I have been praying for weeks for service opportunities and this week my prayers were answered! It started off with our companionship helping out the other
companionship in the house with cleaning the yard of a non member. In
my head I pieced together a nice little picture of a yard that was a
little out of love but not all that bad. When we pulled up that
picture could not have been further from the truth. There was weeds as
tall as my shoulders and dead plants galore. Not to mention the weed
wacker AND the lawn mower were busted. So we got to use tools from the
1900's along with some elbow grease. It was so darn difficult. I was
beat tired after working on it for three hours and we only were able
to finish half of it! Crazy, but it felt so great to have worked so hard and to have been of service to someone. Then a couple of days later we get a
call from one of our potential investigators asking us if we could go
and help him clean up his yard and fix part of his house. We went over
there and he had about one hundred unfinished projects to choose from. We got working
and after a couple of hours we had built (with his guidance and
supervision) a complete floor for his patio. It was so much fun and so
satisfying to see the end results right before my own eyes!
The rain we had about a week ago has flushed all of the thorns into
the middle of the sidewalk and the roads so wherever we go we are in
danger of getting flat tires. I have some heavy duty tubes in my
mountain bike but elder Nielsen has a road bike with what I believe to
be the thinnest tubes made on this earth haha. This past week we had
to go to the bike shop again! But the bike shop has run out of the
exact tubes he needed so we had to travel another twenty minutes away
to another of the shops locations to get the dang tubes. I pray that
these ones will last him. It is ridiculousness.
We have been working with some less actives in the ward trying to help
them make the changes necessary to bring them back in harmony with
Gods will for them. One of those such individuals is an eighteen year
old named Tristan. He has been raised in the church and his family are
all very active members but over the years he has slipped away and
made other things the priority in his life. We started teaching him
trying to get him to come back to church and it worked for the past
couple of weeks. We meet with him every Monday and this past Monday we
felt prompted to invite him to start thinking about serving a mission.
He said that it has been in the back of his mind for a while and ever
since we have started to come over he has really seen just how it can
bless his life. We were so excited for him and we hope he sticks with
the goal of serving. He said that I have been a great example to him
of what a missionary should be because I am not afraid to tell him
about my own personal struggles. It makes me feel so
good to know that my experiences and trials can help someone else.I am
so thankful to my Heavenly Father for the call to serve His
people in Arizona. It is a great and marvelous blessing. I know I
could not do any of this without him and his love for me.
This past Friday we had our monthly zone meeting. I went into
this months meeting with the hopes of it being a great one and I was
not disappointed! We went over things that have been emphasized since
my very first weeks in the mission field so it was nothing we haven't
heard before. But it sure is amazing how much the spirit can teach
you. Most of the time I learn more from the thoughts that pop into my
head then the words that are actually being said. I know that the
things that are said are conductors of the spirit and they bring those
thoughts into my head so I do like the meetings. We always do a
practice teaching at the end of the meeting just to put into practice
the things which we learned. One of the elders gave me some great
advise and I know it could be helpful to everyone. So here it is, when
it comes to sharing the gospel in any fashion, be real and be sincere
in your words. People can tell of you care about them and if you care
about what you are talking about. Don't try to fool them and say
things you don't mean. It will not go over well. I have seen this come
into play side learning that great advice and it is absolutely true.
Try it.
Well this week was transfers and my companion left me. I am sad to lose him as a companion, but that is missionary life. I find out who my
companion is tomorrow so pray for me tonight! Love you all and hope
everything is going great.
Until next time,
Elder Cole Safford
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