WHAT???!!!

This week was pretty nuts. My patience has been tested A LOT this week. It has caused me to reflect on my favorite quote. "The dye has been cast! I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slowdown, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear! I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up stored up, and paid up of the cause of Christ. I must go until He comes, give until I drop, preach until I know, and work until He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear."-Henry b. Eyring 

That statement above is what I strive to become some day. As I work every day to give my all to him, no holding back, I know that he will bless me in the end. 

We have been finding for 7 weeks strait, and have found only 3 investigators. This seems discouraging, yes. But here is the reality of the situation. It's not that the Lord is building JUST an area. But that he is building me for the area, he is building an instrument that fits the area perfectly. I have come to the realization that I may not be finding people, but that I am following what the Lord needs me to do. The crowning moment here is this: Friday Night Elder Amosa and I were planning and looking for a nice neighborhood to tract in for the next day. Saturday night is the perfect night 7pm. Everyone is home. We planned for  Spring Hill about 25 miles away from Louisburg. We have been having great success in Spring Hill so we were ready to hit some nice neighborhoods. (Maybe find a Family!) After we ended our planning session we prayed. I distinctly remember saying in that prayer "Lord, if we need to change ANY plans for tomorrow, or if something isn't right, will thou make it known unto us?". Saturday night rolls around and we come to the place where we had previously picked. But, something felt off, I felt something  saying "go home, it's not looking good out". Yes, the sky was Black. and lightning was hitting every 20 seconds. But we were used to that, lightning hits but, it's miles away. I played it off as the adversary and kept walking. But then a gut wrenching feeling hit me. "Go Home" I thought it's only 7:30. That's waaaayyyy too early. But following the feeling of pain in my gut, came the warm feeling of the Holy Ghost. Almost saying, "Trust me". We head back to the apartment and it's just pouring rain. I couldn't see 2 feet infront of me the whole way, but the feeling never left. I felt comfort in knowing that we were going to be okay. We get home and the rain stops, the wind settles, and my confusion increased. I was dumb founded. It was about 8:30 now, and I was not going to give up just yet, I was going to be a 9pm missionary, or even better a 9:30pm missionary.. But as soon as I stepped out of the apartment we received a text from a member, saying that "We are under tornado watch, and have been for the past 2 hours. We have had 17 touchdowns throughout the area. Keep an ear out for sirens, and come over immediately if you hear them. I have shelter for you here." My confusion settled, and it occurred to me that It wasn't about what I wanted to do (following out my plans on finding a family) But it was what the Lord needed us to do. There aren't very many members that we could have gone to out in Spring Hill, but Louisburg had a member right down the street from us. I would like to tell you that a Tornado struck, and that something wicked awesome happened like something from the movie "Twister" (although it felt like it for a moment) but nothing happened. The lesson was this: If we had done what WE wanted to do, we might have had a bad experience, and even though nothing big happened from it, I have comfort in knowing that I did what the Lord needed me to do, and that it was only for my safety. He blessed us with 3 new investigators the next day, in the exact same neighborhood we planned for on Saturday. 

I bear my Testimony that God is all knowing and all powerful. His great plan of happiness will lead us back to Him if we follow the path Jesus Christ has made available to us. I bear testimony that the Book of Mormon is the work of God. He directs his work through living Prophets. I bear witness that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the Atonement is not a general thing that is for the whole Church. The Atonement is Individual, for you and for me. It is so personal, so cleansing, and if we are sincere; it will change us, not just our behavior, but our Nature. I can't tell you all of the logistics of what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. But I can tell you this: I have felt the cleansing power of the atonement, when I feel like I have given up all my energy and strength in this work. Somehow, I can press on, and I know that it is our Lord and Master, Carrying me through it. I can conquer fear, because I know that the Lord is with me wherever I go. 

      

--

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

Refiners Fire

Hello Everyone, this week I had an interesting experience. 

While we were knocking doors on Saturday we came upon a man. He offered us a New Testament Bible for a Book of Mormon stating that "He'll read ours, if we read his". We simply told him that we study from the New Testament as scripture, but that we are here to teach another Testament (The Book of Mormon)  we bore a solid testimony of it and we traded books. He then asked us if we believed in the Trinity. We told him "No". We believe that Christ and God are separate beings, but are one in the same.  He began to start bashing with me, and attempted to tear apart my beliefs. Me being the stubborn hot headed person I am, wanted to lay into him with every account in the Bible that I could think of. But as soon as I opened my mouth to speak, no words that made ANY sense came out. But a still small voice prompted me to testify simply of the Resurrected Savior, the Restored Gospel here on earth, and that Heavenly Father leads prophets and apostles today just like in times of old. I like to say that the man accepted my Testimony and wanted to know more, but he didn't. The lesson I learned that day was Humility. If I would have started Bible bashing; the spirit would have been gone, and my testimony probably would have been shaken Slightly, their would have been nothing that ever came of it other than a painful anguish, and sorrow. The Lord taught me to love that man with all I had and to put my pride to rest. It was a tender reminder that I am called to teach the restored gospel and to call men to repentance in doing so. 

I came across this story about the Refiners fire this week. It really made me ponder exactly what it meant to be refined.

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three they came across verse three which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. 

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that, in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. 

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's the easy part -- when I see my image reflected in it."

This is the perfect example of what the Lord does for us. If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep His hand on you and watch over you until He sees His image in you. It is easy to think Satan is winning in the world right now. There is a lot of wickedness keeping Heavenly Father's children from knowing and coming to the Savior. However, if we can help them come to a knowledge of Him--not just activity in the Church, but gain a testimony and an understanding of the Gospel and a real relationship with Jesus Christ--then they will be made 'full' over time, and their testimonies will become pure and thick and deep.

--

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

Picture over Load.. that is 2 of the finest looking Elders out there!

 I fully expected it to be Cody who got into a wreck, not Jared.. oops!

 They are all fine.. now whether or not Jared will be red dotted, remains the mystery

Oi!

Hello everyone!

Not too much happened this week. We got in a car wreck today on our way to the Library! Louisburg doesn't believe in stop signs! I will attach pictures! So that was kind of a bummer. The cop is a Baptist preacher also, so we had a pretty good discussion about religion while we were waiting for the Sheriff to come and investigate the accident. 

We have been singing at our dinner visits with the families in our ward. We have a pretty good Quartet going on right now. It brings the spirit more abundantly into many homes. 

We have been working on finding, and contacting less active families this week. Parker is coming along great. He said his goal is to baptize one of his friends (who's investigating the church) This was a big step for him. He hasn't been to church for a very long time but we feel that he will make it. And his goal can be accomplished. 

I have been struck with humility this week. I never understood it until now. (funny how that works) It has helped me realize the importance of relying on the Lord. It's interesting how close you can become to God when you recognize your weaknesses, and ask the Lord for the strength to press on. This is the Lord building me into the Man I am supposed to be.

Anywho....have a great week!

--  

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

April 20, 2015 Letter, yes, we are a little behind!

Hello Everyone! 

This week was jam packed with awesome things. We met with a Less Active member. His name is Parker. He plays the drums too! I got to play some licks on his pad! That was a nice release of musical build up. Parker had expressed his concerns about knowing what he needs to do, having lived the principals of the gospel in the passed, but then being completely disobedient to those principles later in his life. He said that he felt that we had a good enough connection with him that he could tell us the true desires of his heart. He doesn't know how to get back on the path. I was able to tell him my experience with "falling off" the spirit was very strong. We told him that you can start now, there is no formula on when you can start. We are going to be teaching him the Discussions and help him on his was back to becoming a returning member. Parker is 18 years old, and I feel like his desires will be to serve a mission after this process. I hope that is his outcome. 

We sang in church on Sunday. Elder Amosa, Elder Verkler, Elder Williams and I sang Capella. It brought the spirit into the meeting, and it was a strong spirit. Music brings the spirit more than anything else.    

 I had the opportunity to give a training on "The Importance of having a positive attitude" at Zone Training on Friday. I have never given a training before, but the spirit was filling me with divine revelation on what the Zone needed. The conclusion of my training was this. Negative, is opposite to positive. We know this. However, we also know that a light can't turn on without a negative force, and a positive force. They both work together to make the light turn on. We teach in the message of the restoration about the great Apostasy, how when Christ was on the earth, he was a positive impact to all mankind. The people rejected Christ because of this impact, and he was crucified. The prophets taught the gospel, but then the people also rejected them, and killed them. Negative impact began to arise, gospel was taken off the earth for thousands of years. This was Gods PLAN. So. In 1820 God called a prophet, and the Gospel was restored. Having again a positive impact on many lives. Here is the final application. Without opposition, the restoration wouldn't have meant anything to anyone. Without the Great Apostasy, we wouldn't have appreciated the Last dispensation. It would have just been handed over. God meant for opposition to build Men and Women. It wasn't meant to tear us down, and chain us to the adversary forever, but it was to show us this one lesson: We can't experience Joy or Happiness, without Pain or Sorrow. Now, here is the equation that I have come up with regarding a positive attitude. Positive Attitude= Faith in Christ. You can't have Faith in Christ if you are constantly doubting the Lords power to find those who are prepared. You have to have all your hearts dependency focused on the will of the Lord, with a positive Attitude. Faith in Christ= Holy Ghost. We are taught in Preach my Gospel under Christ Like Attributes that Faith in Christ leads us to a greater abundance of power. God works through Faith. That is how we obtain power to teach. Holy Ghost= Guidance and Direction. This is a big one! How are we supposed to find those to teach if we have no guidance? We can't align our will with Gods if we don't listen to the Guidance of the Holy Ghost. Guidance and Direction= Fulfillment of our purpose as missionaries. We execute our purpose when we follow the steps given to us by the Holy Ghost. HE will help each one of us, as we listen and obey. The perfect disciple is one that has the ability to FEEL the promptings of the Holy Ghost and to have the Courage, Faith, Humility, and Diligence to execute the task at hand, no matter what is at stake, or who is watching. Conclusion is this: None of the Christlike attributes can be fulfilled without a positive attitude. Being positive is a source to having Faith.

This week was really good, and I have learned a lot more about myself. 

Love ya'll 

Be Strong,Elder, Be Strong!

This week was awesome! 

We got these cool little things called "Black Boxes" put in our cars. They keep us safe from dying...No really, they tell you when you're speeding, or if you are driving too recklessness. If you don't change the speed, or calm down, it will send a notice to the Mission Pres. It's a good thing I don't suck at driving.....

This week we were able to here a special talk by Elder Uchtdorff, It was for all missionaries. The talk really changed my heart. He talked about Peter the apostle. How he was the one that said he would stay by the Lord no matter what. But then Later, as the story goes, he denies the Lord 3 times. We know that after the guilt and shame, Peter came to be one of the greatest disciples, and feared no man. He was crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy to die the same way the Lord did. This application was perfect for missionaries. He spoke of an Elder that feared no man, it didn't matter where he was, or what he was doing, he talked to everyone, and made it a point to share the gospel. He tore through many companions, for the simple fact that they couldn't keep up, they got tired of talking with everyone. When this would happen he would mention 3 Nephi 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the son of God. I have been called of him to declare this word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." Simple as that. He feared no man. He said "I will baptize with you, or without you, but I would much rather baptize with you." 

This example stirred my heart. This week, I did my very best to be like this Elder. I found much success in doing so. We found 4 new people to teach, 2 of them being a family. We would park our car at one end of town, and circle the many neighborhoods in our path, knocking doors, talking to those that passed us by, and even did service for an old man that seemed to be struggling. When we would make our way back the car, we chose a different path so we didn't hit the same doors. We spent 5 hours doing this, and by the end of the day, we were whipped. But I noticed something a lot differently...When I knelt down to pray at night, I felt this overwhelming burning in my chest, it was unmistakably the Holy Ghost. It felt like the Lord was reaching out, and giving me a hug, I could feel nothing but pure love for those that rejected us that day, I felt nothing but determination to meet with the families we talked to, or to offer up meaningful thanks to God for the work that we had.  "Fear no man." is the excellent mentality of missionary work.

Hope Everything is going well for you all back home!

Love YA!

The Black Box!

Well, when you put it that way.....

--

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

First week as a Trainer.. new companion

Hello Everyone!

This week was super crazy! We went and picked up my new companion Elder Amosa. He is a determined Elder, I like that. He is from West Jordan, and his roots are from Samoa! It is going to be fun training him. We are still in Louisburg/Paola and we have been working our butts off finding people to teach, our teaching pool is super low, there aren't any investigators. But we have been relying on the Lord for help a lot more.

Conference was super awesome! So many good things revealed to us! I really liked Elder Bendnars talk, it really helped me recognize how to hush my fears of being a missionary. Sometimes it's hard to talk to random people on the street, or have your beliefs tried and tested at a door step. But, this talk gave me comfort in knowing that the Lord gives us the strength to hush our fears. "Courage for the Lord is on our side" has never meant more to me. Also, Elder Dale Renlund of the 70 (Gave a inspiring talk on Sunday) just so happens to be the General Authority that pulled me aside for an interview during our Zone Conference. What a cowinkydink.  

Not too much happened this week, just a lot of foot work and pushing through the changes of being with a new companion, and new Elder. I feel like I have grown a lot, and I feel like the Lord is stretching my capacity to a new level. Sometimes the growing pains are hard, but in the end we are better off than where we started, we are better off when we let the Lord determine the sum total of our eternal life. The United States Army says "Be all you can be" but neither the Army nor you knows all that you can be. The Lord says: "Let me make of you all that you can be". As measured by Mans standards Army Rangers are impressive, but compared with what the Lord can make of you, compared to the realization of your divine potential, they truly are nothing. The realization of your amazing, astounding, and true potential happens only in the hands of the Lord. But you, and only you can place yourself in those masterful, loving hands. 

Just give it up. Surrender your will to him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to him; All of your wishes, desires, dreams and hopes.  Be true and faithful in your head, and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in him, trust in him who knows all things. Trust him who has all power. Trust in him whose love for you is perfect. Trust him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust him that he will make of you immeasurably more, than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece, you will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man, He will create a God. That is my testimony to you. 

I love the Lord, and I love the change that he has placed in my heart. 

Have a great and safe week!

Keep the Faith

-- 

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

Jared and his new companion/trainee Elder Amosa

Times 2 Ward Easter Egg Hunt

They will make a GREAT team.. Give 'em Heaven!

I Love this kid more than words can express! He really is a spiritual Giant! #jaredrockshisgrandmassocks  #mamasboy! #goodlookinteam