Week 66: Service for the Win

This week was fantastic!! We did lots :)

Tons of service this week:

Tuesday dug some fence post holes for the elders quorum president and primary president.  

Also on Tuesday we started the "Stop Smoking Workshop" with a man we are teaching.  I was pretty excited to see what would happen, we sometimes move furniture for him before or after a lesson, it seems like cigarettes fall out of everything haha.  They were EVERYWHERE!!

But when we taught him about the workshop, he understood it and committed to follow all 15 steps, most of which fall under 3 categories: stopping the cravings, filling the body with wholesome things, and, most important, involving our Heavenly Father.  This system is what can help us "put off the natural man."  We need to stop the bad, replace it with the good, and involve the Lord and rely on Him and His grace.  That is the pattern to become a Saint through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

General Conference was amazing as always!! We are so blessed to receive direction every six months from a Prophet of God to the world.  

We also served food at the local First Baptist Church in town. They serve a hot meal every Thursday at 5:00 sharp.  It was good to rub shoulders with people of all different faiths.  I was serving this pasta stuff next to a lady from that Baptist church, and it was wonderful to talk for an hour plus!! She asked lots of questions about our beliefs, our missions, and my family.  Service is wonderful! A lady from our congregation came to that dinner, and her daughter in law needed help that evening moving!! So we were able to help her as well. 

Also, I believe the best service I was able to render to people this week was teaching the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is the service that really helps others.  Without the Restored Gospel, I would be lost, afraid, and confused.  How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who honors his promises, blesses us with Prophets and Apostles, and covenants with us for our benefit!!  He truly is wonderful.

Love,

Elder Eliason

Praying mantis

                                      Elder Johnson schooling up some children on the blacktop