Tuesday, February 23, 2016

It's hard to put it into words.

I know that Jesus Christ loves us. I know He wants what is best for us. I believe He helps us in any trials and any struggles we have. It is because He loves us, which is why He lets us have hard times in our lives. Christ is the bread of life, we must partake of that bread on a daily bases in order to not go too hungry. You might ask yourself, how do I eat this spiritual food? The answer is in the Gospel, first we must have faith that Christ is our Savior, we do this by reading from the scriptures at least once a day, ideally multiple times a day. Second, we must know that God is real, we do this by praying, we must pray with real intent meaning we must be willing to act on the answer we receive, we must be willing to allow God to speak back to us. Third, we have to do what we have come to know is right, we do this by going to Church every Sunday and partake of the Sacrament. Through the Sacrament, we are able to renew our Baptismal covenants. It is like a roller coaster, when we partake of the Sacrament we are brought back to the top, as we go through out the week, we slowly go down hill, if we get to the bottom, the ride ends and the joy is over, so we have to take the sacrament in order to get back to the top, so that we can continue to have joy.

I feel like this the Gospel is essential to life, and I know Christ gave us the Gospel. It all starts with having faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He has paid for our sins. The second is trying to repent of our past mistakes, True Repentance comes when we want to change for the better. We must then be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. We need the Holy Ghost in order to follow the last part, that is Endure to the End. I learned that Endure using the Greek translation means, to become perfect, like unto God. Part of Enduring is the Sacrament.

Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us! He wants us, His children, to be happy, so he gave us Agency. I know we are loved. I ask, can you feel of His love in the way you live your life? If not, I ask you to seek the spirit in finding what you need to change in your life in order to more readily feel of His love, and bring you joy. I know prayer is powerful and it works, we can talk to our Heavenly Father, and He will listen and answer us. Heavenly Father is a God who cares.

If you have not read the Book of Mormon, do it! If you have not prayed to know it is true, do it! If you have not received and answer that it is right, get to a point where you can pray with real intent. I know these things to be true, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Warkentin

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Happy post Family Day & Valentines Day!

Well, as the title might suggest, the past 2 days have been holidays. It was good because we got to catch a lot of people home. It was not so good because a lot of people were spending time with family and loved ones, making it hard to set up appointments.

This past week, we saw a really cool miracle happen. we got a new investigator and we were able to teach him the first 3 lessons this past week. He already has prayed to know the Book of Mormon is true, and received his answer that it is true. He has been praying and reading in the Scriptures every day. The best part is, he committed to be baptized on the 12th of March. So if you would like to pray for him that he would make that date, that would be awesome.

This past Sunday there was a less active that showed up to church, he had apparently fallen into inactivity because of his job in the oil field. well, as some of you might know, the oil field is coming to a stand still here in Canada. So as a result, there have been some people who have almost been compelled back into activity. Although, what ever the reasons are, as people come back to activity, I know they will be able to feel the Holy Ghost in there lives. I know that Heavenly Father gives us trials so that we can learn and grow closer to Him.

I know we are all loved by a Father in Heaven who cares about His Children. I know He wants us to come back to Him. I know Christ is our Savior. I know there is a work for us to do. Amen.

Love,
Elder Warkentin

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.

Well first you have to ask. How would you ask someone who is not on the earth? Well, I think I would start by checking to know if God exists, if no, there is no point in going further; if yes, we should kneel down and try praying. Once you have prayed, you have to find the answer to that prayer. Now you have to ask, how would we receive an answer? Well, I would start by seeing if the scriptures are true, if no, then there is no God; if yes, then we can see what God has told us to do in the Scriptures. Once we have received our answer, we need to act on it. Now if we believe the scriptures to be true, then that would mean we need to have faith, now faith is manifest by our willingness and application of working as hard as we can to have something happen, then God makes up the difference.

With that in mind, as we have gone about in faithful prayer this past week, we have continued to find constant success. We went out on blitz this past Sunday and we were able to get in and visit with 11 less active people in the branch, all in one night. Then just through out this past week, we have seen many miracles happen, we got a new Investigator who has already been doing much studying on his own even before we had the first lesson, because we left him with a Book of Mormon. Then at church, we had a few less actives and an investigator come to church.

Something that our branch has also been doing is a 40 day fast. I know it has been helping many people have more of a focus on Missionary work. Fasting can bring many Miracles. I am glad I live in an age where Miracles happen (since the Restoration through Joseph Smith).

Also this past week, I was on exchanges, and we had a day where we went tracting (where we knocked on doors). We were able to find a family for the area I was in that has truly been prepared, both the Husband and Wife are wanting to hear the Gospel in their lives. I know that as we continue in prayer, we will see many great things happen.

I know this church is true, and I don't know how anyone can deny the truth found in it. I know God is real and I know He loves us. He wants us to return to Him, just like and father, He loves us. I know His Son, Jesus Christ loves us just as much; just like any brother.

I hope everyone is able to see miracles happen in their lives.

Love,
Elder Warkentin

A video of a Moose that chased after us, after running out in front of us:

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

keeping it short and sweet.

This past week we have been trying to get around to meet the different members of our branch and ward. We have been busy enough that we have had to try and cut the amount of time we would spend in the lesson down a bit. We have been trying to challenge them to help find some one that they can share the Gospel message with. We have been trying to get to know the different members here so that we can figure out best how we can help them.

It was also cool, yesterday we were going over to teach a returning less active and it so happened that he got a new room mate, who is now interested in the lessons we have to teach. We have been able to fill up our schedules to use our time a lot more effectively.

I know this is the work that I was called here to do. I know that our Heavenly Father knows me. I know that Joseph Smith was called by God to be a prophet in these the latter days. I know Tomas S Monson is the current prophet at this time. I know Jesus Christ lives and loves us all.

I hope everyone has a great week ahead.

Love,
Elder Warkentin