It takes True Faith

Dear Mom and Dad,
This week I am exhausted, we have been working our tails off. All the missionaries had a specialty training where our Mission President shares new things for us to do. The topic of this meeting was D&C 82:14, Zion needs to be strengthened and the Lord has shown President Clayton the how to accomplish this change. We are to be more and more diligent to our member oriented missionary efforts asking all even at the start of lessons, "While we share this message with you think and ponder if the spirit indicates anyone to you who may be in need of this message". Throughout that meeting the spirit flooded in as we began to envision the road we must trod if we are to get to 1000 baptisms this year..and right now we need a miracle to get on track. Our mission goals will take patience and long suffering, I have been able to gain a testimony over the months that Heavenly Father shapes us into whatever he needs us to become to be able to handle the next task. I have been able to see Elders and Sisters whole characters, nature and souls changed and that is because the Lord is in this work.

Elder Canlas and I have been changing everything we have been doing, reorganized all our files and plans to be able to help bring not only baptisms but the whole work of salvation, temple visits/ recommends and endowments. 

This week during our companionship inventory Elder Canlas made me a card that has my strengths and his thanks for making this his last transfer comfortable and full of miracles, one of the nicest things ever. 

Brigham I can't believe it you are 13 years old, hope you got my card in the mail, and that your birthday was fantastic! Happy Birthday buddy!

So school is starting and JJ your off to high school???? what!?? which school will you be going too? 

We have been able to find a lot of prepared people lately again this week we found another 4 new investigators. They unfortunately weren't able to meet with us this week but we pray for the future. Our Investigator Dustin is doing great, I made him a calendar to keep track of his smoking addiction, and he is doing soo well. He is down to 4 cigarettes a day so proud, he is reading, praying and attending church, he asked us a couple times for blessings and we obliged. He had us over for dinner and he feels that on Sept. 19 he will be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Please pray for Dustin he needs all the help he can get. 

London 2nd ward is finally growing on me, these are people who are different than your regular bunch of people but they are wonderful. They are missionary minded, have great kinds and are starting to work together to assist each other as a body of Christ which will bring out many miracles. 

In Sacrament the other day there was a member that spoke and during his talk he was talking about the Atonement and how it is free for us to use but takes true effect when we ourselves go and do the works that the Lord puts in our way. He said " The Atonement is the wildcard for our salvation, but beware to not put in our own efforts. In math when 0 is squared (our efforts) by even infinity (Christ's efforts) is still a great big fat 0." I thought that was awesome to think about. 

This week I talked to a less active man on the phone and we talked for a while and he was expressing that the church to him isn't true, that it is just by the grace of Jesus Christ that we are saved not by anything we do, our efforts mean nothing. I told him that I would agree that Grace saves us completely other wise when we die that would be the end of all human kind, and yet the Lord still asks and requires something of ourselves for Salvation from our sins that only comes by making the efforts to follow in discipleship, not just sit on our butts and wait for the judgement day. Salvation is not a cheap experience and it takes TRUE FAITH which is defined as acting upon the beliefs and standards that a person has. It is not enough to say "I believe", it is not enough to just attend our meetings, it is not enough to take one step through baptism and then stop there. There is to much work for us to do for the power of the Atonement to go and change all man kinds hearts and help the come to Christ themselves. We need to reach out and be an example. If anyone thinks other contrary, "not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father". If you are not putting in your efforts your foundation and "house is built upon the sand" and at the last day it will fall.

I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough to keep telling us and motivating us to move forward and "endure to the end", that we can enter into the kingdom of heaven.

He gives us Prophets to guide us and to show us the way and that we may know how to be truly happy. 

I love this Gospel it is true and it is the only way to happy, Amen.

Elder Muirhead



Note:
*8.5 months until he's home.