Counselors of the Lord

February 27, 2017

Dear Family,

The title comes from something we do on an almost daily basis. We basically counsel people. A lot. We sit down with them, listen to them, and try to help them by teaching whatever aspects of the Gospel they need to hear. 

-> Large Plates <-

-Monday-

This P-Day was easily the best P-Day I've had here. We went to Madison and hiked Clifty Falls with the Madison elders. It wasn't a typical hike. The first bit was a nice decline on well-worn trails down to a stream. Then we had to walk along all the rocks along the stream. We even had to cross the stream multiple times on little rocks. The part before the falls themselves was the most intense. All trails disappeared. The one way to get to the falls was to jump and climb over multiple large rocks and dead trees. It was a lot of fun!

-Tuesday-

This was where Elder Kloepfer left and Elder McIntosh came. The Diels drove us down to the Eastern Parkway building. While I was waiting for Elder McIntosh, I talked with a lot of the people I knew. I managed to see Sis Wilde there. We didn't get to talk much. I at least got to say "hi." When Elder McIntosh came, we shipped out. 

Elder McIntosh, my new companion, is a cool guy. He's a convert to the church of about 3 years. He's very relaxed like me and we like a lot of the same music :). This last transfer should be an easy one. After he got settled in, we called bingo at the nursing home. This time, I got to call out the numbers and deal with the bingo cards while Elder McIntosh helped Mary. Later, we visited Bro L and the H family. They enjoyed meeting the new guy. 

-Wednesday-

Elder McIntosh got to meet Ms Ro for the first time. We had a better than average visit with her. We read Mosiah 10 and had a good discussion on scripture study. Everything was going well until her daughter came in. She is... well... not very helpful. She contributes to a lot of Ms Ro's stress. 

Later on, we did some biking in 65 degree weather. This week had some very warm days and some very cold days. On our bike trip, we biked by Ms M's house. Her house is a duplex. She lives in the left side. Mr D, our investigator lives in the right side. As we biked by we happened to catch all of them outside. It was crazy. They all wanted to meet Edler McIntosh. 

-Thursday-

We did a lot of service. All the usual Thursday service stuff. The Clearinghouse in the morning was quite busy. They had a lot more donations than they knew what to do with. Food 4 R Souls in the evening was the opposite. Hardly anyone showed up. 

After all the service, we visited Jo and Sis S. We had a good visit with Jo but we decided with him that it would be best if we gave him a break to read, ponder, and pray. He's a good kid with a desire to repent but his desire hasn't grown into action yet. We'll be seeing him again in about a month. 

Sis S wasn't having a good day. A lot was happening. We read Ether 12 with her and talked with her. She became a lot happier after the conversation. I feel like God uses us as counselors frequently. We go to people, listen to them talk about what's bothering them, then we'll teach them something that will help them, or read something that will help them, or both. Usually by the time we finish, the people we meet are a lot happier. 

We tried to meet with H & P but they were busy. They gave us some of their farm fresh eggs though. I've already had a few of them. They're pretty good! The yolk is a lot darker than store bought eggs. 

-Friday-

This was a fun day. We had a good district meeting in Madison, IN. Elder Irwin trained on commitments and why we ask people to do things. The answer is simple. People have to search out the truth for themselves. They need personal experiences that come from their actions. Commitments are a way of getting people to act on their own. If someone doesn't act on their own, conversion won't take place. 

Later, we saw Ms Ro again. This time the first few minutes were awful but Sis Morgan showed up, sat in on the lesson, and helped turn the whole thing around. It wound up being a great visit. 

We had dinner with the Bandas. Bro Banda likes fancy tie knots. He showed me how to tie Tulip and Resurrection knots. Tulips are easy. Resurrections are now the most difficult knot I know how to do. I'll have to send pics. 

We finished the night with Mr H. He wasn't having a good day also. We talked with him, read with him, and turned his evening around. There we go being counselors again. 

-Saturday-

This was an odd day. There isn't a whole lot to tell about it. We tried to reassemble a broken exercise machine. We visited an old less-active who likes politics too much. We saw Mr K in his tattoo shop. It's impossible to teach about the gospel in a tattoo shop. Yeah... 

Here's a highlight. Bro Dickenson and Bro Smith from the Greenville, KY ward came to visit Elder McIntosh. Greenville was McIntosh's previous area. Bro Dickenson and Bro Smith are mission-famous for being friends of the missionaries. Similarly to Sis Robinson (everyone knows her as "Grandma") or Sis Blackwell. They loved Elder McIntosh so they wanted to come visit. And they wanted to bring a lot of his stuff he left in the Greenville apartment. They were planning on Monday but something popped up preventing that. So they came Saturday night. They took us out to Burger King. They're are both converts to the church. 

-Sunday-

They stayed the night in a motel so they could come to church with us. The church services themselves were pretty normal. Have I mentioned that the Scottsburg branch has a modified 2.5 hour service instead of 3 hours? I'm honestly not sure why that is. I've heard it's because a lot of the members here don't like 3 hours. After church, they started the long drive back to Greenville. 

We had a late lunch/early dinner with the Diels. They fed us a beef stew. It was quite satisfying. We finished the night visiting Sis S for a bit. She was busy with Girls Scout things so she couldn't talk much. She gave us free cookies! 

-> Small Plates <-

I've been doing my 6 chapter a day Book of Mormon study. It's been very interesting going through it that quickly. I read almost 100 pages last week. What's interesting is that it's almost like a review of everything I've learned on my mission. Whatever subject the verses I'm reading are on, I remember my experiences of learning about that subject. 

I also remember verses or insights that have stood out to me in the past. i.e. Laman and Lemuel being bums because they "knew not God" and were "past feeling". Or how the Liahona working according to faith AND diligence. Or the awesome description of Christ found in 2 Nephi 1 (Lehi uses some very Christlike terms to describe Nephi towards the end of the chapter. I'd highly recommend reading that.) I've also reviewed my knowledge of the laws of justice and mercy in 2 Nephi 9.

You might be wondering, "what's the spiritual thought here?" Well, to be honest, I don't know entirely myself. There wasn't really anything I read out of the BoM this week that opened my understanding like the laws of justice and mercy did or the description of the Atonement in Alma 7:11-13: 
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. 
13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

I guess, what I got out of the BoM this week was an increased testimony of it. There's no way it's not true or fake. It's honestly illogical to believe it's not true. The doctrines in the BoM work too well to be untrue. 

For those who deny it, you have no idea what blessings you're denying yourself. 

-Elder Benjamin Kohkonen Cox (GKLM)

My new companion is Elder McIntosh.
(How do you like the Trinity knot?)

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