Sigh No More

"Love it will not betray you, dismay, or enslave you. It'll set you free. Be more like the man you were made to be."

-Sigh No More, Mumford and Sons

This week was great!

We had Elder Duncan of the Seventy visit us. That was really special. His number one message was the love of our Heavenly Father for all of His children. He said if we share anything with people it should be that. He even said that the Brethren are a little concerned that at times we focus too much on Christ and not enough on the Father. He helped us to see that we are the way that Heavenly Father communicates His love with His children here in the world.

He also challenged us to change the way we define the term "convert." Elder Duncan said that really a convert is so much more than just someone who gets baptized. He said true conversion is when we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and partake of all the saving ordinances, including the Priesthood for men and the temple. He invited us to think of the number of converts we could have in terms of those that we help to return to activity, go to the temple, receive the priesthood, etc. He then helped us see how such efforts to strengthen those who are already members will help us reach out to more people who aren't members. Elder Duncan said that as we show members that we love them, they will be willing to help us with missionary work.

So this Saturday we put what Elder Duncan taught us into practice. We went by the home of some of our members and knocked on their neighbors' doors with them and invited them to a family home evening. It worked really well. Elder Duncan said that normally as missionaries we're pretty intimidating. People see us as a threat. But when we have the members with us, it opens those doors and softens hearts. One of the doors we knocked on was right next door to the members' house. The neighbors had just barely moved in and the members didn't know them. We knocked on the door and told the woman who opened it that we were members of the Church and she said, "I am too!" She was a less active woman who had stopped going to Church for years. She said she thought it was probably a sign that she should go back to Church that we showed up at her door. She told us that she had seen us visit the members before but she had never really gotten the courage to talk to us. It was a small miracle that just confirmed to me and Elder Zeledon the importance of what Elder Duncan taught.

So really this week, I've just been trying to share more of God's love. It's felt great. I like it. I'm less worried about numbers or other things that don't matter. I'm more patient with people. I'm not perfect at it yet, but it's felt good. We're going to the Mesa temple on Sunday with our recent convert and her husband. He's really softening up to the Gospel, and hopefully will make even more progress soon.

I love you. Heavenly Father loves you. I love the Book of Mormon and how it explains His plan. I love how all our Father wants is the happiness of His children.

Love,

Elder Grasley