Open your mouth buddy!

I think I've mentioned this before but I love Tim's letters to Tab. Occasionally, I will post one if the message is worth sharing. This week was one of those. So, I will share both father and son's letters.

Hi Tab,

I hope you are having a great day and that your week has gone well. We think of you constantly and pray for you all the time. Having you on a mission is a great blessing to our family. Thank you for your hard work and devotion. I hope that you feel blessed for your efforts.

We received a copy of the letter sent to you by President Jeppson when you were called to be a trainer.  What a great letter!  I hope that you will take the time to read it frequently so that you can understand his expectations for you as Elder Pabla's trainer and be encouraged by his trust and confidence in you.  You have a great president. Follow him!

This week was a little unusual with your mom away in Georgia.  We did fine without her — not as well as we do with her though! It was pretty uneventful really, which is probably good.

How are your investigators?  I really appreciate the thorough rundown that you gave us last week. I hope you were able to meet with them this week and that they continue to progress towards conversion and baptism.

I have had a thought on my mind this week and on other occasions that I feel like I should share with you.  It is a simple thought, but it may help you and guide your decisions. The thought is this: "Our Heavenly Father loves ALL his children."  I'm sure that you have run across many individuals that are hard to love and for whom it is difficult to imagine how they might contribute to His Kingdom. Remember that our Heavenly Father loves them.

To close, here's a thought from Elder Ballard from this last General Conference:

You don’t have to be an outgoing person or an eloquent, persuasive teacher. If you have an abiding love and hope within you, the Lord has promised if you “lift up your voices unto this people [and] speak the thoughts that [He] shall put into your hearts, … you shall not be confounded before men;

“[And] it shall be given you … in the very moment, what ye shall say” (D&C 100:5–6).

Preach My Gospel reminds all of us that “nothing happens in missionary work until [we] find someone to teach. Talk with as many people as you can each day. It is natural to be somewhat apprehensive about talking to people, but you can pray for the faith and strength to be more bold in opening your mouth to proclaim the restored gospel” ([2004], 156–57). You full-time missionaries, if you want to teach more, you must talk to more people every day. This has always been what the Lord has sent missionaries forth to do.

Open your mouth buddy and have a great week!

Love,

Dad

Dad,

Thanks for the thought! I can relate. There are many people that we meet that are hard to love. I think it is particularly more difficult to have patience with them. I would say that patience is one of the greatest sub-attributes of Christ-like love. I do well to stay patient during affliction, but my patience with people who don't keep commitments is not what it should be. I pray that I can have the same patience God has for me. :) 

 

That letter president sent me was super neat! I could tell it was specifically written to me, which means a lot considering how busy he is already. I will continue to look over it... it's almost like a patriarchal blessing! 

 

Our investigators are good. Many of them are in the same position... they do not come to church with us. But there are also many who do that are choosing to take things slow. On average, we have about 4 investigators at church each week. But probably about half of them are not progressing at a very fast pace, sadly. We found some great new investigators this week - one in particular that will join the church soon. Her name is Daphney. She's about 30 years old. She is the sister of an active member. She had been taught by missionaries in the past and never felt ready to be baptized but she told us in the first visit that she is ready now. She is awesome. We saw her 3 times last week. She really enjoys having us over and it's nice because we teach her in a members home and so we don't have to do much to set up fellowship for her at church. She came to church on Sunday but left within a few minutes because her son had a fever : ( Member referrals are awesome. I wish we received more.

 

Comfort and her daughter are doing well too. We're trying to gauge how strong her desire is to join the church. I think she'd do everything we ask and be baptized but as far as conversion to the doctrine of Christ, I am not sure. Anyway, we'll figure that out soon.

 

Thanks again for the thought. I hope you have an awesome week. Stay busy, but not too busy!

 

Love,

Tab