Serving in Kentucky: The District

August 10, 2015

Hello Family,

#VacationWithoutMe? #Blasphemous

Something cool that happened. We had 3 investigators at church yesterday! That's never happened. They all had great experiences. I haven't heard from M & R in a while. I have a feeling they're done but I won't make that call until they tell us they're done. We told them we could marry them for free and after a year they can be sealed in a temple for free too. Apparently that didn't sway them. :(

Real intent is a subject we always hit hard on. We literally tell people to not take our word for what we say. We tell them they need to ask God themselves to find the truth. The sad things is a lot of people I've met just aren't looking for truth.

Mountain tops were used when temples aren't available. They're the closest to heaven than anywhere else on earth. In scripture you read how several prophets went up to a mountain for stuff. Probably one of the best examples of a mountain top is Moses. Where did he receive the 10 commandments? On the top of a mountain. Where was Moses before he was attacked by Satan in the Pearl of Great Price? On the top of a mountain. That puts a new meaning on the phrase "The Mountain of the Lord".

The District 1 was filmed in Texas in, I believe, 2007. The District 2 was filmed in San Diego California in 2012. Both of them are actually pretty similar to what I'm doing. I'd say the main difference is I have an iPad and they don't. My planner and Area Book are all on the iPad. As far as the investigators go, they're pretty similar to the one's I've met out here. Both the District movies are pretty accurate depictions of what missionary work is like. I watched both of them before I came out here. They do not however, show everything. They don't show what it's like to meet someone who's just absolutely insane. They don't really show what it's like when ALL of your appointments fall through. They sure don't show any sort of argument/Bible bash but that's okay. Both of the Districts show what missionary work is ACTUALLY like 95% of the time. The bad is few and far between.

P-Day ends at 6. From 6 to 9ish we work. Our appointment with that one guy is later tonight.

The contention thing is something I learned myself. I was pondering deeply on the subject and it came to me. I didn't hear that from anyone. That's something I realized the week before I got to wear the Storm Trooper armor. That particular week is still the most negative week I've had so far. It wasn't because I was negative. I just kept meeting a lot of people who were far more negative than normal. I found that when someone's being negative, it's hard to help them. When contention's present, the Spirit isn't. As missionaries we rely a lot on the Spirit to help us know what to say but when someone is being contentious it makes it extremely difficult to hear the Spirit. Here's the thought process that led to that.... Because "contention drives the Spirit away" that means they cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Much like how light cannot be where dark is and vice versa, The Spirit of God cannot be where the spirit of contention is. The Spirit of God leads us to light and love whereas the spirit of contention leads us to darkness and hate. According to 2 Nephi 2:11 "there is an opposition in all things." Because there's a God, there's a devil. Because there's light, there's darkness. Because God has the Holy Ghost, then the devil must have something that is the exact opposite. That something is the spirit of contention, or maybe better labeled as the spirit of the devil.

I didn't get to go to the Indianapolis Temple. That's out of the mission boundaries. I haven't been to the Carrabbas in Louisville. I drove by it once though. :((((((

I'm glad Kylii is doing well. She'll be a great missionary.

Something I've realized is how much God prepared me for a mission throughout my life. I can't go into detail on that now because I'd be typing all day but everything that happened to me, good or bad was meant to build me up for a mission. Thank you for everything.

See ya later,

-Elder Ben.