September 29 2008

Hey Everyone-
These past couple of days has been beautiful and we are starting to see much of the fruit of the labors we have preformed. I have felt like this transfer has been very busy in trying to build our teaching pool and diligently seeking those elect sons and daughters who are ready for our message. We have been blessed so much and we are now teaching a lot of people! I know in these next couple of weeks we will see baptisms! I have been very touched by the spirit and with the knowledge of how central it is in this work, it’s everything! Without the Lord’s spirit I am simple and weak and my inadequacies are very apparent. But when I have the companionship of the spirit, I feel my shortcomings become stronger and I can literally see the Lords hand guiding me and making me a tool in his hands and allowing me to do things that I normally am unable to do!
We had a great week, Tuesday we spent the first half of the day helping build a shed! It’s been a huge project and we were able to put the roof on along with its shingles! The rest of the day was the continual process of finding! We also had a lesson with Lori, we watched the movie The Testaments. I have personally seen that movie about a hundred times but it continues to always touch me. Later that evening we had the opportunity to give a Baptismal interview to one of our District Leaders investigators! We are looking forward to her being baptized on Tuesday; she had been investigating for over a year! Wednesday was also a good day; the main thing that happened was a lesson with a guy named Vince. He is a former Catholic Priest but fell away because of doctrines he didn’t agree with! We had a three and a half hour conversation with him; he is a very intelligent man and was at one point a professor at a University. Now I felt very inadequate in being able to carry a conversation with him on worldly matters, but when we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation I was teaching him eternal truths that made sense to him but were very new in his eyes! He believes Joseph Smith could be a prophet and we are now teaching him about the Book of Mormon!
Thursday was Interviews with President Moffat, he always speaks inspiring words and it was exactly what our missionaries needed to hear, he spoke about remembering our Covenants and Obedience. Our Mission is actually very obedient but if we want the blessings of heaven to pour upon our Mission, we need to continue to be Obedient. That night we had three lessons. We once again met with Lori and then we met with a wonderful less active family the Lords, they have three children who haven’t been baptized. Then we worked with Tony trying to teach him how important it is too pray and find out for himself if the Book of Mormon is true! He is slowly getting closer to really striving to find out what we are teaching him is true. He is so close but will be out of town this week to Germany! He works for Boeing and travels all across the World and trains all the military on certain products! Saturday I went on exchanges with the Assistants, it was very adventurous. As we were tracting we came across a black bear and her cub about 25 feet away, about 30 minutes later we saw a bobcat and then on the way home we saw a herd of Elk! It’s so gorgeous and my companion loves it since he is a huge hunter! The exchange went very well and I think I will be staying another Transfer!!!
Sunday went well, we had some marvelous experiences and even miracles but I feel like I don’t have the time nor the words to express it! So Mom and Dad you will have to wait until I send my journal home! Oh and Anna was confirmed a member today in Sharon, Vermont! She is so happy and such an amazing example of faith to me! Sunday night we had a lesson with a young couple whose only objective was to try and destroy our faith! Right when we walked into the home we could feel the spirit depart and we felt cold and I was shaking, at the time I didn’t recognize or notice why, but we soon found out! The wife had a Book of Mormon and tried to disprove it, we resolved her concerns and she really had nothing else to say after, but we did express to them it can’t be disproven. For hundreds of years scholars have tried and it’s always the exact same points they make against our church but, “The standard of Truth has been erected, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies assemble and calumny may defame but the Truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent”...(Joseph Smith)
My Testimony is ever maturing each and every day and it takes the joy of the work but also the Opposition to shape it and make it become a strong beacon! I know this gospel is true with all my heart and I can’t deny the spiritual witnesses I receive. I am once again blessed with a great family and friends who support me! I love you all so much!!!
Elder Russell