Tennessee Titans Football Stadium
To start off with I'd like to thank the people who have emailed me this week. It's been great to hear from the regulars and even better to get those surprise emails you'd never guess you'd get. I'm very grateful for those who email every week. They make this time even better.
I don't want to start any fights, but the Smith Springs Ward is probably the best ward I've ever seen--especially for missionary work. These people have started inviting friends over to their homes to be taught by missionaries. Their bravery and courage is something that I'm amazed to see. People love the ward. They love coming to church and helping the less actives. It's been great to see a ward move as one even if they have to split repeatedly. The ward mission leader Brother Hernandez is amazingly good at what he does and he can get everyone passionate about serving others. Bishop Foote is also amazing in that he is a great example for members. The people are great, the teachers are great, and just the level of Spirit is amazing. If I were to be a part of any ward in 2 years, I hope I can come back to this one. We'll see how other wards in this mission can compete with this one.
Investigators are progressing but some faster than others. Not much I can really say about them other than we may see a baptism in the next two weeks. This one investigator has told not only he bishop and us he wants to be baptized, but even the stake president. I'm excited for him and I hope that he will accept the invitation to come unto Christ.
Photo taken near the Cumberland Branch.
So, The Book of Mormon Musical is coming to Nashville this month and already people have been mistaking us for cast members, singing songs from the show, or even asking what we really believe prior to getting tickets. It will certainly be an interesting time to be in Nashville the next few months. We are expecting a mixture of mockery mixed with real questions. It should be good.
From what I've observed, some people are noticing so much change in their world today. They are seeing their churches move away from the core beliefs that Christ created. They are beginning to search for truth which is exactly what Spencer W. Kimball envisioned for the South. He made a very profound statement when he stated his vision for the south which is what we missionaries recite daily. I will do my best to remember as I post it now:
"Make no small plans, they have no magic to stir men's souls. This is the vision I have for the south. I believe that one day, the south will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together. There are great hosts of marvelous Baptists, members of the Church of Christ, Methodists, and Catholics, who are honorable people, and have faith in The Lord Jesus Christ and love him. As they see their church veering off to the right or to the left of those basic teachings, they will begin to search for truth. And as pivotal teachers come into the church and have influence, we will see the time when we will baptized hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands. In your day you will see a million members of the church in the south. There will be temples plural in the south states. What a great call you have to serve these marvelous people. The missionaries love the south. We are making great strides and expect to continue." - President Spencer W. Kimball and Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone.
We continue to expect miracles as we progress in the area, though people mock us and call us names, we remain strong. Thank you for your prayers and support. I always appreciate them. Love you all.
"We are making great strides and expect to continue."
Elder Peery
"And the Lord caused it to rain for forty days…"
Huge storm we got caught in. WE…GOT…SOAKED!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment