Hello!
Happy Cinco De Mayo! 🎉
I have been wondering this week what I could do to help the work move
forward and I have come to one conclusion, I must talk with everyone.
I once heard that if you want to baptize a few people then talk to a
few people, if you want to baptize a couple people then talk to a
couple people, but if you want to baptize everyone then you have to
talk to everyone. It may sound like common sense, but honestly it is
not as easy as you think. Even though I am already weird for being out
on a bike in a white shirt and tie, it is still hard to talk to a
complete stranger. I don't know what it is. I really want to but I am
such a chicken. I think it is more of a mental block.
Since our mission is not a tracting mission this is the only way
we as missionaries can take matters into our own hands. Other than
talking with people on the streets, we also really try to work with the
members in our ward. But then again they have their agency and about a million
other things going on in their lives so missionary work sometimes may
fall to the wayside, which I understand. It takes a major change in
lifestyle to become missionary minded all the time. It is hard. But I
know that as we all make a conscious effort to remember it is our duty
to share this gospel with everyone then we will have the power from on
high to do it!
We have been working a lot with the members of the Sunburst ward. It
is amazing to feel a prompting or have a name come to your mind of
someone you should go visit and when you get there you find out they
really needed you. It is just a testimony builder to me that Heavenly
Father loves us all. Even if we have already made the promises with
Him to live the best we can He will still help us up when we fall.
Whether that is through his own way or try sending someone along our
path to help us, it will get done. I know helping the less actives in
a ward may be more important then bringing more people into the ward
because they have already made certain covenants with Heavenly Father
and it is important for us to be there for them. We need to help them. All of us.
Not just the full time missionaries. I love working with them and
seeing their progress. One boy we were working with was falling away from
the church and so we started to meet with him. He took the necessary
steps on his own to come back. He received the priesthood and just last
Saturday he baptized his two younger sisters. It was a very
powerful moment in time. I will never forget it. I loved every minute
of being there.
We had a zone meeting this past Friday and the major focus was on
family history. Can you believe it? We are going to start using
people's ancestors to get them into our church buildings and help them
feel the spirit! Who knew it would be such a great tool. I have not
had much experience with using familysearch.org so it was really nice
when they brought a family history expert in to teach us. Guys, this
is an amazing missionary work. There are others in our own family that
need our help. They that have passed on cannot do this work. As you
type in their names and find them it is such an amazing feeling. Now I
know why the grandpas and grandmas do this all the time, it makes you
SO happy! There is no other feeling like it. Please try it out. You
will not be disappointed. Share it with your friends. Help them figure
out how to do it and then explain to them the feelings they are having
when they find those ancestors pleading for help. Your testimonies
will be strengthened. I promise.
I have really been trying to be optimistic lately. Optimism is one of the best traits
If we are optimistic about the things going on in our life then we will see the good
in all things. We will work harder and try our best to make the outcome what we
want it to be. We have this power as human beings. We can be anything we want,
we can make anything we want, but you have to see the great potential that
everything has. We can all rely on the love of our Heavenly Father to
help us out. I came across a man the other day that had those rose
colored glasses permanently attached to his face. He was so happy and
so excited for the events that were to come. I know his life is a bit
better just because of this attitude. It was contagious. Just being
around him made me want my life to progress. I can't wait for those
events to come into my life that will change me forever. This mission
is one of them. You can look at your challenges as road blocks to the
rest of your life or you can see them as stepping stones. It is your
choice. It is my choice. I am so happy I chose to serve a mission. It is
challenging and rough at times but if I look to the future and see the
benefits of the experiences I am having then it makes it all worth it.
I love you all so much. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you
for all the letters and notes. They mean a lot. Mother's Day is this
week. I can't wait to talk to my family!
Until next week
Elder Cole Safford
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