It's Been a Month?!
Hey all!
Quick comment before I start to try and cram this weeks experiences into one email; This week has been the only week of my life that I have been sick for the whole week (head cold and a sore throat), and yet gone to bed with a smile on my face every night. This work is truly the work of the Lord. Even though I know I haven't been as happy as if I was healthy, I do know that it is such an uplifting thought to know that I am on the Lords errand, and that He has given so much to me, so I know I need to give my all back to Him.
The first of the experiences I would like to relate is one I had last Thursday. We were assigned to teach in TRC. Which is pretty much teaching a member who speaks your language a family home evening lesson. It is really fun now that we are picking up on the language, because most of the people who come in are grandpas and grandmas because they are the ones with the time. They just will go off on tangents the whole time, telling stories about their childhood and about their grandkids. It is really funny, because even though our vocab is mostly religious based at this point, we can still understand nearly everything they are saying! Although because of the lack of vocab our answers have been pretty funny sometimes... haha, oh well. During this last week we taught a lady who had come here from the Netherlands for school and ended up just staying the rest of her life up to this point. She was really great and very talkative, and at the end of our lesson she asked where each of us were from. When I said I was from Utah and have lived here my whole life she seemed a little surprised because as she told me I apparently have a German accent when I speak Dutch. We had a good laugh about that and I told her that it must be the two years of German I took in High School finding it's way to my mouth. Crazy right? I wonder if this will be helpful or beneficial when I get to the Netherlands. Because as our teachers have told us, the reason missionaries and people in general don't wear helmets while riding bikes in Belgium and the Netherlands is because people associate helmets with Nazi Germany, and all the soldiers who caused so much pain to those two countries during the Second World War. Apparently if people see you wearing a helmet there, they will throw rocks at you and push you into the canals, not because you are a missionary but because of your helmet and the memories it brings. I hope that will help put you to ease mom ;)
My next thought is short and it comes from a devotional we had on Sunday. I can't remember the speaker but he talked about the importance of keeping a study/inspiration journal, and returning to it and studying it for patterns, because it will help you pick out and understand how the Lord specifically talks to you. His talk went great with that of Sister Hills (Branch Presidents Wife) during sacrament meeting. She also talked about receiving inspiration, and gave us some advice that she had found in a conference talk by Elder Scott I believe, and it is that we should keep a journal and a pen next to where we sleep at night. This is because many times, when we are asleep and in the still of the night, it is one of the only times when our spirit and mind are clear and calm enough to receive inspiration. By doing this we also show that Lord that we the inspiration he gives us and are ready to receive it.
My last thought this week is that I would very strongly recommend for all who read this to watch the Mormon message entitled "The Hope of God's Light". We watched it our first week here and if has been truly mind blowing the ability it has given us to think about our message from that of an investigator. It has also given me such a better understanding of why sometimes our answers from God are not given right away. I connected this message with some scriptures I found in personal study at the beginning of the week, and Elder Cook and I have been sharing it with our investigators trying to help their understanding of how the spirit teaches. The scriptures are 1st Corinthians 3:1-2 and they say: "And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." I would also connect this as to one reason why Christ would talk in parables, he knew that if he just told people they would gain nothing, but it they were ready to receive they would put the effort into understanding the parable, and would be ready not only to learn from the words and story, but from the spirit.
Ik weet dat dit waar is. Ik weet dat dit is het evangelie van Jezus Christus. Ik weet dat dit evangelie is herstellt te de aarde door de profeet Joseph Smith. Ik weet dat God willt antword onze gebeden, en dat hij echt. Ik weet dat door zijn zonde, Jezus Christus, wij kunnen met onze families leven naar dit leven. Wij kunnen leven in zijn teganwordighijd. Ik weet dat om een antword te ontvangen, wij moeten heb geloof. I weet personlijk, dat de Heilige Geest geebt ons de geft von tallen, troost, en inspiratie. Ik houd von de mensen van de Nederland en Belgie, en ik houd van Jullie. Dit ik sagt in de naam van Jezus Christus, amen.
Love,
Elder Hayden L. Lott
Hey another quick thought, we get travel plans on Friday!
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| With the Suriname (South American country) Dutchies |
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| With the Icelandic Missionaries |
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| With Elder Jordan Miller! |
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