A lady in a bikini greeted us at her front door tracting. Didn't phase me. And Pres. Morley called up this morning and put an end to my letter writing to (b) Shannon. I can't believe I let myself lose it for a girl on my mission. I believe it is all in the attitude, because I was really down on myself as I prepared lunch, thinking of what the other elders in the (c) Zone/Mission would think or know of me, and it was getting me down, so I sat right down and said a prayer and I felt such a lift off of my shoulders.
And I did as Pres. Morley told me, or committed me to do, which was to rededicate my mission to the sacred covenants I made on the (d) temple preceding my mission.
I love the Lord and I have asked for His Spirit and my faith is strengthened each day. I am consistently trying to be the man, to walk the talk.
We had a great (e) D/A with the Burgoyne family and Norma Fasten and did a (f) Set-A-Date properly and it will succeed with the proper following up.
And we taught Jennifer/Doris a (g) 4th tonight. I felt the Spirit real strong as I talked about Doris' father. I almost cried; it was neat. She smokes and still wonders about baptism. May 7 is the Peckitts date.
I have learned to rely on the Lord for support. To live, lead, and learn by and from examples. I need to pray more earnestly and be diligent in keeping mission rules / commandments. I need to strengthen my testimony more each day and worry less about what other people think; just be nice and cool and let others think what they want, just as long as you know you are doing what's right. Later!
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(a) "sacrament" is the main worship service in the LDS Church where the sacramental ordinance of passing the bread and water in memory of Christ's atoning sacrifice take place. Members renew their baptismal covenants as they partake of the bread and water.
(b) Shannon is a young lady who was living with a member family in a former area - Pottstown - where I was serving prior to Allentown. In visiting the member family and getting to know Shannon, we had a mutual attraction to one another, which is not at all uncommon, I think, for a 19-year old guy. However, that's a huge no-no for full-time missionaries as we have dedicated the time we are away from home to the Lord and the church and a violation of that commitment could result in being sent home. To deal with the situation, the mission president transferred me out of Pottstown and back to Allentown, which was in the same ward as I previously served in while in my first area, Bethlehem. So it was comforting to go back to a familiar place, and my new companion during the emergency transfer, Shawn Holcomb, could not have been a nicer guy. He was very understanding and focused on the work at hand, so I was able to get back into the work as I had been set apart to do.
(c) Missions in the LDS Church are split up into zones and districts. Each zone and district is presided over by one of the full-time missionaries. Those assignments shifted periodically as we were transferred to new places around the mission every couple of months.
(d) Every full-time missionary goes through the temple prior to arriving at the MTC if they are planning on serving a mission. The temple is a place where we dedicate our time, talents, and energy to the building up of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I went through the Oakland Temple with my dad prior to leaving for the MTC in Provo, Utah.
(e) A "D/A" is a dinner appointment. The members of the local congregation passed around a calendar at church to sign up for hosting the full-time missionaries for dinner during the week. It is an opportunity for us to get to know and work with members to find friends and/or family they might want to share the church with.
(f) "Set-A-Date" is much like any other commitment program full-time missionaries might work on with member families. We ask them to set a date by which they could prepare a non-member friend to visit with the full-time missionaries to learn about the LDS Church and possibly consider joining if they felt so inclined.
(f) "Set-A-Date" is much like any other commitment program full-time missionaries might work on with member families. We ask them to set a date by which they could prepare a non-member friend to visit with the full-time missionaries to learn about the LDS Church and possibly consider joining if they felt so inclined.
(g) Teaching a "4th" meant that we were teaching the fourth of six discussions that the LDS Church full-time missionaries prepared to teach all who might be interested in learning more about our faith. Each lesson was divided up into a series of commitments that challenged investigators to read the scriptures, pray about what they were reading and learning, and decided to be baptized. The 4th discussion covered the Word of Wisdom, which is a section of scripture in a sacred book in our Standard Works entitled the Doctrine and Covenants, and it is found in Section 89. It also covered the Law of Chastity which essentially forbids pre-marital sex. That may be why I referenced cigarette smoking in this journal entry.
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