Week 47

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Cox

Dear Friends and Family,

Monday: Happy 4th. There was a pancake breakfast at the church this morning and almost all the people we invited actually came which was exciting. While at the breakfast we handed out two Book of Mormons to non members who came. The night before we set a goal to hand out one BOM. Had dinner at Roy's which was fun, I cooked everyone burgers. 

Tuesday: Had a lesson with Jodi this morning, went to Foodbank, had a lesson with David, and talked with Travis from the Foodbank about the gospel! Travis brought us to Chick-fil-a for dinner and ended up sharing pretty much the whole restoration with him. Went really well, it's a lot easier to share something you really love and care about with someone you really love and care about. We had a great lesson after that with the Tafoya's, we had an amazing experience of helping Silvia recognize her prayers have been answered. She started to get emotional as we talked about how we know when the spirit talks with us. Something I have really noticed since teaching the Tafoya's is the Gospel truly does bless families. Through our invitations to them they have progressively come closer as a family and been more happy. Also met with Tyna tonight which went a lot better than previous meetings, she didn't swear once and was modest:)

Wednesday: Zone meeting was today which was good. Sister Passey gave a really good lesson on baptism. A lot of our lessons fell through today, did see Nacho and the Mulleneaux's. That was fun. 

Thursday: Awesome day! One of the most busy days of my mission. Well... It started out rough, my ring was stuck on my finger, and kinda started to hurt. Other than that it was great. Today we taught a total of 5 member present lessons, 2 Less active/Recent convert lessons, found 2 new investigators, and set one baptismal date! Great day! All of our appointments went great as well. Feel like we really made a difference in people's lives. 

Friday: Weekly planning day as usual... Roy was awesome and brought us to Costco for lunch.

Saturday: Great day! Had a fantastic lesson with the Tafoya's at the temple site this morning. After that we went to the church for there baptismal interviews! They went great and are ready for baptism on the 16th:) The rest of the day we finished weekly planning. 

Sunday: Tafoya's were the only one who showed up today. Brother Tafoya passed the sacrament today which was really cool. After church today we brought Tyna and Hannah a bunch of furniture that a really nice lady who isn't even a member donated. Had a lesson with Selena, Sister Martinez's sister on the restoration. Going back over today to teach the plan of salvation.

Today I would like to share these awesome 17 scriptures with you. The story behind the scriptures are pretty cool as well. They all come from the bible and these selected were selected by a group of friends in college who had a question. It was, "If Christs church was on the earth today, what qualifications must they have in order to be really Christs church." These college students were not members until years later after years of searching for a church that had those qualifications in their doctrine, they all showed up at the same LDS church the same day, unplanned. 

I'd like to bear testimony that I know there was a Apostacy and that the church needed to be restored to the earth through a prophet. It was prophesied in the Bible in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 in the Kings James Version which says:

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

A lot of people do not want to believe that people did not "endure sound doctrine." Many people today still do. Many people having "itching ears".  “itching ears” meaning those who choose to listen only to those things that they wish to hear. 

These scriptures do need to be studied to understand but I promise you that these 17 points are qualities of Christs church he had on the earth and we have it on the earth today.

17 points of the True Church

1. Christ organized the Church. Eph. 4:11-14

2. The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ. Eph. 5:23

3. The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets. Eph. 2:19-20

4. The true church must have the same organization as Christ's church. Eph. 4:11-14

5. The true church must claim Devine authority. Heb. 5:4-10

6. The true church must have no paid ministry. Isa. 45:13 1 Peter 5:2

7.  The true church must baptize by immersion. Matt. 3:14-15

8. The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Acts 8:14-17

9. The true church must practice Devine healing. Mark 3:14-15

10. The true church must teach that God and Jesus are separate and distinct individuals. John 17:11 and John 20:17

11. The true church must teach that God and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bone. Luke 24:36-39 and Acts 1:9-11

12. The officers must be called by God. Heb. 5:4, Exodus 28:1, Exodus 40:13-16

13. The true church must claim revelation from God. Amos 3:7

14. The true church must be a missionary church. Matt. 28:19-20

15. The true church must be a restored church. Acts 3:19-20

16. The true church must practice baptism for the dead. 1 Cor. 15-16 and 29

17. By their fruits ye shall know them. Matt. 7:20

Why are these things important?? Hebrew 13:8

I love this gospel, I love the Joy and happiness it has brought into my life and my families life. Love you all! Please take the time to go through these scriptures and study them:) It could change your life. 

Love,

Elder Smith