What a good Thanksgiving!

Well, to start off, we had Thanksgiving yesterday. We had the Members we live with have a few sets of Missionaries over for dinner who didn't have one. So we got a Thanksgiving picture together:

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So then this past week we went out tracting, out of 9 houses we knocked on, 5 of them answered the door, out of those 5, 3 of them are interested in having us come back to teach them more about the Gospel. So that just shows that there are many people who have been prepared to hear the Gospel.

If anyone has any Ideas on how to help someone want to come to church, please share?

Love always,

Elder Warkentin

What a Great Conference

I thought it was awesome to have seen 3 new Apostle's called this weekend, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson and Elder Dale G. Renlund. I know they have been called of God. I know that they will help teach us the Gospel in ways we can understand it.

I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk on Saturday morning, he focused on not over complicating the Gospel. In reality the Gospel of Jesus Christ is very basic. All it comes down to is having Faith in Jesus Christ, Continually repenting, getting baptized and continually partaking of the Sacrament, Using The Holy Ghost, and Staying strong until the end. We should look for the simple truths. We should simplify what we know.

Also I learned about how if we have enough faith, we can ask God and receive an answer to what ever we ask Him. Just think, all we have to do is ask!

I know that The Book of Mormon is true (I have prayed about it), I know the Bible is True (I have also prayed about it), I know that Joseph Smith IS a prophet ( I have prayed about it), I know Thomas S Monson is our current and living prophet (I have prayed about it), I know Jesus Christ is our Savior (I have prayed about it), I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father (I have prayed about it). I know that you can come to this a surety for you self, all you have to do is pray bout it with a sincere heart.

I love you all. I know God loves you.

Love,

Elder Warkentin

P.S. We got an Investigator on date this past week.

P.S.S. Here is a picture of me:

As people go to school, the work shall pick up.

So this past week we were able to finally meet with some of our Investigators that we haven't been able to meet with for over a month. Some of them go to school, so with it starting they felt like it was hard to plan anything with them trying to figure out there schedules. It has been awesome, we have a family that we were able to meet with twice this past week and they are planing on coming to watch General Conference with us. It was also awesome because we found them while we were out Tracting a couple months ago and we have found out that they have some Member friends.

It was also awesome this past week, we have a recently activated member who went through the temple for the first time in more then 10 years. There is also another Member that has officially been declared active that we have been working with. I feel the biggest part to helping them stay active is having the fellowship of the other fellow members.

Also this past Saturday, we were able to help out with the Food Drive for the Food Bank that was going on in my area. Here is a picture of it.

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Then I had made a couple carvings in my spare time, here is how they turned out:

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I love you all.

Love,

Elder Warkentin

Mission Tour with Elder Golden

So this past week we had Elder Cristoffel Golden come to our Mission to speak with us. Some of the cool things he taught us is that us, being set apart as Missionaries, are Ministers of Jesus Christ. As such, we have the power to confess it. If anyone who has not been properly tries to confess it, the Light of Christ will not recognize it and the people we talk to will be able to tell the difference. I know through prayer, I have gotten a confirmation that The Book of Mormon is True, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and translated The Book of Mormon. I know that the Priesthood power to act in Gods name has been restored through Joseph Smith and is on the earth today. I know that anyone of you who asks God with a sincere desire to find the truth, will come to the same conclusion I have.

Another think that he brought up is that we as Missionaries have been called to bring the world the truth. Also, we are to convert people to the truth. It is not our primary purpose to gain a testimony, that is something we should have already, however, as we help others by studying and teaching, we will be able to strengthen our testimony. I know the Lord has called me to be a teacher for him. It is my job to allow the Holy Ghost to work through me to help those around me. That being said, I do feel like my testimony has become stronger the more I teach.

I love you all. I hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Warkentin

Things to come.

So since we had Pday quite late last week, not a whole lot has happened. Although we have had quite a bit of bike troubles the past few days, however they are all fixed. Also we had one of our most promising investigators decide to stop meeting with us, however, he seems like he will continue to try to learn the truth.

Now things to expect about this coming week. We have Elder Christoffel Golden of the seventies coming to our mission this coming week for Mission Tour. I think it will be good.

As for me I know that as we try to provide charity toward those in our lives, we will be able to feel of the love the Savior has for us. As we are commanded to become like Jesus Christ, we know that he went about trying to provide service for everyone that was in his path. As we are able to help everyone that comes up in our path, we will be able to feel true love for them and help them to love us back. I would just Invite all to try to provide service for someone along there way to where they are going this coming week.

I love you all. I hope all y'all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Warkentin

Service like the savior.

So for starting off this week, it has been a crazy week. Last Wednesday was transfer meeting and I got a new companion. Then we have the part for which my pday was moved back to today. So for the past 3 days 6 of us missionaries, including myself, have been helping out at the habitat for humanity restore, helping them unload some Windows. They got a shipment of 3 semi trucks full of Windows, some of them weighing close to two thousand pounds. Do we were helping them with taking them off the trucks. I could definitely tell that there must have been help coming from heaven to have gotten them all done.

Then for the second part I wanted to talk about the Book of Mormon. As I have done some studying, I don't think I can say if any better then Elder Holland: "May I refer to a modern "last days" testimony? When Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart of his brother:

'Thou hast been faithful; wherefore … thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father'... As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth? Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be "houseless, friendless and homeless" and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor. Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon." I would like to add myself that this church is the only one I would ever choose, because no other church offers eternal salvation. Also Joseph Smith had said that the true church would never be taken away from this earth again. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all, and I know Christ loves you.

Love,

Elder Warkentin

It is transfer time again.

So this past week was great because we got this new investigator who had called us up randomly the other day and he had gotten our number from a coworker and decided he wanted to take the lessons from us missionaries. He is awesome because he has shown a willing heart and wants to truly learn more about the Gospel. There are so many people that will let us come over and teach them, however they usually seem like they just aren't genuinely interested in learning all that they can while being here on this earth.

I know that as we look for opportunities to share the gospel, they will present themselves. I know that Heavenly Father has sent us where we need to be. He knows what our strengths are and He know what our weakness's are. He will help us through the hard times we have in our lives if only we pray and ask for his help. He wants to give us help, however, he also wants what is best for us and if we need to go through tough trials in order to come out stronger and be able to make it through tougher times, then He will do what he can to make it better for us.

Last thing though is that we got Transfer call's yesterday and I am getting a new companion, Elder Meldrum.

I love you all and I know God loves you. I hope you all have a great week to come.

Love,

Elder Warkentin