• This work is gonna fix what don't work anymore‏

This week has been a lot of work. It has flown by extremely fast. Today is my 14 month mark, not that I am counting. Honestly though, I am not. We had companion study this morning at the church with a DL and the Sisters in his district. One of them, Sister Watts, entered the MTC the same day I did, and she pointed out that today is 14 months. And I can’t help the automatic calculation in my mind that says "that means 10 more months." which is actually a scary thought.

Anyway, back to what has happened this week. We did exchanges with Elder Johnson and Elder Thompson, who both went to Davis High School (Elder Thompson is a year older and I did not know him at school, but we know a lot of the same people). Elder THompson and I worked in my ward while Elder Fa went with Elder Johnson over there. We did a lot of tracting, a lot of driving, and actually quite a bit of teaching. We taught a new guy, I will call him Bob. Bob was not extremely interested, but a little curious. He is older and has been through a lot. He used to do drugs and is a "recovering alcoholic." He hasn't done either of those things since the 80s, so that is always a plus for teaching people. Anyway, we taught the first lesson and it went well, but he wasn't extremely interested. But then at the end as we were walking out the door our exchange, another older guy, turned and bore testimony of the gospel. He told him that he used to drink and live what he thought was a good life, but once he found the gospel he realized that he had been missing out on so much. He bore testimony of the atonement and the power it has. It was awesome. You could see Bob's attitude change and he is quite a bit more interested now.

I told you last week about Mary. She does not feel ready for baptism yet and has a lot going on in her life, so she asked us to move her baptism back a couple weeks. Which is a little disappointing, but it's ok. We are going to be working very closely with her to help her continue to progress.

Saturday was a weird but awesome day. We had 2 baptisms in the zone, one for the YSA ward and one in Elder Johnson's ward. Both asked me to play piano at the baptism, which was fine by me, but we needed investigators there in order to attend. So invited people to both and were expecting them to show up. Well they all bailed on us. Both for the morning one and the one in the evening. But it was alright, it was still good to be there to support the members of our zone. For the first baptism, the YSA one, she chose the hymns for her baptism. She chose "God is Love" and  "Be Still My Soul." Unfortunately, I had never heard God is Love before, (neither had she, she just chose two that looked like they were good) so I got to quickly learn it. But I was able to, which is really cool for me. Back home I never liked playing hymns, and I wasn't very good at them. The only way I could do it was if I had to for church and I practiced a lot for it. But now I like playing them and I am finding it easier and easier to play them, even though I hardly ever get to sit down and really play. It's a testimony to me that God helps our talents grow when we are doing his work.

We have met a lot of opposition lately. And something finally clicked in my mind, where I just don't sugar coat things anymore. As you all know, I have been really bold in my emails, saying things that I wish I could say to people out here but don't because either a) I am n afraid to be that bold or b) it is too bold (aka overbearing) and creates contention. But I have gotten past option "a". I have hit the point where I don't care who it is I am talking to, if they say something stupid about beliefs, I will correct it. If they have a concern, I correct it. If they have some bit of anti or something they heard, I explain it and continue on. It has been really cool for me to see the affect it has on people, because people here fit into 2 categories. They either really know what they are talking about, or they really don't. So this boldness weeds out the non-elect (the elect being those who will hear the word, feel the spirit, and accept the gospel) from both groups quickly. And there are elect people in both groups.

It may come across that I am being this bold to try to prove a point or to single people out or something, both in my proselyting, as well as in my ranting in my emails. But the real reason is that this is just too important to not be bold and call out faults. This is too significant to just turn a blind eye to friends, families, and neighbors who are missing out on blessings that they are both entitled to and capable of receiving. Like before I am going to say things I wish I could say to several people I have met out here, but I refrain from doing so, but I will say it to all of you. There was a talk given by Dallin H. Oaks a couple years ago about  "Good, Better, and Best". I am going to be bold. It is good to go to church. It is good to read your scriptures and have a bible study. It is good to work hard, be successful, and love your family. But if you are not making and keeping temple covenants, you will not receive the best blessings of an eternal family. You will not receive all of the blessings God has for you in this life. those blessings are only found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because this is where God's priesthood is. Those who turn their backs on these covenants and do not repent will not experience the joy that God experiences. They will not be with their families forever, and they will not have eternal joy. And if you are not happy forever, than what are you? I'll leave that for you to figure out. But this is why I am here. To help God in his work and his glory, bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of all of his children. I am doing all I can to help the people of Texas experience that, and I am hoping that maybe these words will affect someone reading them. I hope with all my heart that people will humble themselves and come back to the fold. I am being bold, but that is because I know, not think, not believe, but I know, through many powerful and sacred experiences that this church is true. No earthly power can take this knowledge away from me, and nothing will even shake it. And because of that, I will be bold with everyone I meet. Because I love you all. Because it makes me sick to think someone could walk away from this. And on the flip side, it almost makes me laugh, that someone could turn away from blessings based on "something some guy said that his brother heard Joseph smith did one time", or "That person offended me and my family at church, so we aren't going there anymore," or "I lost my testimony." Guess what, all of these are pathetic excuses that mock God and mock his authority. God will not be mocked. It takes work to get to heaven. Sorry mainstream Christianity, but grace is not an easy pass to heaven. It never was and it never will be. if you think it is, you obviously don't read the bible very carefully. It takes work to follow Christ. It takes work to try to "be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect."
So let's do some work.
-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--

Wait.. Elder... where's the truck?‏

This week was so crazy and busy and constantly doing something that it flew. I can't believe it's already p-day again. I read the email from my mom talking about how My dad has been released from the hospital and she is describing last week to me, and I forget how long it has been since this all started. The days weren't adding up in my mind correctly at first because it seemed like he was barely going into surgery, but it has been a week and a half since the surgery already. Time just flies when you're busy.

On Tuesday after district meeting and lunch, Elder Fa and I went to a recent convert’s house to do some service. She is a care taker for a man with Cerebral Palsy, and he has a bunch of little dogs. He wanted a way to be able to let them out on his own, and for her to be able to let them out without needing to tie them all up, so we built a kennel out of Goat fence and some big stakes. It took about 2 1/2 hours, but it was a lot of fun, and good hard work. I have never put up any kind of fence before, but it was cool. We used baling wire to hold it to the stakes and the deck. It was a perfect day to do it too, it was like 80 degrees, and I got just a little sun burnt, which has since then become a bit of a tan. We had a good time.

That night we were supposed to teach Mary again, but she was busy and pushed it back to Tuesday. 

On Wednesday we had interviews with President Sagers. I had  a really good interview, we talked about being consecrated and how the zone is doing. While President is interviewing other missionaries the APs give training. They trained on the Area Book (a big binder we have that has teaching records, potential investigators, and other various forms with useful information to keep us organized, and to let future missionaries know what is going on in the area). The training was really good. After all the interviews were over, we did an exchange with the APs. Like Last transfer, Elder Roberts stayed in Denton with me. It was a lot of fun to work with him again. Elder Fa got to go down to work in "Tonga" (the APs work in the Euless 3rd ward, which is a tongan ward).

On Thursday we had an interesting morning. We parked the truck, started knocking doors, and had a great conversation with a lady. After talking with her for about 20 minutes I looked over towards the truck, and to my horror, it was gone. It had only been about a half hour since we parked it, we were in sight and earshot of the parking spot, and the truck was just gone. We never saw a tow truck or anything. It just disappeared. We quickly finished the contact, and then went to the parking lot where we had parked it. 3 separate parking lots from the one we parked in, but still in the same complex, had "permit parking only" signs, but this one didn't so we thought it was safe. Apparently not. I called the number and sure enough, our silver Colorado was sitting in their lot now. The rest of the afternoon, from 1 til about 4:30, was spent calling people, talking, trying to explain out situation, trying to get some kind of help, and nothing. After I had done all I could the vehicle coordinator for the mission said "I guess you'll just have to pay it." But we got the truck back that day, which is good because the next day it would go up another 70 dollars. What a joke. Fortunately for me, but not for elder Roberts, the policy is we are both responsible even though I was the driver, so we split the bill. I am trying to look at it positively and learn from the experience, and besides, I haven't put hardly any money into bike stuff, whereas most missionaries here spend $400 minimum on bike stuff, so this is not so bad. And I have the cash to pay for my half, so I'm set. I learned about the Atonement through all this though. I did everything I could to redeem myself before paying the price, and there was nothing I could do.

 No matter what I did, I could not be saved from paying the fine after the truck got towed. So what if sin was the same way? What if there was nobody to help get me out of the spiritual dangers that I face in my life? What if I had to pay the price? I couldn't. it wouldn't be done, and I would suffer damnation for eternity. But God is eternally merciful, and so unlike the fine with the truck being towed, I do have a mediator when it comes to sin. I don't have to feel stressed and lost and panicked, because I know my Redeemer, I know how to partake of his mercy, and I know how to access the Atonement fully. Maybe that is what I was supposed to learn from this. And maybe there were people we met that day among all the chaos that I would not have met if we weren't in that situation. or maybe I just needed to learn to be more careful. I don't know, but I have learned. Hopefully y'all can learn from my mistake too. Don't get towed. it sucks. "It's just the most expensive valet parking I have ever paid. And they didn't bring my car back." -A member in Killeen talking about being towed (wow that was a year ago) 

But guess what, That night, after we got the Truck back, was awesome. We taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation to Mary, and set a baptismal date for April 28th! She is so solid.

Friday was great, we went on exchange with some Spanish elders, and I was in the Spanish area, so I got to see a brand new missionary thrown into the refiner’s fire and not have anyone to back him up. He learned a lot. It was funny at a couple doors though. At one he had been talking about prophets, (I can follow a long a little bit) and how we have a prophet like mosses. But the lady wasn't getting it. But I noticed something; I could understand her, because she was speaking English. So I jumped in and talked about Peter, James and John, and how we have apostles today too. She wanted to learn more and set up an appointment for Saturday. That was the only door I really got to do anything at. It actually kind of bites not getting to participate. At one door this JW was just blabbing off at Elder Espino and he wasn't getting to say anything. I could tell he was frustrated and didn’t know how to end it. I finally cut her off and said "do you speak English?" "No" then she just kept going on and on. After a little bit she started holding up three fingers, than one, than three, than one, and I could tell she was talking about the trinity. The spirit wasn’t there; it seemed like a waste of time, and Elder Espino just looked bored. Finally she asked him a question, basically "So do you see how they are three in one?" and he testified (in Spanish, but I got the jist of it) "No. They are three distinct beings" he said it with a boldness and confidence that I had not seen him use before, and the spirit testified strongly. But she blew it off and went onto something else and finally he said "Sorry, we have to go" and we walked away. I got a kick out of it, and he learned a lot about opposition and not having someone there to back him up. 

Saturday was pretty good, just a lot of contacting and trying to find people.

Mary came to church on Sunday! It was awesome. The talks in sacrament were perfect too, and there was an awesome musical number. The RS president invited her to stay for all three hours so she could come to RS, which was great for her to get an invite from a member and not just us. She really liked it. That night we taught her the rest of Lesson 2, and the Word of Wisdom. It was scary when we pulled out the WoW pamphlet, because last time we were there she was smoking, and this time she had a sweet tea in her hand. She laughed when we used the words "Law of Health" and said something about "Oh, you saw me smoking last time so you decided to bring this up? Well I need to quit so that's ok" than she opened it and laughed harder "Ha, and now I'm drinking tea in front of you." But she said she'll pray about it and test it out to see if she gets the blessings. I am excited for her.

Well, that's my week. I don't really have anything to rant about this week, so I guess y'all are off the hook this time ;)

I'll be sure to have a good subject next week. Maybe the trinity/godhead or something like that.

Christ Lives! He speaks to a prophet today!   

-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--

Somewhere over the rainbow

This was quite an exciting week. On Tuesday we had a Zone Meeting, where Elder Fa and I trained on Finding people to teach, and Revelation through Church Attendance. Right before the meeting started, I saw Sister Sagers walk in, which meant President Sagers was not far behind. Sure enough, he walked in next. It is always a little stressful to have President Sagers show up to a meeting that you are conducting and training in, but it was good to have him there. We asked him if he would like to take some time, and he said he would at the end. But throughout the training it was great to have his comments, especially because the priesthood keys he holds makes it so he speaks with more power and authority than one can try without them. After the meeting was over we went to eat lunch as a zone at a pizza buffet. While we were there the TVs all went black and a tornado warning came up for Tarrant County, which is where Burleson is. We didn't think much of it and went on with the day. We knew that there were thunderstorms and possible hail that day, but we hadn't heard or expected anything worse than that. But worse came.

We took some elders back to their Apartments after lunch, and on the way back it started raining pretty hard. we got back at around 2:30, and then got a missed call from President, but it was for 2:09. So I tried to call him back, and the phone wouldn't work. We tried again and again to call him, and other people, and to text, and do anything, but the phone wouldn't work, regardless of having full bars. The rain was pounding now, and we decided to go to the institute, less than a mile away, where we could use students' phones and the clerk's office phone. Then the sirens started. Until this point, I had never heard the tornado sirens, but when you hear them, you know what they are. If you have seen war movies, they are just like bomb sirens. So we got to the institute, and when we got there, Brother Ritchie, the institute director, had his phone on the weather channel playing info about tornadoes in Dallas. Finally President got through to me on the phone. we had both been trying to get in touch with each other for over an hour. I was to get in contact with all of the District Leaders and have them contact the members of their district, and then get back to me to get back to President to make sure everyone was ok. One problem, the storm knocked out Sprint, so the phones only worked occasionally. I was able to get a hold of the DLs, and the four of us (me and 3 DLs) tried to get a hold of everyone. Luckily the singles ward sisters came to the institute, so they were accounted for, and the Spanish bike elders showed up eventually to get out of the rain. so now we had 2 extra phones trying to get through to people. We finally got in contact with everyone and then I got back to president. from what I understand none of the missionaries in our mission were injured. I'm not sure about Dallas though.

When all was said and done, 19 tornadoes touched down on Tuesday in the metropolis (the dallas-fortworth area, including from Arlington up to denton). One of those tornadoes was in Denton Country, hence the sirens, which only go off if there is an imminent threat. It was a crazy day. There was hail the size of baseballs in Lewisville, thunderstorms everywhere, and of course, the tornadoes.

That was easily the biggest event of the week. The rest of the week was filled with tracting, contacting, talking with people, finding, and some teaching. We got a referral for one lady, who I will call Mary for the time being. Mary does not affiliate herself with a church because she feels like there are empty traditions in a lot of churches and that a lot of the people are fake and two-faced. But she also told us that she has been to the LDS church a couple times and she doesn't feel that way at all. We taught her the first lesson and gave her a Book of Mormon, and a Bible. It was really cool. We'll be meeting with her again tomorrow.

this morning before studies Elder Fa started listening to "Safety for the Soul" by Jeffrey R. Holland on my zone. So we listened to it all the way through, and the spirit testified to me again the truth of this message. I want to share a small portion with you. Please take the time to read it.

"May I refer to a modern “last days” testimony? When Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart of his brother: “Thou hast been faithful; wherefore … thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. “And now I, Moroni, bid farewell … until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ.” A few short verses from the 12th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Later, when actually incarcerated in the jail, Joseph the Prophet turned to the guards who held him captive and bore a powerful testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. ⁸ Shortly thereafter pistol and ball would take the lives of these two testators. As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth? Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be “houseless, friendless and homeless” and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor. ⁹ Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon." - Jeffrey R. Holland

I want to add my testimony, that I know this work is true. I know that the priesthood of God has been restored to the earth. I know that God has called a prophet to the earth again, and that we are recieving guidance from our Father in Heaven through that prophet, and through Christ's apostles. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that we can have eternal life through his sacrifice, through our obedience to his commandments, and through God's love for us. I know that we cannot save ourselves, that we cannot do anything to be saved, that it is through Christ's grace and mercy that we are saved. But I also know that Grace is not an e-z pass get out of jail free card when we accept Christ. I know that through following his teachings and commandments our salvation is given to us. I know that "through his stripes we are healed."

Like Elder Holland stated, "I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days."

--Elder Braxton C Foust--

I forgot my notebook

My subject Line was going to be one of many quotations from General Confernce, but unfortunately I left my notebook in the apartment, So We'll just have to go without a good quote.

This week has been possibly the most stressful experiences of my life. By far the hardest one ever. And I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for allowing all of it to happen in the week leading up to General Conference, because those two days are the most relaxed missionary days, and we get to listen to the Prophet, I mean, what is better than listening to Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ? There are few things better.

I got a lot out of conference. A couple of my favorite talks were Jeffrey R. Holland Saturday Afternoon, Dieter F. Uchtdorf Sunday Morning, and of course, Thomas S. Monson Sunday Morning. I love being called out by Apostles, because I learn so much about what I can to do learn and grow. I encourage all of you to listen to each of the talks again, and to see what things you can to do better yourselves. Even if you don't believe that this is the true church (which it is). And if it were not, than these men would be nothing more than the most brilliant scholarly motivational speakers in the world, and their advice is free, so listen to them anyway. But they are apostles, and like the apostles of old, their words are scripture. So hear them, learn from them, and grow.

It was cool to see the MTC Choir during Saturday Afternoon session. I am pretty sure I saw one kid from the Davis High Band, but I am not sure if it was him. I can't remember his name either, but he played French horn. Anyway, even cooler than that was the Priesthood session Choir. That was the coolest version of Carry On I have ever heard. So I downloaded it. And it was awesome to see two close ups on Josh and Matt Hadley in the choir.

So you may be wondering why the week was so hard, as I said before. Well, this is why.

Monday afternoon I had to put together all of the logistics for the transferring of those in our zone who were being transferred. This means finding out their ride information, giving it to their new zone leaders, getting the new people coming in's information from their old zone leaders, correlating times and locations with other zone leaders, figuring out who has room for what, and how to get them and all their stuff to their new location, and then, after everything is said and done, typing up a detailed report as to who will be where, when it happens, who they will be riding with, who they are switching with, etc. Overall, by entire preparation day was spent figuring out this crazy transfer information. And I did it all alone, because Elder Fibke had to go to Colleyville for his exit interview. On top of that, our truck was going to be needed for transfers, which means goodbye about 80 miles, and it was the last week of the transfer. We had about 240 miles to use those last 5 days of the month, and the truck was going to and from hurst twice in that time period. SO let's add a little more stress because there is no way I am going past my mile limitations. But it all worked out. We were able to stay under our miles, and everyone got to and from where they needed to be safely. The stress was finally done.

Until Friday night when I got a phone call from President Sagers. Why is it always me getting these calls? Fortunately, for the first time it was not a "someone has passed away." but this time it hit home harder than either of the other 2. It was a huge shock to hear the news, but it was comforting to hear President Sagers' confidence as he told me that Dad was doing well and is in good hands. Then Saturday night, after conference, I got the letter from Mom with more info about what had happened. Luckily it confirmed what President Sagers had told me. He is doing well and is in good hands.

And now I've just been told that he is healing up. God's hand is in everything. He is in control. It's no coincidence that Dad works with our Bishop. It's no coincidence that mom was released from R.S. President before this happened. It is no coincidence that he was able to get in to see the doctor right after working in the temple. And it's no coincidence that this all happened right before Conference. God loves us. He is our Father, and we are his children. He wants what is best for us, and we can communicate with him through prayer. He weeps when we suffer. He rejoices when we do what is right. He sent his Son to Atone for our sins, as well as for our trials, struggles, and pains. I know Christ lives. I know he loves us. I know Father in Heaven lives also, and is providing the guidance we need through our lives. Everything will work out if we do what we are commanded to do. "And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper." I love my Father in Heaven. I love my Savior. 

I love each of you. Please do whatever it takes to reach your divine potential, and to receive all the blessings Father in Heaven has for you.

I love you Dad, get better soon. --Elder Braxton C Foust--