Gospel accounts of his life and 3 Nephi 11-27 are incredibly linked. So many principles were so important that they needed to be taught to those people and they have to be taught to us twice by the savior. So how much more need we have to follow them today then they did back then.

So to follow up with that. We helped with another move. I basically think that my mission is turning into service projects. Which I will be honest. I love it. We showed up with the Funks to help them move and we showed up like 15 minutes late and the move was done! I couldn't believe it. So then they needed help but it was like in a different stake so I was like "Nah we can't go it's not in our area." Brother Funk got us in the car and then just drove right there! I called one of the members to find out where we were going and he just said. "Well policies are just man made anyway." It was funny. Maybe just to me. I think I surprise everyone with what I can lift though. It's pretty fun. Utah moves trained me well to practice picking up odd shaped things. Without breaking them.

Wednesday was a cool day. Well not temperature. It was over 100 like every single day. But Brother Davis went out with us and we went to see a whole bunch of families. Basically everyone that we had fell through but it still made for a fun day! Elder Dayton cracked because of the heat. He just passed out in the back seat. Sooo I convinced Brother Davis to pull over and we got out of the car quietly and let him just kinda bake in there for a few minutes. We didn't really want to kill him so we eventually woke him up but man he was sweating. It. was. Hilarious. Pretty much made that entire day worth waking up for.

Thursday was decent to. Elder Mckinley came over while the Zl's went over to some important people meeting. He is a Visa waiter going to Brazil so we were trying to do our weekly planning and that got destroyed as he told us about his encounter with Bigfoot in the Oregon jungle. So yeah. We basically played horse on our little basketball hoop... It was probably needed break anyway. We taught a sweet lesson to our one investigator named L. It was awesome. The spirit was really strong and she even came to church on Sunday. I really enjoyed it. We talked about prophets and Joseph smith especially. It was a really good meeting. I think she is really starting to come around to the truth. Just about there.

Friday and Saturday we knocked all day long. It was tough. It was in the hundreds and I got a flat that just is a gift that keeps on giving. I got a whole bunch of thorns that are stuck in the tire itself, so that's what I will probably spend the rest of pday doing is picking all of those out from the tire. Lame. Anyway. We walked basically everywhere. We taught one lesson though to a family that bashed pretty bad. They said that they made the last missionaries cry...I had fun though. We didn't really bash, I just told them what my testimony was, Invited them to church pray and read and we left. He wants us to come back in a couple of weeks so we will see how that one goes.

Taking the sacrament this week was really neat. I just felt so clean. I loved it. It is really so neat to be able to have the opportunity to have the cup cleaned from the inside and the out. Just as the Savior taught to the Pharisees. They were cleaning the outside but really on the inside they were filthy. I felt just so clean, that the Savior can look at me and say I am clean and also on the inside I am too. It really is such a renewal. A re-birth every single week.

Also. I got to go back to the best calling in the Church. Sunday school teacher! I got to teach freshman and sophmores again. Man is that the bomb. Something about that age is just my favorite. Maybe because I like to have fun and I don't take the gospel as "serious" as some. I like to apply it in weird ways. So I made up a lesson in my head and we went for it. The lesson was on hope and faith. I talked about running a race. We went though what their thoughts were at the beginning. It ranged from I wanna win! to I don't wanna finish last. It was awesome. I shared with them one of my favorite scriptures, Hebrews 12:2 which reads.


 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We all have to endure the race. We all have different hopes aspirations and dreams. Faith and hope without works however is dead, as James tells us.  So we have to carry on, hope on, believe and that day will come when "The finisher of our faith will be giving us that celestial medal of victory. Whatever the case. Do what is right, even when it seems no one is watching. Or in a much harder case it seems that everyone is watching. Do what is right! No one loves you more when you hide, it only hurts what's inside! So I leave my testimony that the Savior wants to fill the cracks of the heart with his love. The void with his care, and ourselves with his attributes. We can become like him. I know this to be true. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk

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