Another Transfer Slayed

Heyyyyooooooooo!!

The transfer is coming to an end, and I have been given an assignment
to train a new missionary! Sick! I love training! I'm not sure where
this is going to put me, so if you have sent me physical mail (HAH!
Doubt it) I may not get it for a while. I'm not sure if they will
transfer me to a new area, or have me stay here and move the Zone
Leader spot somewhere else, or have me be a Zone Leader/Trainer (it's
happened a few times in the mission, but not likely in this case) we
will see! It's been a crazy week! We had a family of 4 attend church
yesterday! #bonusPoints! They are so ready to be baptized!

Other than that there is really nothing too new happening up in here!


We have an investigator that has been struggling like mad lately! The
opposition is intense, we haven't been able to see her! I study really
hard for her, and it was sad to see that we couldn't get in with her
because her Dad is passing. If we could just meet with her, we could
help her out so much! Anyway! She isn't understanding the grace of the
savior. And it sparked some thought I had.

"Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, suffered, died, and rose
from death in order that He could, like lightning in a summer storm,
grasp us as we fall, hold us with His might, and through our obedience
to His commandments, lift us to eternal life." -Elder Holland.

"Even after we have accepted Christ and repented of our sins, we may
fall short and sin again. We should continually try to correct these
transgressions. In addition, we should continually improve--to develop
Christlike qualities, to grow in knowledge, and to serve more
effectively. As we learn more about what the Savior expects of us, we
will want to show our love by obeying Him. Thus, as we repent daily,
we will find that our lives will change and improve. Our hearts and
our behavior will become more Christlike. We will come to feel great
joy in repenting daily." -Preach My Gospel p. 63

Repentance does not just mean "Recognizing, stoping, confessing,
forsaking, asking for forgiveness, and exercising faith" it is much
more indepth than that. Notice: it says "in addition" in that quote up
there. "We should continually improve--to develop Christlike
qualities, grow in knowledge, and serve more effectively". I have
often wondered how long it should take for me to start doing these
things again, to serve, and to work on developing Christlike
qualities. As repentance is applied it's easy to feel unworthy, and
it's easy to feel like we can't serve, or read the scriptures, or
pray, or strive for those Christlike attributes. But I have mistakably
missed the point! To Repent is to do those very things! Those things
are what bring on change! They are powerful enough to change someone's
Nature! The power of Gods words created the earth and the heavens, he
had the power to take Matter unorganized and by command he created a
world, and put us on it! So why on earth is it so hard for me to
understand that those words, can create a God? Why Is it so hard for
me to understand that he can fix a broken souls? Application to the
powerful words that come from the scriptures can, and will heal us. If
we let them. We have to choose, and we have to work at it. It doesn't
come easy, salvation never came easy. But we can sure practice. We can
put all things on the alter of sacrifice and rise above it. Rock
Bottom doesn't come, with the Savior waiting for us to jump. There is
a better option, that is repentance.



I bare witness that Jesus Christ lives! I know him, he has restored
his church, and through a prophet, he continues to guide and direct us
today.

Elder Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Kansas City Missouri Area

Non-denominational church's light me up.

YupOkay

This week was interesting. I'm slightly in kind of a funk. Not sure
why, but I guess that happens from time to time. We had an awesome
Mission Leadership Council this week. We went fasting for answers to
improve our mission. We broke off into groups with a set of questions
on where things could improve. President Vest left the room to council
with the Lord about them, and the council discussed the same questions
for 45 minutes. He came back Into the room, and the council and
President Vest came up with the same exact answers. The spirit guided
both of us, and it was amazing, we could see the hand of the Lord that
day. After the council we had to get Elder Fillerups temple recommend
renewed. I had a great discussion with Sister Vest in the mission home
about the Council. She expressed gratitude for having such young
people be mature enough to follow the spirit. I had a prompting to ask
President Vest for a blessing, I wasn't sure why, and I wasn't sure
what his response was going to be, but i did it. It's A testimony to
me that what the Lord needed me to understand was answered upon my
head as the blessing was being given. I know that the Savior Lives.
And he is pulling for each one of us. "Every soul is great in the
sight of God" and that's why "He gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life"
he has not forgotten us. He will never forget us. What he asks from us
is that we exercise Faith. Which for some reason in the church is a
confusing Concept to understand. Each time I hear someone talk about
their Faith they always start with how much faith they "Don't have".
What a copout! We get what we focus on consistently. If we desire more
faith, we must be obedient. We must pray earnestly for the guidance
and direction of the Holy Ghost, and live in harmony with it. We might
be surprised at the changes we realize we need to make. As we make
those changes, we are increasing our faith. As we focus on that change
consistently, we rely on the Lord for help, and we get to work our
faith will grow, and we will gain stronger testimony in the doctrine.
The most miserable missionaries I know are those that 1.) Aren't
living their lives in harmony with spirit through disobedience,
dwarfed goals, and lukewarm commitments, but want the blessings that
come from the spirit. 2.) have the ability to listen to the spirit,
they live in obedience to the material things like staying clean,
listening to approved music, and watching their time. But they are
quiet within their hearts. They don't act on the promptings they
receive, and become frustrated within. They too, want the blessings of
Baptism, and they might Baptize, but a part of them dreads the day
when the teaching pool is low, and they have to start opening their
mouths. They don't baptize with "an eye single to the Glory of God"
but they do it for themselves. Some will step up, others with rely on
their companion, and the rest usually fall back into category #1 The
greatest missionaries I know Have the spirit, the courage to act on
the message he receives, and he does it. He gives all emotions to the
Lord, he understands his weaknesses of Faith, but recognizes the
principle that it will not GROW if he does not ACT. He doesn't need
much attention, but he gives everything he has. He is made strong, he
is happy, and he loves his mission, good times and bad. The conclusion
is that if we want more Faith, we must Act on the impressions we
receive. The Lord blesses those who act constantly.

We were able to find 7 new people to teach this week, and we have put
6 people on date for baptism. The Lord has blessed us with building
this area. We have literally asked every person we talk to if they
would be baptized, no matter where we are at, door step, mall,
anywhere. We haven't had a single person tell us No. I know the Lord
is a part of this work. I know that this church is true, I know that
the Book of Mormon is true, and is a blessing to all who will only
humbly submit to him. He wants to help, we just need to submit.

Here's a picture of Elder Garrick and I on exchanges after a 5AM
workout. He's from  Stansbury, we went to junior high together,

Love ya!

Temple Day

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't write yesterday! We decided to go to the temple last minute, so we had to take our P-day a day later. 

This week was awesome! We are seeing the fruits of finding those who are prepared. We found 5 new awesome people this week, and now 
 We miraculously have 4 on date for Baptism, and hopefully 2 more this week!:) 

We had interviews with President And Sister Vest! We love it interviews because we just feel this lift of being edified each time! 

The temple was amazing, as always! I feel a boost of energy and power that comes so tenderly whenever I go. The Lord speaks to us in so many different ways, it's amazing what you can learn. 

This coming week is going to be a doozy! We have MLC all day tomorrow, and then we are training the zone on Thursday. That gives us literally no time to prepare any trainings! Then of course we can't not end our week without an exchange. We are going on exchanges with the assistants. I'll be going with Elder Garrick. We went to school together in junior high school and he's from stansbury. so this will be great! Haha! 

Here are some insights from my studies this week about repentance.

D&C 18:10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

-First thing we need to know about Gods nature is that he is not going to let us fall forever, and be in shame and misery, he has not sought out to destroy us, nor condemn us. We matter to him, if we didn't, the Atonement would not have taken place, and men would have been sold to the devil at Adams transgression. However, our Father recognized that sin was the problem, he knew it would keep us apart. He cannot stand sin, but he can stand the sinner. The Atonement was the only way sin could be taken out of the sinner. 

"11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance." 

-Here's the good news. In the grand council in heaven, we had our Fathers plan explained to us. When Christ said: "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever." It was accepted. And we jumped for joy. Thinking about this moment has caused me much reflection. Repentance, is a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Furthering my point about God condemning the sin, and not the sinner. We feel Godly sorrow because we know the sin has effected us, we know that we did not follow the Lord. But that does not mean that sin has to become a part of us. What he asks of us is that we recognize that we have disobeyed his commandments, when we recognize this we know that we have gone carnal. Therefore we are not spiritual, and we are not in line with Gods will. The only way we can stop the Natural man is on conditions of repentance. The Atonement advocates the fact that we can be forgiven as we come unto the Lord and accept his power to overcome the carnal state that we are in. He can enable us to put off the sin, and become saints who keep on trying. He breaks us free from sin, and we become clean in the sight of God. 

"13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth
-When I repent, I can imagine the Lord looking at me and saying "Elder, I am so proud of you. Thank you for trying again. You have given it another shot, you have kept the Faith in me!" I sometimes even feel a presence of someone hugging me. I don't imagine him saying "get away from me". We learn from scripture that when ever the Lord addressed the sinner he has said: "come unto me" I can picture him saying "please, don't abandon me, I know what you are feeling, just believe in me" I can even imagine the Father saying "oh child, please. Make the right choice, please. Choose to stay. Use my Atonement. I want to see you again" We are to "trust in that spirit that teacheth us to do good" one of those good acts  is to come unto the Savior when we have not done our best, and ask for his best. That we might be able to do better. Our souls are great in the sight of God. He cares about us enough to give the option to receive redemption. He wants us to succeed. He has given us everything that we need to succeed. We just need to do those things with faith in his son, and an eye single to his glory. We are not working WITH Repentance. We are working THROUGH repentance. Our Father in heaven Weeps when he sees us struggle, hence why "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God". We feel the tugging guilt of our wrong doings because he is nudging us to change. The only acceptable change is through the Savior. We feel peace when we repent because we have become reconciled to God. We are no longer off the path but on it. God, cares, he is not playing the shame game. He is playing the change game.