Finding + Teaching = Baptizing

Grandpa & Rylee #46 BYU Scrimmage 2013

Good Morning, 

Carson sent me some awesome pics of Mr. Rylito down in Provo, and he looks awesome! I, along with G-Pa, am very proud of Rylito! It was awesome to see G-Pa with him down on the field as I felt like that really meant a lot to him.  I think it means a lot to G-Pa who each of us (Camree, Rylee, Mekelee and I) is becoming more than any accomplishments that we've received.  I'm grateful that G-Pa has the opportunity to watch Rylee play for the Cougars.  I'll never forget the times Grandpa and Grandma took us to watch BYU football while growing up, now Rylito is on the field! Ha ha ha

 

We had a pretty good week here in Rapids.  There were more fallen through appointments than usual this week, but it made us stretch and grow again, which is not a bad thing.  I figured since appointments were falling through we needed to hit the pavement a little more, and get out there! We were teaching so many lessons that we didn't really have time for anything else, but maybe we do need to add some new people into our teaching pool.

 

Elder Heath and I are doing great!  We've been doing a better job on not eating at Dairy Queen or Culver's every day for dessert which has increased our mission funds exponentially.  We feel like we're on top of the world! We also play tennis every P-day which is good, because it is prepping me for when I hammer Colton upon my return. 

The zone struggled this past week, and I think it's because of transfers.  It seems like transfers can be a hard week for missionaries to be motivated to go the extra mile, which is understandable, but it still clashes with the Law of the Harvest theory which I feel like we're going to see if the zone doesn't step it up.  We're having a big problem in the zone where there is this mindset that it's okay if they aren't teaching people.  Preach My Gospel specifically says nothing happens in missionary work until the missionaries are teaching.  Elder Golden, a Seventy who visited our mission last year, taught us the key to missionary looks like this.... Finding + Teaching = Baptizing.  We're having a hard time getting the missionaries to see that; if you're not teaching then there isn't much growth going on in your unit.  If you're not teaching it's an indicator you're not finding, which therefore equals no baptizing.  Our upcoming training during Zone Conference is going to be about teaching towards baptism, and setting early expectations for our investigators.  We're hoping if we can really demonstrate this principle to the district leaders, they will be able to train the Elders and Sisters in their districts move effectively. 

We ran into a guy this week contacting who told us all you needed to do was just be a good person and keep the 10 commandments in order to receive salvation.  While I agree keeping the 10 commandments does bring increased joy, safety, and peace, I did not agree with his notion that faith in Jesus Christ was not neccessary to enter into the kingdom of God.  Technically, I feel  because of the resurrection, everyone receives salvation, but we know the kingdom of heaven is exaltation which is achieved through more than keeping the commandments.  In order for us to return to live with the Father we must be sinless, which sin cannot be removed without Christ.  While keeping the 10 commandments will keep us safe from sin, Christ is the only person who can take sin away.  We must have faith in Christ in order to live in the kingdom of God.

President Cutler taught us from the Book of Mormon death is not the end, and hell is not the final judgement for anyone save it be Satan and his angels.  He taught us because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, eveyone whether they be good or evil will be resurrected, and will receive a kingdom of GLORY.  

 

Elder Heath described it this way to me...he said why would a father ever want his kid to live in misery because of the mistakes he made in life? He talked about how it makes sense to him even through the worst decisions anyone has ever made they will still have a chance to develop faith in Jesus Christ and be assigned a kingdom of glory.  It makes a lot of sense the scriptures use the word damned, which for me stands for hindering progression.  Faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end enable to us progress into the Celestial Kingdom.

Everything is going well though.  We're doing all  we can to sacrifice all of the remaining time we have, and give everything we have to the Lord.  As great as that sounds, it has really pushed me, and refined me as well.  I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to help others to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love you guys!
Elder Gautavai