Lessons Learned

Sister Ipson, Elder Gautavai, & Elder Heath

C L A S S I C   P H O T O   B O M B

Good Morning!

Everything is going well for us here in Wisconsin Rapids.  We had a pretty good week this past week.  We found a lot of new people to teach, and taught a pretty solid family last night.  We invited me to be baptized at the beginning of the lesson but they declined, but by the end of the lesson they were committed to being baptized if they knew that the Book of Mormon is true.  We felt like the lesson was great, and that we brought the right member, so it worked out well!

That's also awesome that BYU won! It was the big news in the ward yesterday ha ha.  All of the big sports fans were talking about it.  Our Ward Mission Leader called us Saturday after the 1st quarter and was like, "Hey Elder Gautavai the score is 10-7 BYU at the end of the 1st quarter."  It was hilarious! 

I had a great experience this past week which really helped me to see others as they can become.  I was on exchanges with a new missionary named Elder Robinson from Pleasant Grove, Utah.  We made a goal that we were going to talk to every single person we saw throughout the entire day.  I made it a personal goal to listen, and look past what I saw on the surface.  We ended up achieving our goal, and by the end of the day I was so grateful for the many lessons that I learned.

I learned a great lesson that goals are meant to be achieved, and not just hoped for.  Because we literally talked with everyone that we saw on the street that day, I saw that our Father in Heaven will give us the strength that we need to achieve worthy goals, if we desire it.

The next lesson I learned was that God does care about all of his children.  It was amazing to see that as I took the time to not judge anyone, or correct anyone, but listen to everyone, I could see that they have potential of becoming like our Father in Heaven as well, they have just taken a different course than I have for now.  It was amazing to understand that God is aware of all of these individuals and wants the best for each one of them, so that's why he sent me here.

The final lesson I learned was the character of our Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ.  I came to know during this experience that God is a God who listens, and always looks past the imperfections.  As we are willing to humble ourselves before him, he has the love enough for us to allow us to follow him.  No matter how far people may be off the path, I felt strongly that God is confident in his plan for everyone.  I now know that God has everything under control.

Everything else is going great! Elder Heath and I are still exercising every morning, and no longer eating healthy ha ha just kidding.  But we are staying in pretty decent physical shape, which has helped us a lot in proselyting.  The weather is also starting to cool down as well, so that will help us in our proselyting too!

That's everything that is going on in Rapids!

Love you guys!

Elder Gautavai

This is the TARANTULA!