Week 49

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Cox

 Monday: pretty typical pday... Nothing real interesting.
Tuesday: didn't go to Foodbank today, had a lesson with Olivia which
ended up just being with her family. Lesson went well actually, set
expectations with them, they promised to be at church, and they did
come. Decided it would be more affective to drop Olivia and focus more
on the whole family in general. We then went over to joes for a lesson
to help him quit smoking.
Wednesday: had district meeting which went well, learned some
interesting things about dropping people and helping them progress.
Had a lesson with Hannah and Tyna in the evening which was stressful.
Tyna loves to talk, a lot...
Thursday: Had a lesson with Jodi this morning. We mostly talked about
the temple and helped her prepare to do baptisms for the dead. Went to
Foodbank, had some fun there and then went to the apartment to prepare
some more for our lessons this evening. First lesson was with Hannah,
since Tyna talks so much we invited her to stay in her room. Lesson
went a lot smoothing this time. We then had a lesson with Carlos,
awesome lesson. We taught practically the whole restoration lesson
using only the Bible. After that lesson I feel he has a lot more
understanding of things. He isn't all the way there but close☺️
Friday: weekly planning day... Spent most of the day weekly planning
which went well.
Saturday: went out of my mission boundaries for the first time in 11
months. Had a temple trip with Jodi this morning to do baptisms for
the dead at the Gilbert temple. It was a wonderful experience to see
her do it for the first time. She literally could not stop talking
about it afterwards and was so happy. She said the spirit was non stop
the whole time. I love the temple and I love that we can do ordinances
for people that didn't get a chance to do them for themselves while
they were here on earth☺️
Sunday: crazy day... Hannah wasn't able to come to church today
because she was with family so Tyna came by herself. Tyna wouldn't
stop "whispering" during sacrament meeting. And what I mean by
"whispering" is talking at a volume of voice most people talk in. Oh
Tyna... Gotta love her haha. That less active family we have been
teaching came today finally! They tried to skip out before sacrament
meeting ended but we directed them to class. They did slip out after
that though, it is a big improvement from previous times they have
come. After church the bishop of the ward gave Tyna a blessing. The
blessing went well and I pray it will help her with her rage and
cancer. We then went home and did studies.
During my studies this week I did a focus on the Atonement. The power
of the atonement that Christ performed is infinite. Most people are
familiar with the Redeeming and cleansing power of the atonement
rather than the strengthening and enabling power of it. Through the
atonement we can be blessed with the strength to overcome trials.
Nephi is a perfect example of someone who was strengthened by the
atonement, literally. Nephi in this part of the Book of Mormon was
tied up by his brothers, and through this simple prayer he was able to
free himself. He said,"I prayed unto the Lord saying: O Lord,
according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the
hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst
these bands with which I am bound" (1 Nephi 7:17).
We can learn from his example. Heavenly Father isn't just going to
give us what we want if we don't work for it. I testify that through
the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be strengthened to overcome even
our hardest trials. I've seen how I have been given the strength to
work when I'm exhausted on my mission and that through my prayers he
gave me that strength to push through. I invite you to apply all
aspects of atonement. Love you all! Have a great week!

We got Cafe Rio!

Only in Tucson

Gilbert AZ Temple

Elder Cox, Jodi, and Elder Smith

Jodi