Hardest Part of my Week = Figuring out the Title of my Email.

KJ and M** were baptized this week!  Baptisms will never get old.  They stress you out and can be hectic at times... but I would do anything and everything to put myself through more "baptism stress."  haha  I was asked to baptize **K and Elder Horan was asked to baptized M**.  It was neat for all of us to be dressed in white together.  The white we wear at baptism is such a perfect symbol of cleanliness. No one likes to feel sticky or yucky... and no one ever has to.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ cleans any gunk or mess we get ourselves into.  We can have the confidence in Jesus Christ to be clean every single day as we repent and partake of the sacrament weekly.

They both shared their testimonies after they were baptized.  K** talked about how before meeting with us... she felt like she was at the point of not believing there even was a God.  She saw so many problems without any solutions.  She had been hurt many times as she tried to fight her way through life and couldn't see why God would let that happen.  She has felt a change of heart and knows what the Savior's love feels like now.  M** is very shy and not very social.  His mom got up and stood by him as he gave his testimony.  Wow. That might be the only words to describe his testimony.  He didn't look scared or nervous in the slightest and spoke very clearly.  He said the past 2 months that he has been going to church and mutual his nature has changed.  He doesn't get angry as easily as he use to.  He has friends at church that he loves to be with.  He has done many activities he never thought he would be able to do like boating and roller skating.  Lastly, he shared an experience he had one night as he lay in bed praying.  He felt the Holy Ghost touch his heart and then his head.  He felt so warm and happy and knew that God was real.  He testified that the Book of Mormon is true and that he knew this is what he was suppose to be doing. 

We went on 2 more exchanges this week!  I was able to go with a missionary that lived in the same ward as Tanner back in Boston.  We laughed and talked about Milo for quite some time.  Milo must be dang cute if a missionary who has been out for 10 months still remembers his name! haha

Anyways, we saw miracles after miracles and found investigators after investigators.  I almost got to the point of not wanting to find any more people because it is already so hard to keep track of the people we are already working with!  Then I thought... what in the world am I thinking!? The Field is white already to harvest... So you know what I'm gonna do! I'm gonna double cut the field baby!!! wooooooh!!!! (I know you'll like that dad;)) haha

There was a concern that came up this week with our stance on Homosexuality.  One of the people we are teaching has very close friends that are gay and thought that if she joined the church she would have to stop being friends with them or treat them differently! This is not the case!  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love EVERYONE! Whether they be gay, straight, black, blue, a murderer, a rapist, a Christian, or a Buddhist! Their love is so intense and so deep it is almost too complicated for our minds to understand! Their question they brought up to us was..."If God loves us unconditionally, then why can't he love people the way they are?"  Well, that is just it.  God loves us so much and in the "way that we are" but he knows we can be better!  We have unlimited potential and it is only through living and loving the Gospel of Jesus Christ that those limits are unleashed!  As far as homosexuality goes... it is not a sin or an illness to have gay tendencies.  There are several people I know and love that struggle with these temptations... and that's just the thing... it is a temptation.  Just like any other temptation Satan tries to persuade us with... we must learn to overcome them with self control and the Atonement.  God gives some of his toughest battles to his bravest warriors.

So... If you truly love someone... then how can you show it?!  First, you must love them for who they are at the moment. Then, you learn to learn, grow, and change alongside them!  Repentance or change takes some real effort and time.  We can't expect others to change their natures in one night.  However, we can walk the path alongside them helping them every step of the way!  Jesus Christ asks us to do some tough things... but he doesn't ask us to do impossible things.

John 6:67-68

 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Where else can we turn for peace in this life?  Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Love Elder Crandall the Vandal