The Music of Missionary Work

Family,

It's good to hear that Emma is working so very hard that means she can take me out to dinner when I get home with all this money she is making?? But it is a bummer she didn't get to ride the new roller coaster. What is it called? It looks pretty epic! I'm sure it is really odd going from noisy kids to nothing just like that. But I'm sure Nate and Emma make plenty of noise. Also I will keep Alan in my prayers and I'm glad everything went well with the operation.

To be honestly I definitely thought that we would be using the iPads way more than we are. They are a great resource for studies and to show the occasional clip to an investigator, but other than that we don't use them much. We will be using them more once we get approved to use Facebook and FaceTime and things, but for right now I honestly just use mine to study. I prefer doing most of the talking in lessons so I tend not to use it there much at all. But it will come when I'm more familiar with using them in teaching and finding situations. To answer your next question our next transfer date will be the 8th of July, next Wednesday. We are getting our new mission president on the 30th actually. So tomorrow he comes in and has about an hour with President Rasmussen and then President Rasmussen goes home. I'm super conflicted in my emotions because on one hand I don't want President Rasmussen to go home. But on the other I'm excited for the change and for the chance to learn from a new mission president, so we'll see how this week goes. We get to meet President Leppard this Friday at a zone conference in Cardiff so that'll be fun. The drive to Cardiff is beautiful but also like two and a half hours, so worth it though. Just pray that I don't crash, ha ha....

You guys remember the conference talk the music of the gospel right? Well this week was a bit rough and it was because I stopped hearing the music of missionary work. We can all agree that missionary work is hard right? Well it's even harder when you stop hearing the music because then you are just doing super tiring dance steps for no reason at all other than that you have to. I found out this week that if you just try to go through the motions and do the dance of missionary work then all your gonna get is frustration and exhaustion. Without that reward of feeling good because you want to do good it's not even worth it. If your just gonna go out to endure the two years because it's a responsibility then it's almost not worth going. But if you really listen and feel for the music of missionary work suddenly in almost an instant, it becomes the best thing in the world. A scripture that comes to mind is Alma 32:27-28. It reads,

"But behold, if ye will awake and [do your morning exercise], even to an experiment upon my words (personal study), and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to [go finding], let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves--It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word (music) is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me."

This week I was trying to do missionary work on my own with no help from anyone let alone taking the time to listen. It was harder than its ever been. I realized at the end of the week that if I wasn't going to do it for the right reasons and listen to the music it wasn't worth doing. I'm really grateful for some awesome wards members and a few mini miracles to really help me start to hear the music again, cause I must have looked ridiculous doing those dance steps in a very awkward and forced way.                            

Hopefully this week will be a week full of music and many miracles for you all!

Love,

Elder Kmetzsch