Strange Things Are Happening To Me, Ain't No Doubt About It.‏

Transfers!!!! Not to anyone's surprise, I am staying in Denton 3rd ward. Elder Fibke is going home. He was even singing Leaving on a Jet Plane the other morning, which is funny because he is the least trunkie missionary ever. (It really came from the fact that a member was messing with us the night before and singing that, so he just woke up with it stuck in his head). Anyway, I am very excited for this next transfer. My New companion is Elder Fa! My third Tongan companion! I am stoked. He is from California. So I have had 1 from the Island, one from SLC, and one from Cali. Elder Fa was a DL in FT. Worth when I was, so I know him a little, and he has been serving in Killeen 2nd ward as a ZL for 3 transfers, my greenie ward. It is going to be an awesome transfer.

This week was dang good. We didn't really see any cool success or miracles, but we had some cool experiences. On Sunday before church we talked to a guy who was anti-religion. He has the attitutde of "Either God is a jerk that doesn't care about us at all, or he is not actually all powerful. BEcause he allows so much suffering to occur". We had a great conversation with him. The most interesting part of it was the fact that everything negative he had to say, everything that he wanted to use to disprove the existence of a God, was the same reasons why I know there is a God. He allows us to use agency. He allows us to learn and grow by experience. He allows us to choose whether to follow Christ or Satan. He allows confusion, but also clarity, if you look for it. And he allows everyone a chance to hear the gospel, in this life or the next. It was a testimony builder for me as we walked away and I had that realization, that everything negative he could think of was reasons for me to believe. I lvoe the gospel.

That day at church we had a sweet 3rd hour (normally priesthood/relief society hour). All the adults and youth were combined in the chapel for the lesson, taught by Elder Martino of the 70. We talked about the Proclomation to the World, (The Family), and it's importance for us today. It was a really good lesson.

So with that, I invite all of you to have a FHE where you go over the Proclomation together and follow it's advice for a stronger more loving family. And guess what, It doesn't matter if you are not a member of this church, do it anyway. It will strengthen your family no matter what your beliefs and no matter what your situation. Anyone who passes up this invitation is missing out on a great opportunity to strengthen your family. So if you don't do it, it's your loss :) I say that with all my love.

Well, with Elder Fibke going home he has an interview with President Sagers today, so we have to cut the time here short, so I guess I'll wrap it up.

As I sat here wondering what to have for my subject line, I had a song come to my mind. A song from one of the greatest movies ever created, Toy Story.

I feel like Woody during the seen where this song is playing. Everything around me is changing. Some of it seems like it is going to be devastating, things that I don't want to change are changing, things that I wanted to change didn't, and things that I didn't even contemplate have occurred. None of it is bad by any means, it's just different. Like Woody, These changes will end up being for the best, even if I can't see it yet. Everything will work out how it is supposed to. I am being separated from several friends that I have grown close to, but I will see them again eventually. Even if it's not until after my mission when I am reintroduced to the miracle of Facebook :) Strange Things are happening to me. Both socially and spiritually. But I got comfortable, so God knew it was time for a change to keep me growing and learning. 

Let me guess, we're about to go over a huge waterfall

Yup

Sharp rocks at the bottom?

Most Likely.

Bring it on. 
--Elder Braxton C Foust--

Here comes the sun do do do do

This week has been a really good one. It has also been crazy. I did an exchange with Elder Soto, a Spanish missionary (he's full blooded Mexican, even though he has a Japanese last name) on Wednesday, it was a ton of fun. That guy is hilarious. We had one guy say to us as we walked up "I'm not interested in joining a cult!" so I asked him why he would say that and he said "because you are one!" ha, good reasoning I suppose if it were true. He then proceeded to tell us that our religion had no bible basis, which is another load of nonsense, and that we are going to hell. It was funny, Elder Soto and I walked away laughing. Ignorance truly is bliss, because he has no idea what he just sent walking away. We had a lady two days ago say to us "Mormons, right?" "yes" "Well, I'm sorry for you then" "why do you say that" "Because I don't think you know what truth is" all of this was said with a very arrogant, uppity smile on her face, real hoity toity as the Newsies would say. So we just testified that our message brings happiness and walked away. It was quite funny. I find so much amusement in people's arrogance now, it's a little sad to say but it's true. They have literally no idea what they are missing out on.

There is one guy in the missionaries have taught in the past, his wife is a member, and he has a very interesting view on Heaven. He believes in the three degrees of glory, but feels grateful at the opportunity to be in even the bottom one, so he doesn't feel like trying for the top. I want to be like "Hello!?! Are you kidding me?!" but whatever. But I'll talk more about the Plan of Salvation in a minute

The weather is interesting here. It is heating up, and the humidity is climbing too. It has been a very mild winter, despite the snow a couple weeks ago. So I don’t know if that means it will be an even hotter summer or a mild summer. I'm thinking the former. But apparently today has a 100% chance of rain, so we'll see how that goes. The hail storm we were supposed to have last week never came.

One thing that I have learned about the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement is that it was designed for success, not failure. It is meant to be that we can all live with God again and experience all the blessings he has for us. We can all have Eternal Life. Eternal Life is so much more than most people realize. It is eternal progression. It is growing and learning forever. And it is only available through Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, and Baptism by the Priesthood authority, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and Enduring to the End. We have to keep the commandments, we have to Act. It's interesting to me that all these Christians who think they are just saved automatically when they confess Christ use the book of Acts, but then don't act themselves. Sounds a little hypocritical to me. And besides, think about this for a second, we all learn in the Bible that at the 2nd coming "Every Knee shall bow and Every Tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. Well, since every single person who ever existed will be confessing Christ at the 2nd coming, than everyone would be saved automatically and life would have been a total waste of time. There goes the Law of the Gospel, there goes punishment, and if you eliminate punishment, you must eliminate reward, if you eliminate reward, you eliminate our purpose on earth and god's purpose, and if we and god have no purpose, we no longer exist. Poof. We're all gone now. See, that belief is bogus.

Here's a doctrinal teaching for y'all

Most "Christians" in the world believe that if you "believe in Christ you will be saved. That's it, nothing more than a belief." That's true to get you into the Terrestrial Kingdom. But you have to Act in order to receive the Celestial Kingdom. It's interesting, The things that will get you sent to the Telestial (lowest kingdom) are sins of Commission, or things you do that are contrary to God's commandments, as well as the sins of Omission, which is the things you don't do that you are supposed to (i.e. Baptism). Things that keep you out of Celestial, but let you be in the Terrestial Kingdom are the sins of Omission, so the things you didn't do, like accepting the fulness of the gospel. To get into the Celestial kingdom then, you must not have sins of commission, or omission, meaning you have to not do the things that are wrong, and do the things that are right. you have to act. You have to obey all of god's commandments. Otherwise you will not be in there Celestial Kingdom, and you will forever live in regret and agony in your heart knowing that you did not receive Eternal Life. You create your own hell by not acting on earth. So if you have not accepted the fullness of the gospel, or have turned away from it, you need to come back. It's simple, the formula is Faith, Repentance, Baptism (or keeping the covenant you made), Receiving the Holy Ghost (and living worthy of it's companionship) and Enduring to the End, meaning constant faith building, repentance, and obedience. God made it easy for us. He wants us to succeed.

And the 2nd coming is on its way. It's just around the corner, and we need to prepare. Not for Armageddon, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, tempests, etc. But spiritually. God takes care of the righteous, and even if (and when) you suffer in this life, Christ felt it, and if will be worth it in the end.

That's the message of the Restoration. Not only that there is a prophet on the earth today, but that he has been given more information for us concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Plan of Salvation, and what we need to do in order to prepare for our eternal reward. I am way excited for General Conference in a couple weeks because we get to hear from Prophets, Seers, and Revelators, and it is always amazing.

I Love you all! Have a great week!

Next week is transfers, but I am pretty sure I'll stay since Elder Fibke is going home.

-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--

It's raining it's pouring. But are we snoring? Yeah right

This past week was awesome. Friday-Sunday it was raining (Sunday afternoon it cleared up and now it's 64 degrees and sunny. Basically it's perfect outside). Mostly Saturday. And what did we do on Saturday? We were outside knocking doors and contacting people all day long. We got soaked, but it was fine, because the church is true. It's amazing to me how many people don't get that. They’re like "No, I’m not interested, but why are you out in the rain?" "Because we know it's an important message for everyone and you need to hear it" "Well, I wish you didn't have to be out here in this" door closes. What the heck. Come on people, do you realize what you're missing? No, of course you don't. Because you either haven't heard it, or if you have your didn't sincerely pray about it, or if you did you denied the answer you received and turned your back on it. I can boldly say that about everyone. We met a lady yesterday who told us that she was raised LDS, but when she was 18 she learned some things and left the church. Wow... Really? Why the heck is anti so effective? Oh, I know, because it's from Satan, and he knows us better than we know ourselves because he doesn't have the veil covering his eyes. This is the ONLY true church, this is the ONLY way to fully partake of the Atonement of the Savior, who is the ONLY way back to God. And so many people turn away. Sometimes I just want to grab them and yell "Why don't you get it? Why would you walk away from this?  You're going to let some idiot down the street tell you a bunch of bull that not only do you not understand but neither do they, and you are going to blindly follow them? You won't follow a prophet who teaches us truth that the Holy Ghost testifies of, but you will blindly believe some uneducated pawn of Satan when they tell you Joseph Smith was a bad guy? Are you Stupid? You are willing to give up temple covenants and blessings because it is easier to be a vegetable on a pew and listen to a preacher who got a degree in theology than it is to hold a calling yourself and actually deserve salvation?" I'm not saying we earn our salvation by any means that comes only through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. But there are laws in place that say we have to endure to the end, that we have to work, and that if we do not we are choosing to follow satan himself. Christ gave us commandments with the intention of us following them and doing something, not just listening.

That was fun to rant about for a minute. I am just sick of anti, and It makes me sick to see people walk away from these blessings. It saddens me to see people who had been solid members experiencing blessings, who then get out of the habit and fall away, and then let go of their testimony. There are so many Part-member families out here and it is just sad to see the member who says "Well, they didn't really show a lot of interest in the church, so I decided to go to theirs." I want to say "Look, I understand that you love them and are worried that it might push them away or cause contention, but guess what, you need the blessings. Your family needs these blessings. You have been put in a position to share this gospel with your spouse and children and have eternal life together. If you give this up, it is on your head. You have an opportunity, so do it now. Quit fearing man and fear God."

Some people may pull the card "well, maybe god told them that this wasn't the right church for them after all." Christ talked about that when someone accused him of performing miracles by the power of the devil. Matthew 12:

22 ¶Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.  23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of ^aDavid? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by ^aBeelzebub the prince of the devils. 25 And Jesus knew their ^athoughts, and said unto them, Every ^bkingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if ^aSatan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

God will never tell someone that another church is the right church for them. This is his kingdom. This is his Gospel. He has called a prophet. It is true.

ok, enough of that know. Just something for everyone to think about.

Last Saturday (9 days ago) we were knocking doors and a guy came out really angry and said "now is not a good time, come back next week." and slammed the door. So on Monday night we went over there before out 7 o’clock appointment. He came out and was really happy to see us. I'm going to call him John. He told us that he has been Christian his whole life, but wonders about why there are so many churches. He talked to us about prayer, and basically taught us how to pray correctly, and then invited himself to church. He is gold. We had an appointment with him the Next night and we brought a member family with us to teach him at the church, which is just around the corner from his house. We had a pretty good first lesson and set a baptismal date for the 31st. But after the lesson we found out that he is not married yet but they know they have been living in sin and they want to fix it so they are getting married on the 14th of April. This guy is awesome and I am way stoked to keep teaching him. He told us that his wife may not be really interested right now, but that maybe if he joins the church his example will lead his family and they will see the blessings and join. Seriously, this guy is gold.

That was the big event for the week, and now we need to get heading out. I love you!

If you have a Preach My Gospel, go to the very end of Chapter 6. There is a Christ like Attribute activity to do on your own sometime. "Chapter 6 is not just a fun little activity to see how Christ like you are, it is a pattern for using the Atonement" -President Sagers

If you don't have a Preach My Gospel, get one.

Love Y'all!

-- --Elder Braxton C Foust

Surprise visits from General Authorities are always fun‏

This week has been awesome. It was very eventful. On Tuesday we went on exchange with our DL, Elder Simmons. He and I worked in my area and Elder Fibke went with Elder Wallis (who is also going home this transfer) in their area. Luckily they aren't so trunkie that they didn't work; the still tore it up and worked hard. Anyway, Elder Simmons and I had an awesome exchange and found a new investigator that is actually really interested! She grew up Pentecostal, but she was wearing pants so it was obvious she's not practicing. (In case you don't know, they believe girls should only wear skirts or dresses, I think it comes from Deuteronomy 22:5, but that interpretation is is all "hokey pokey" as Elder Fibke would say). Anyway, I am excited to teach her again. We're supposed to see her tonight.

Thursday was kind of sad because we had a bunch of appointments set up and only 1 didn't cancel. But it was ok.

Friday was awesome. Pure legendary awesomeness in a bottle. We had ZMC (Zion Mission Council, also known as ZLC Zone Leader Council) and the trainings given were amazing. I learned a ton. And it is all in my notebook that I did not bring with me, so I can't exactly tell it all to you off the top of my head. But we did watch a video called Soaring to Nu Heights, where there's this eagle that was raised in a chicken coop, but this guy wants it to realize it's an eagle so he takes it up the mountain to get it to fly. It's one of those feel-good movies that make you sick of cheesiness and boredom in seminary, but as a missionary thinking about it with a purpose, it was awesome. It reminded me of something Mr. Hendricks used to say "you can aim for the trees and land in the mud, or you can aim for the stars and land in the trees." I decided to take that one step further. With the visual of aiming high, shooting for it, then falling, think about how being in orbit around the earth works. You need the speed to break past gravity into space, and then you begin to fall, but as you fall. Your speed keeps you moving outward, so you are constantly falling, but never back into the atmosphere (obviously a poor explanation that was probably incomplete, but maybe you get it). So like that, if you shoot high enough, you will break through the barrier, and be in constant motion, always moving forward, and using the opposition to keep you going. "This isn't flying, this is falling with style!"

10 points for me for the Toy Story reference

Anyway, the biggest thing that happened this week was on Sunday. First of all we had SMCs Sunday morning where we meet with the mission president and stake president and talk about the work, which was awesome. But then after that we went out and tracted a bit, but without any success. Then we had church. This week church was a little different though, because we took the sacrament, and then bolted. We had to get down to Lewisville (half hour or so away) for a meeting that we had just found out about last week, a meeting with Elder Tad R. Callister of the Presidency of the 70.

There were 8/11 zones there, so about 140 of the 202 missionaries in our mission. It was just the really far zones (Waco, Killeen, and Weatherford) that didn't get to come. But this was awesome. I noticed pretty quickly that all 7 of my companions were there. Elders Toki, Warburton, Brindley, Sare, Pipher, Lao, and Fibke. I wanted to get a picture, but there wasn't ever a good time to do it. It was awesome to catch up with them. Especially Elder Pipher and Elder Lao. Elder Pipher is still in Burleson, he's actually companions with Elder WIlson, who was trained by Elder Fibke, so fathers and son's are serving together. Elder Pipher got to baptize the girls that we taught together, so he is going to get me pictures and a program from it. Back to the main point, when we got there we found out it wasn’t only Elder Callister, but also Elder Roberts of the 70 and Elder Fluckiger of the 70. We heard from all of them and it seriously rocked. Elder Callister talked about the Plan of Salvation, and about how it is literally for us to receive a fullness of happiness and joy in this life and in the life to come. President and Sister Sagers also spoke. President Sagers talked about Sacrament, and how important it really is and how important the word "remembrance" is.

I love you all! Endure to the End and keep on falling with style. If you fall too hard and hit the ground, get up and get going again.

-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--