We have a baptism coming up this week! Super excited about that! He is
so ready!
I have begun a new study. A study of faith that I had not yet
considered before. There are many different examples of faith. But the
ones I find most intriguing are as follows:
1.) Faith, moving its possessor to some kind of Mental or Physical action.
2.) Faith, being kindled by the testimony of others who have faith.
3.) Faith, an actual knowledge that the course of life one is pursuing
is acceptable to the Lord.
4.) Faith, that is developed by obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
5.).Blessings received because of faithful actions.
This manner of dissecting faith has caused me much reflection. It has
changed my outlook about life, Who God is, who I am, and others around
me.
I have spent a large portion of my life relying on the Faith of
others. The testimony of others only kindles faith, it is not a means
whereby endurance is persistent. Somewhere, somehow, I will be looking
for another person to rekindle my faith. That is not what the Lord
intended faith to be. Hence Alma 32. Rekindling faith is caused by
another's testimony, that is the seed. But it is then the
responsibility of the possessor to continue to nourish. The possessor
must acknowledge that the course of life he is pursuing is acceptable
to the Lord. If his course of action is not acceptable to the Lord he
must exercise faith unto repentance. Faith unto repentance, is
understanding that where you are looking is not in line with the Lord,
and humbly turning away from the things you are looking at, to the
Lord.
Elder Neil L. Andersen is visiting the mission next week, so P-day
will be moved to Tuesday. I am not sad about that!
Well, I love you!
Peace!
Elder Jared M. Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Kansas City Stake
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
July 4, 2016
Hello! Happy Independence Day! There are no regulations out here
concerning fire works. We are going to watch a member blow stuff up
later. I guess last year he blew a microwave 50 feet in the air. This
should be interesting. I guess a lot of non members come, and
proselyting is allowed. This guy uses sticks of dynamite. I'm excited
for this.
We have seen so many miracles this week! We have been ripping up the
Ward roster lately. We get in with the member, invite the spirit with
a brief 5 minute message, and then we talk about people. When you talk
about people, a special spirit hits their hearts. I've seen it. It
works. We ask about people that we don't know, they tell us, while
telling us they are making their own invitation to act. Near the end
of the discussion, we find that people say "I will" and we say "we
will follow" we ask about people that nobody knows about, we find that
people who are listed as DNC are actually still friends with members,
and we are able to use the members as proxy. With this method of
finding we have obtained 5 focus families from the Elders quorum, the
relief society president (who doesn't normally work with elders) gave
us a list of 30 names that needed contact, and the high priest group
has names that they want to discuss this Saturday, and they have
already assigned their TeamUps. All from asking people, about people.
I've seen quite a few miracles happen recently. About 9 months ago I
was called out to a hospital to give a blessing to a women. As I gave
the blessing, I sealed her up to death. I had his overwhelming
impression to tell her to let go, and that things here are going to be
alright.. She passed away with my hands on her head. Her husband was a
non member, but asked for a blessing shortly after. I gave him one,
and admonished him to join the church. I left. I had thought about
that man for 9 months, not knowing where he was. Every day I would see
his face somewhere, whether it be in a street contact, or at a members
home. I even saw his face in the temple.. Finally I got some closure.
I was on exchanges with one of the assistants yesterday, and we
knocked on recent converts door. All I knew about this recent convert
was that his wife passed 9 months ago, and he has fallen less active.
It was the man from the hospital. He was baptized shortly after the
incident, but still not doing well since his wife passed. He looked
sick, lost a lot of weight, and stopped attending church. He
remembered my face. I could never forget his. He then asked for a
blessing. In which I remember teaching him the plan of salvation, and
blessing him with the promises that are in store when you are sealed
to your wife.
The opportunity given to me to magnify the priesthood, has been the
most fulfilling part of my mission.
I also found a new gift this week that I didn't know existed. I can
love people. It's weird how that works out. I use to hate people! But
I just felt this great deal of compassion come over me, that I didn't
quite know about. Here is my thinking. One of the fruits of the spirit
is Love. So maybe I don't have the ability to love people through
Jared's point of view. But as the spirit is with me, I can sure love
them from the Lords point of view, and that is much easier. Cause I
have a short fuse sometimes. Lol But there are times that I myself
can't possibly love someone, but the Lord can, and as I radiate that
love, I will see them as He sees them.
Elder Jared M. Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Kansas City Stake
concerning fire works. We are going to watch a member blow stuff up
later. I guess last year he blew a microwave 50 feet in the air. This
should be interesting. I guess a lot of non members come, and
proselyting is allowed. This guy uses sticks of dynamite. I'm excited
for this.
We have seen so many miracles this week! We have been ripping up the
Ward roster lately. We get in with the member, invite the spirit with
a brief 5 minute message, and then we talk about people. When you talk
about people, a special spirit hits their hearts. I've seen it. It
works. We ask about people that we don't know, they tell us, while
telling us they are making their own invitation to act. Near the end
of the discussion, we find that people say "I will" and we say "we
will follow" we ask about people that nobody knows about, we find that
people who are listed as DNC are actually still friends with members,
and we are able to use the members as proxy. With this method of
finding we have obtained 5 focus families from the Elders quorum, the
relief society president (who doesn't normally work with elders) gave
us a list of 30 names that needed contact, and the high priest group
has names that they want to discuss this Saturday, and they have
already assigned their TeamUps. All from asking people, about people.
I've seen quite a few miracles happen recently. About 9 months ago I
was called out to a hospital to give a blessing to a women. As I gave
the blessing, I sealed her up to death. I had his overwhelming
impression to tell her to let go, and that things here are going to be
alright.. She passed away with my hands on her head. Her husband was a
non member, but asked for a blessing shortly after. I gave him one,
and admonished him to join the church. I left. I had thought about
that man for 9 months, not knowing where he was. Every day I would see
his face somewhere, whether it be in a street contact, or at a members
home. I even saw his face in the temple.. Finally I got some closure.
I was on exchanges with one of the assistants yesterday, and we
knocked on recent converts door. All I knew about this recent convert
was that his wife passed 9 months ago, and he has fallen less active.
It was the man from the hospital. He was baptized shortly after the
incident, but still not doing well since his wife passed. He looked
sick, lost a lot of weight, and stopped attending church. He
remembered my face. I could never forget his. He then asked for a
blessing. In which I remember teaching him the plan of salvation, and
blessing him with the promises that are in store when you are sealed
to your wife.
The opportunity given to me to magnify the priesthood, has been the
most fulfilling part of my mission.
I also found a new gift this week that I didn't know existed. I can
love people. It's weird how that works out. I use to hate people! But
I just felt this great deal of compassion come over me, that I didn't
quite know about. Here is my thinking. One of the fruits of the spirit
is Love. So maybe I don't have the ability to love people through
Jared's point of view. But as the spirit is with me, I can sure love
them from the Lords point of view, and that is much easier. Cause I
have a short fuse sometimes. Lol But there are times that I myself
can't possibly love someone, but the Lord can, and as I radiate that
love, I will see them as He sees them.
Elder Jared M. Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Kansas City Stake
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
June 27,2016
Hello!
We had a great week! We got a call from some Elders in our zone that
were serving in a neighboring ward, they said "Elders, we ran into a
guy at the library and he was kinda bashy. So we figured he would be
more of your caliber. We scheduled you to meet with him." Judas
Priest....haha we went back and forth for 2 hours! The trinity,
eternal marriage and families, the pre-mortal existence et. You name
it, we hashed it. He had brought a friend, and half way through the
meeting he stopped and asked us how we came to know our church was
true. In that moment we gave the first vision, and they were both
quiet for 30 seconds. I have never had the first vision penetrate so
powerfully in my life! We then realized that we were there for his
friend. The man had no knowledge of the Book of Mormon. He said he got
all of his info on the church, because he studies cults at bible
College. We asked if he had actually read the Book of Mormon, he said
he hadn't. So we were able to teach him about it, and de rail the
false things he heard.
Needless to say, we had a good time. He didn't get baptized, and he
didn't continue to investigate. But we used our time wisely on that
one. His eyes were opened just a little.
We had some success contacting "do not contacts" we found a nice
family that scheduled a return appointment for this week. The roster
said "not friendly to missionaries, don't bother" why on EARTH IS THAT
A THING! I don't care if they're not friendly! Contact them! We deal
with unfriendly people every day, why would this be any different?
Unless it says "pulled gone" or "threatened to kill me" we should
continue to work through Ward to contact them! Anyway, that's my rant
for the week
Peace!
Elder Jared M. Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Kansas City Stake
We had a great week! We got a call from some Elders in our zone that
were serving in a neighboring ward, they said "Elders, we ran into a
guy at the library and he was kinda bashy. So we figured he would be
more of your caliber. We scheduled you to meet with him." Judas
Priest....haha we went back and forth for 2 hours! The trinity,
eternal marriage and families, the pre-mortal existence et. You name
it, we hashed it. He had brought a friend, and half way through the
meeting he stopped and asked us how we came to know our church was
true. In that moment we gave the first vision, and they were both
quiet for 30 seconds. I have never had the first vision penetrate so
powerfully in my life! We then realized that we were there for his
friend. The man had no knowledge of the Book of Mormon. He said he got
all of his info on the church, because he studies cults at bible
College. We asked if he had actually read the Book of Mormon, he said
he hadn't. So we were able to teach him about it, and de rail the
false things he heard.
Needless to say, we had a good time. He didn't get baptized, and he
didn't continue to investigate. But we used our time wisely on that
one. His eyes were opened just a little.
We had some success contacting "do not contacts" we found a nice
family that scheduled a return appointment for this week. The roster
said "not friendly to missionaries, don't bother" why on EARTH IS THAT
A THING! I don't care if they're not friendly! Contact them! We deal
with unfriendly people every day, why would this be any different?
Unless it says "pulled gone" or "threatened to kill me" we should
continue to work through Ward to contact them! Anyway, that's my rant
for the week
Peace!
Elder Jared M. Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Kansas City Stake
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
June 20,2016
Hey guys!
This week was awesome! We had a ton of meetings. Tuesday was zone
conference, Wednesday was MLC, Thursday was zone training prep, Friday
was zone training, and then finally Saturday was stake conference.
We did see some miracles with a new friend. She loved the plan of
salvation, and she said "wow, it just makes sense". We asked her for
referrals, and she called her mom and taught her the plan of
salvation, and now her mom is interested. We are super blessed, and
excited to work with her.
I am ready to get some work done this week finally, tired of sitting
in meetings. Although it is fun to be taught by General authorities.
Got some good revelation this week, now I'm just hoping to put it into
action
Elder Jared M. Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Fleming Park Ward
This week was awesome! We had a ton of meetings. Tuesday was zone
conference, Wednesday was MLC, Thursday was zone training prep, Friday
was zone training, and then finally Saturday was stake conference.
We did see some miracles with a new friend. She loved the plan of
salvation, and she said "wow, it just makes sense". We asked her for
referrals, and she called her mom and taught her the plan of
salvation, and now her mom is interested. We are super blessed, and
excited to work with her.
I am ready to get some work done this week finally, tired of sitting
in meetings. Although it is fun to be taught by General authorities.
Got some good revelation this week, now I'm just hoping to put it into
action
Elder Jared M. Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
Fleming Park Ward
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
June 13,2016
Hello,
This week was great. We had a good zone training. Thankfully we were
able to relay the message that Elder Soarez had for the missionaries.
We feel successful in our instruction.
We got a wild hair this week, and decided to contact people that are
"Do not contacts" the missionaries in the passed didn't keep very
detailed notes, and half of the stories that are there aren't true. So
we contacted some, and found that the situations are not that bad.
There's about 46 of them. With the exception of the one that pulled a
gun on the bishop, we plan to contact everyone of them. We have found
through this that people are prepared behind these doors. They just
need a loving hand.
I was called a "sudo Christian" this week. I didn't even know what
that meant until I ran into a guy that was persistently looking to
bash. He works as a "bible councilor" for his church. It was at that
point that I realized how hard it was to love someone that literally
compares you to Satan. It also presses your nerves when he says "hope
you find Christ someday". Then says that my feelings aren't from the
spirit of God, but that they are coming from Beelzebub which is the
Name of a Philistine god. Used as a title for the “chief of the
demons,” or Satan. The Pharisees referred to him as the “prince of the
devils” (Matt. 12:24). Jesus denied that He cast out devils by the
power of Beelzebub (Luke 11:14–20). Also 2 Kgs. 1:1–6, where it is
spelled Baalzebub.
Whipped out Moroni 7:12-17 all things which are good cometh of God;
and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy
unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and
enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.
13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good
continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do
good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
14 Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge
that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to
be of the devil.
15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may
know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may
know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
I thought that was a pretty simple doctrine. But of coarse it went no
where. Good night.
I had a good week, I just feel like I've been treading though bashes
lately. Some weeks we find, and we have success and our people
progress. Other weeks we find that the bells of hell ring after us,
and we are working against n resistance. This was one of those weeks.
This week was great. We had a good zone training. Thankfully we were
able to relay the message that Elder Soarez had for the missionaries.
We feel successful in our instruction.
We got a wild hair this week, and decided to contact people that are
"Do not contacts" the missionaries in the passed didn't keep very
detailed notes, and half of the stories that are there aren't true. So
we contacted some, and found that the situations are not that bad.
There's about 46 of them. With the exception of the one that pulled a
gun on the bishop, we plan to contact everyone of them. We have found
through this that people are prepared behind these doors. They just
need a loving hand.
I was called a "sudo Christian" this week. I didn't even know what
that meant until I ran into a guy that was persistently looking to
bash. He works as a "bible councilor" for his church. It was at that
point that I realized how hard it was to love someone that literally
compares you to Satan. It also presses your nerves when he says "hope
you find Christ someday". Then says that my feelings aren't from the
spirit of God, but that they are coming from Beelzebub which is the
Name of a Philistine god. Used as a title for the “chief of the
demons,” or Satan. The Pharisees referred to him as the “prince of the
devils” (Matt. 12:24). Jesus denied that He cast out devils by the
power of Beelzebub (Luke 11:14–20). Also 2 Kgs. 1:1–6, where it is
spelled Baalzebub.
Whipped out Moroni 7:12-17 all things which are good cometh of God;
and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy
unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and
enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.
13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good
continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do
good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
14 Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge
that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to
be of the devil.
15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may
know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may
know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
I thought that was a pretty simple doctrine. But of coarse it went no
where. Good night.
I had a good week, I just feel like I've been treading though bashes
lately. Some weeks we find, and we have success and our people
progress. Other weeks we find that the bells of hell ring after us,
and we are working against n resistance. This was one of those weeks.
Jared is still so cute and fun! Missionaries have fun too!
My handsome boy
Searching for big Ronda?
Washer flooded....oops!
June 6,2016
Hello!
This week was pretty eventful. Elder Monroe got transferred, so that
was cool. My new comp is chill too. 2 areas in our zone got white
washed, so that has been pretty stressful. They also realigned the
districts. I'm super excited though because our zone is stacked with
sweet missionaries!
That's about all I have for this week. Nothing too crazy.
This week was pretty eventful. Elder Monroe got transferred, so that
was cool. My new comp is chill too. 2 areas in our zone got white
washed, so that has been pretty stressful. They also realigned the
districts. I'm super excited though because our zone is stacked with
sweet missionaries!
That's about all I have for this week. Nothing too crazy.
Monday, June 6, 2016
May 30,2016
I have been to sooooo many graduation party's this week. Tongans eat a
lot of food, and I get fatter, and fatter because of that fact.
This week was sweet! We contacted like crazy, it's weeks like these
that I actually believe I'm a good missionary, and know what I'm
doing. I've learned that those moments only come so often as a
missionary. Most of the time I still don't know what I'm doing.
Monday night we got a media referral from some member that lives in
Platte City (bout 45 minutes away from our area) The person lives in
Blue Springs, and the referral stated this in the description "Looking
for a church". Those kinds of referrals mean 1 of 2 things. 1.)
someone's looking to bible bash 2.) Looking for new world Christian
values, and will likely become less interested when you come to the
door. We contacted the Women, and she said "WOW Elders, that was fast.
I knew you were coming, I just didn't know it would be that quickly.
Can you come by Friday?" I have honestly never had someone dropped my
path that was THAT prepared. Monday's are extremely tough as a
missionary. You're trunky from writing home, you're tired from P-Day
sports, and you just don't want to get moving again. But the Lord in
his grace and mercy set a fire under us that we could not comprehend
at that moment. We sat in our car for five minutes just staring off
into the distance. We were dumb founded with gratitude.
Going from that spiritual high we went to our next appointment with a
women that has sincerely been investigating the church for a year. Her
husband and his family are all members of the church, and she has
studied diligently for a long time. We sat there, and I prayed
fervently for the gift of discernment. I saw her as God sees her, a
struggling confused women, who is trying to overcome the problem of
being raised in a different world than me. I put myself in her shoes,
I thought about my beliefs and how much I truly get frustrated when
people don't understand me. As we read Alma 32 with her, I could see
her mind begin to be enlightened. Her countenance was bright. When the
time was right I asked her "what are your concerns with the things you
read here?" She said "I have none, I just wish I knew more of what it
was" I saw that as a good desire. Just as Alma had mentioned, it was a
"good seed" We set some goals, and she told us that she wasn't trying
as hard as she felt she should be. I truly believe that she will get
baptized, I can see her in the Celestial room of the temple, and
furthermore in the sealing room with her spouse.
We also had a great miracle with prayer. At district meeting we asked
the district to pray specifically that the Lord would prepare a way
for our friend to get baptized. I won't mention his name, or any names
for that matter due to data privacy laws. He is 16 years old, and
lives with a less active family 2 days out of the week. The other
family he was staying with had him on the weekends and they made him
attend a baptist church. When we met him, his countenance was rather
dark, and he showed no signs of any hope. After a few minutes he was
talking to us about all kinds of questions about life. He wondered if
he really had a purpose. He became a foster child at about 12, and has
never had a steady home. His mother was addicted to drugs, and when he
turned her in for dealing, she told the court that she doesn't want
him back. With that heart breaking story, I was in tears. I have never
felt such compassion in my life. After the district prayed, and much
fasting, we went to his appointment and he announced that he would be
living full time with the less active family. He will be baptized on
the 11th.
I attached a photo of the district with President and Sister Vest.
They are the best! President Vest amazes me with the things he can do,
I can't even imagine the stress he is put under as a mission
president. I think he only sleeps 3 hours.
lot of food, and I get fatter, and fatter because of that fact.
This week was sweet! We contacted like crazy, it's weeks like these
that I actually believe I'm a good missionary, and know what I'm
doing. I've learned that those moments only come so often as a
missionary. Most of the time I still don't know what I'm doing.
Monday night we got a media referral from some member that lives in
Platte City (bout 45 minutes away from our area) The person lives in
Blue Springs, and the referral stated this in the description "Looking
for a church". Those kinds of referrals mean 1 of 2 things. 1.)
someone's looking to bible bash 2.) Looking for new world Christian
values, and will likely become less interested when you come to the
door. We contacted the Women, and she said "WOW Elders, that was fast.
I knew you were coming, I just didn't know it would be that quickly.
Can you come by Friday?" I have honestly never had someone dropped my
path that was THAT prepared. Monday's are extremely tough as a
missionary. You're trunky from writing home, you're tired from P-Day
sports, and you just don't want to get moving again. But the Lord in
his grace and mercy set a fire under us that we could not comprehend
at that moment. We sat in our car for five minutes just staring off
into the distance. We were dumb founded with gratitude.
Going from that spiritual high we went to our next appointment with a
women that has sincerely been investigating the church for a year. Her
husband and his family are all members of the church, and she has
studied diligently for a long time. We sat there, and I prayed
fervently for the gift of discernment. I saw her as God sees her, a
struggling confused women, who is trying to overcome the problem of
being raised in a different world than me. I put myself in her shoes,
I thought about my beliefs and how much I truly get frustrated when
people don't understand me. As we read Alma 32 with her, I could see
her mind begin to be enlightened. Her countenance was bright. When the
time was right I asked her "what are your concerns with the things you
read here?" She said "I have none, I just wish I knew more of what it
was" I saw that as a good desire. Just as Alma had mentioned, it was a
"good seed" We set some goals, and she told us that she wasn't trying
as hard as she felt she should be. I truly believe that she will get
baptized, I can see her in the Celestial room of the temple, and
furthermore in the sealing room with her spouse.
We also had a great miracle with prayer. At district meeting we asked
the district to pray specifically that the Lord would prepare a way
for our friend to get baptized. I won't mention his name, or any names
for that matter due to data privacy laws. He is 16 years old, and
lives with a less active family 2 days out of the week. The other
family he was staying with had him on the weekends and they made him
attend a baptist church. When we met him, his countenance was rather
dark, and he showed no signs of any hope. After a few minutes he was
talking to us about all kinds of questions about life. He wondered if
he really had a purpose. He became a foster child at about 12, and has
never had a steady home. His mother was addicted to drugs, and when he
turned her in for dealing, she told the court that she doesn't want
him back. With that heart breaking story, I was in tears. I have never
felt such compassion in my life. After the district prayed, and much
fasting, we went to his appointment and he announced that he would be
living full time with the less active family. He will be baptized on
the 11th.
I attached a photo of the district with President and Sister Vest.
They are the best! President Vest amazes me with the things he can do,
I can't even imagine the stress he is put under as a mission
president. I think he only sleeps 3 hours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)