The best time of year

It's finally starting to hint that it may be getting cooler, which is awesome. The last couple weeks have been a lot cooler than before, so that is good. But the last couple days have still been about 90. But, I may not see another triple digit day the rest of my time in Texas. That's a weird thought. But the best thing about the cooler weather is that more people are out and we can talk to them easier now.

This week was really good. We are working really hard to find, teach, and baptize. We are starting to see more people that are interested, and that are willing to do a little bit. Now we are just working on helping them be willing to do a lot.

We found a new part member family this week. They met with missionaries before, and she learned something that concerned her, but she never told them what it was, they had no idea that there was a concern really. So they just kept teaching and it never went anywhere. She eventually told them that they are probably not doing much good there and should go work with someone else. We went over there not knowing all the details, but were able to sit down, and as we taught the spirit worked on her and after telling us that she was fine where she was and everything, she finally blurted out her concern, and it was obvious that she is not only not fine with where she was, but really she was worried about eternity. She had a friend tell her that she was going to hell and things like that, so we taught about the Atonement. She felt the spirit a lot, and now she is very willing to have us back.

We had a couple people drop us, and Gus (who has still been in and out of the hospital) told us that his sister told him to stop meeting with us. So he doesn't really want us to go by his house anymore. But he still wants to come to church. So hopefully we will be able to teach him there and eventually he'll decide he's ready to be baptized.

Yesterday in the YSA branch the pianist was out of town, so they asked

 me to play for sacrament meeting. Luckily they asked a week ago so I was able to figure out what I wanted to play. It was fun to get to play up there, but it is weird to play with people singing along.

Today is a really busy p-day, so I will have to end it here. I love y'all!

--Elder Braxton C Foust-

Insanity

This week has been insane. It has rocked, we have gotten a lot of work done. Elder Border is exactly what I needed to get pumped up and what this area needs to get into shape. Our work styles are a lot more compatible than Elder Moore's and mine, and so we work really well together.

We have been doing a lot of tracting, and we are finding that people are still about the same receptiveness as before, but we teach better together, so more gets done. Yesterday we met a lady who lived in Idaho most of her life, so she thought she knew all about the church, and had some common concerns, but as we taught the Restoration, things were explained to her in a way that made a lot more sense and she committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. One of her concerns was one I have heard a lot, but it is one that I never really understood the root of the issue. Behind every concern there is some point(s) of doctrine that are not understood. As we talked with her, I realized what the Doctrine is behind this concern. The concern is "Mormons believe that Christ and Satan are brothers." I realized something though. When people have this concern, it is because they believe that Christ is the Father, or in other words, they believe in the Trinitarian view of 3 in 1. One in being, which is completely false. The implications of this false belief, when tied to our understanding of the premortal existence implies that Satan is the Brother of our Father in Heaven. But when you understand that we are all spirit children of our Father in Heaven, and that Christ is NOT the Father, but his son, a separate being, and then you realize that we were all together as our Father's children, and that Satan rebelled, it is no longer this big scary thing. The Bible calls Satan a Fallen Angel. He was a spiritual son of God, but did not keep his first estate (meaning he did not accept our Father's plan to come to earth and receive a body and use agency.) As we resolved her concern, a lot of barriers were removed. I love the fullness of the gospel, because it makes so much sense.

Another great thing about transfers is that like I said last week we have three new missionaries. One of them is named Elder Weaver, he is from Kaysville and graduated from Davis High this spring. He was in Dean and DeAnn's stake, I know that because he asked if I was related to Landon Foust and said he was in his stake. It was fun to talk to him and try to find people that we both know, but we have very different types of people we hung around, he doesn't know Jaden either. But as soon as he saw me he said "Yup, I know I've seen you before." Jaden, you should ask Sam Barlow about this kid.

Have you ever heard about the Texas State Fair? They always deep fry tons of stuff there, and they have  new things they do each year. This year one is Deep-Fried-Bacon-Wrapped-Cinnamon-Rolls. I want to try one. Unfortunately the fair is out of my area.

Elder Border is a really cool guy. He is from Ogden. He played basketball in high school. He went to Fremont and Ben Lomon (idk how you spell that). He also played basketball at Dawson Community College in Montana, and then came on his mission. He is my second 6'6" companion (the first being Elder Pipher). We have fun together. We even got in a bash the other day and we rocked it :) not that i look for those, but when they come, sometimes you have to put these "Christians" in their place. It has made me love the Bible more though, and I have really gained a testimony of the Bible being out here.

Well, I need to wrap it up, I love y'all! Have a great week!

--Elder Braxton C Foust-

The tenth day of the ninth month in the year of our lord, two thousand and twelve

What is significant about 9/10/12? well, simply put, it's today. Which makes it a good day. In fact, it makes it a great day. Also, as I was typing this i was just reminded that tomorrow is 9-11. I heard Courtesy of the Red White and Blue the other day, which is what I often think about whenever I hear about terrorism, 9-11, or other things that have to do with our Liberty, Justice, and Freedom. This is America. One thing Texas has done for me is help me be more patriotic. There is no place in the world like America. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. I am going to have a "come and take it" flag in my room when I get home, cause that's how I feel about America. Just try to bring us down. Nobody can. Nobody, except for us that is. In the world we live in, where morals and ethics are decaying around us, we are bringing about our own demise. Sodom and Gomorrah may be forming around us. Babylon the Great is building up again. We need to keep the commandments of the Lord and eliminate these cities, and instead build Zion around us. (if you don't understand what those are, read the Old Testament, and the New Testament, and the Book of Mormon. All of them explain those.) We need to keep the commandments so that we can prosper in the land. We need a place to start right? So let's start with these. Living the Law of Chastity,  Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, and Living the Law's of Tithing and Fasting. If these three laws are kept, the rest fall into place, and we can experience Zion around us. That's why the City of Enoch was translated. That's why the people in the Book of Mormon were righteous and had no poor among them for 200 years after Christ came. These simple laws were kept.

Anyway, that was a random tangent that all came from me having no idea what to put in the subject line. Funny how those kinds of things happen.

 Transfers are this week. Elder Moore is leaving me, he is going to Hurst North to be with his MTC companion, Elder Jansen (who replaced me in Denton 3 months ago). My new companion's name is Elder Border. I have no idea where he is from, or really anything about him, other than he is tall and plays basketball. Maybe he'll be able to teach me how to actually shoot right. One of the wards in our zone is closing, that's the ward that Elder Johnson (from DHS) was in, he is going to Arlington to be a ZL with his trainer, Elder Ford (who was in the MTC with me). And a ward that has had  a senior couple in it for a long time is getting a set of elders in it now instead. I'm really excited for this companionship, because one of them is a New Missionary (missionaries are not supposed to use the word Greenie), fresh from the MTC. And his trainer is Elder Warburton. I am stoked to have him nearby again. (if any of you don't remember, Elder Warburton is my trainer too). This will be his third "son," so I will have another brother in the mission now. Our zone is actually going to have 3 New Missionaries in it, so it will be fun. I am way excited for this coming transfer.

 Last Friday morning we spent a few hours at the Keller's home doing service. They were putting in Dog Runs and needed help with the big gas powered Auger. The thing about it though is that Texas dirt is not exactly friendly. There was about two or three inches of dirt, and then we hit solid clay. But we got 8 holes dug and 8 posts set, it was fun. Then we used the chainsaw to trim a big tree. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards he fed us Elk and Deer steaks for lunch, he bow hunts all the time. They are actually going this weekend, and he said if he gets one he'll give us some filets. I'm excited for that. They gave us a bunch of tenderized deer steaks that we took home and Chicken Fried, they were delicious. I'm glad Texas has shown me what a real chicken fried steak is. It is good stuff.

 Well, time is short today, so this will be a shorter email. I love y'all! Have a great week!

--Elder Braxton C Foust--

Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love qualify him for the work

Developing the Christ like Attributes is not the easiest thing to do, as with every blessing from our Father in Heaven they require effort. They require a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ in order to develop. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a talk once where he talked about Faith, Hope, and Charity being three legs of a stool. They are all dependent on each other, and without all three, one's foundation cannot stand. So how do we exercise these attributes and develop them. We have to do things that we would do if we had them. It is a cycle. As we do things that develop faith, our faith grows. As our faith grows, we do things that develop our faith. It applies to the others as well, to all Christ like Attributes. It is not possible to change your nature without changing your behavior. It is impossible to live the Spirit of the Law without living the Letter of the Law. It is impossible to be a good person without doing good things. It is impossible to be a follower of Christ without following Christ. It makes sense.

 So it is impossible to BE something without DOING the things that they do. But is it possible to DO something without BEING that? yes. A missionary can work hard because they know it is what they are supposed to do, but that is the end of their reason, they are not BEcoming the missionary, or the child of God, they have potential of being. The same goes with any of us in any situation. If we are doing things without our heart in it, whether it be doing those things grudgingly, or if we do them passively, we are missing out on opportunities for growth. DOing without BEing is hypocrisy. Saying you are something without Doing it is deceiving others and yourself.

 So why do I bring this up? I don't know. But it is still true.

 We had a lot of times to develop love this week. each time we sacrifice something for someone else we see blessings. For example, three nights in the past 8 days have been given up so we can travel to far parts of the zone to do baptismal interviews for the District Leaders. Is it worth it to lose proselyting time for that? of course! That is 5 people entering the waters of baptism, performed by the priesthood authority, and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost so they can progress further in this life. Once those of these who are male receive the priesthood, they have authority greater than any pastor, preacher, evangelist, or any other religious figure in the world. They have the authority to perform the ordinance of baptism for others. How incredible is that? How awesome is that? God loves us, so he has provided a way for us to be happy, to follow him, and to receive all of his blessings. And he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so just as in days of old, he is orderly. He is organized. Not just anyone can hold this authority, but everyone may, if they will simply follow Christ and be baptized by one who holds the authority.

 This past Friday was Zone Leader Council. It was an amazing meeting, as always. We had great trainings on how to develop our faith, how to help missionaries in the zones that are struggling, and how to teach more effectively. Afterwards we were able to find a jumpsuit for one of those 5 people i talked about a second ago. We needed a 5XL suit, and fort worth had one, so we got it on the way back to Weatherford. It was still too small for the guy, but he got into it. When we got back to Weatherford we saw the Keller Family again. we had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation, and we are going to do service over there on Friday morning. We have had some very busy days, and they are only going to get busier. This Saturday we get transfer information, so 'll let y'all know on Monday if Elder Moore or I go anywhere.

This was a weird email, sorry about that. I love y'all, Have a great week and find someone for the missionaries to teach :)

 

--Elder Braxton C Foust--

My report on how to live life

Today is the 27th of August, 2012. 18 months ago, I got out of my parent's mini-van and walked into the Missionary Training Center. I spent 3 weeks there, and then flew to the most foreign land in the United States of America, Texas. Now, in exactly 6 months from today (not that I am counting down) I will go to the Dallas Temple, have testimony meeting and dinner with the departing missionaries, and go to sleep for the last time as a missionary in Texas. This is crazy.

It's rough whenever people ask "how long have you been out?" or "how long do you have left?" because then I start thinking about home and stuff, and I don't want to be trunkie in any way.  

This week was one of those weeks where you just wish people would just use their agency in a way that allowed them to progress. I mean, you wish that every week, byut this week was rough. Tons of punched appointments, nobody came to church, everybody had an excuse, and it was just disappointing. I mean, life goes on, but still, it was just a more dry week than normal. Except with the weather. It has been a really weird August for Texas, we have had a lot of rain this month. yesterday during studies it was sprinkling, then right before we walked out the door to go to church, the sun came out and heated everything up, and it was really humid. We got to church, went to YSA sacrament, then went in for Ward Council with the family ward. During ward council the primary president came in and was soaked, she said it was raining hard. We got out and it was a downpour. It rained like that for most of church, it rocked. That was the hardest rain so far this month, but we've had longer rains that were less intense several times.

 We also got out on the bikes more this week. We live on a big 4.6 mile loop (hence the street name Harmony Circle) and we decided to get the bikes out and ride around it to talk to people and knock on doors. It's a country area, so there is some distance between houses. Most are futher apart than Grandma Stoker's neighborhood. It has been good when we have done that. I love riding the bikes, it just bites trying to convince myself to do it.

 Well, that's about it for this week. I love y'all! Have a great week! Find someone for the missionaries to teach!

 

--Elder Braxton C Foust--

The Doctrine of Christ

"This is my report on how to live life. They say the best way is just to live one day at a time. If you try to live seven days at a time, the week will be over before you know it." - Sally Brown (Peanuts)

 This week was awesome. We are really seeing miracles start to happen. We have been finding a lot of people that have allowed us to come back and teach them. The only problem, which is the same problem missionaries seem to have all over the place, is getting them to come to church. One thing I have noticed is that we invite and invite and invite people to come to church all the time, and it is like pulling teeth. But some random person they meet once says "hey, you should come check out my church" and they go there. It is so dumb. That is why members are so important in this work. Because when a member invites them, they are more likely to come. So invite your friends to go to sacrament meeting with you! 

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference. It was awesome. It was held at our stake center and Denton Zone came down, so I got to see a bunch of people I was up there with before, including Elder Phister. It was a ton of fun. I got to conduct the meeting, so I sat with the APs up front and had to get up over and over again. And the Elder that was suppose to play piano got lost on the way from Denton, so President asked me to play piano as well as conduct. That was interesting. "we'll now have an opening hymn, #72 "Praise to the Lord, The Almighty." Sister Facer will lead and I will play piano" and then I walked across the front to the piano, and had to sight read a song tha I do not know how to play. If I had known I was going to have to play it, I would have been practicing it. Oh well, it wasn't a big deal. But if you ever get to see the person conducting the meeting have to walk back and forth to the piano, it is pretty funny.

Zone Conference was incredible. I love listening to President Sagers teach and train, because nobody does it like he does. He knows everything there is to know about the scriptures. We talked about the Fall of Adam, and about how we are all fallen, and we need to overcome our personal "falls." He talked about how when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden they left to the East (because Cherubim were placed in the East at the entrance where they left through) and how the tabernacle in the Old Testament was set up with the three doors facing to the east, and how it is symbolic of moving back in towards God's presence. Then he described and explained a lot of the sacrifices and ordinances that took place in the Old Testament tabernacle, and how it is similar to the Temple today, and how it is symbolic of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I loved it. That was just one subject. It rocked.

We had some great lessons this week. A couple weeks ago we got a referral from a man in St. Louis who said he had been working with a family for a while and they are ready to meet the missionaries now. I will call this family the Keller Family. We had been trying to get in for a while, but they have a gated driveway and we didn't have the code, and the phone number we had didn't work. We were able to get her Cell phone number and then got to set up an appointment. We went in there not knowing anything about this family other than they were "ready." Boy, are they ready. As we were talking about some stuff, the daughter mentioned the "puppy book," whcih we obviously had no idea what she was talking about. So they pulled out a three ring binder (the over of which has puppies on it) and opened it up. Inside were pages of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price that had been marked, cut out, and put into page protectors sorted into subjects. Sister Keller told us that as she read those books she would mark stuff she loved, but then couldn't find it again later on, so she bought another one, and as she finds stuff she likes she cuts it out of one and sorts it in the Puppy Book. She has already read the standard works. She loves it. I have never seen anything like this in my life. And their daughter is brilliant, she is 11 years old, but has a strong understanding and love of the Bible, all from personal studies. I am excited for this family, they are great. Brother Keller has not done nearly as much research, but he is open to learn too.

The reason my title is the Doctrine of Christ is simply this. Everything we do, teach, learn, and apply goes back to the fundamental doctrines that Christ himself taught. Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism by immersion and by the priesthood authority for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end of our lives. Anyone who does not strive to increase their understanding of these doctrines cannot develop their relationship with their Father in Heaven, and cannot fully partake of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Atonement covers both the physical aspects of our existence and the spiritual, but without the full Doctrine of Christ, aspects of each of those are lost. If we want to come unto Christ, we must follow his Doctrine. We must live his gospel. My invitation is for you to study Faith this week. Study what Faith really is, what it does to affect both our behavior and our nature, and what you need to do to increase your faith. Study with prayer, and I promise you will have a greater understanding of what faith really means.

I Love Y'all! Have a great week!

--Elder Braxton C Foust--

Egg Rolls and Cake

This week was pretty exciting, and also very stressful. We had a good amount of success and taught some great lessons.

Tuesday was fun because I was on exchange with a brand new district leader to train him on how to fulfill his responsibilities. He is going to do great. We taught some great lessons together too. We taught one of our eternal investigators, I will call him Caleb. Caleb is a strong Baptist. He constantly reminds us of that fact. He has told us several times "I was saved in 1974." Well, Elder Moore and I have taught him a lot and he understands that those are our beliefs, but he hadn't had a moment where he realized that we weren't just teaching our beliefs, but that we are teaching truth. That we are teaching God's beliefs. So on Tuesday we started to teach about Baptism, and he asked how we baptize. Once I told him about the physical aspects, I explained (again) the need for authority. Finally something clicked. He started to ask more about the need for authority, and eventually I had broken down that this is the same organization that Christ had. He is the head, he was 12 apostles, there are 70s (found in both the old testament and the new) who report to the apostles, and then there are units in the different areas, like in the NT there was Corinth, there was Philipi, there was Ephesus, there was Jerusalem, etc. Today there are groups in Weatherford, in Fort Worth, in Dallas, in Denton, etc. Once he saw the organization of Christ's church, and I again explained authority by the laying on of hands by those who have authority, he realized something and said "so basically what you are saying is that my pastor had no authority to baptize me, and my baptism wasn't valid."

This can either be a really good turning point or a really bad one. Fortunately with Caleb, it was fine. He said he'd study the Book of Mormon and pray about it and about authority. We'll see what happens.

Wednesday was our Zone Training. We had a really good training and even had one of the members of the YSA ward come because she is preparing for a mission. It was a really good meeting. With this over, some of our stress for the week was taken care of. But not all of it yet.

On Saturday we had a full day. We had lessons lined up from the morning until dinner. Then after dinner was what I thought would be the scariest thing of my mission so far. In our meeting with the Stake President a few weeks ago he asked us to speak at Bishopric training on how the ward leaders can help member-missionary work, and have a Q&A about it, and do it all in 15 minutes. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but let's look at some key points. We are talking to a bunch of older men, who hold priesthood keys, and who know a lot more than we do. At the same time, they assume they know more about missionary work than we do, but forget that our mission is nothing like theirs was. President Sagers instructed us to teach out of Preach My Gospel, which we did practically nothing but quote Preach My Gospel. The worst part about it is simply that no matter how we present this message, someone will not be happy, and they will let us know. We have to do all we can to help the work progress, and not step on any leader's toes. We did the training on Finding, and talking about how missionaries work with members, and how the ward leaders can help that go forward. It went pretty well. Bishop Bell, who we live with, said he was impressed and loved it, so that's really the one that matters. I'm just glad it's over.

And now this morning was crazy too. The Bell's have had missionaries in their garage apartment for 4 years now, and it has taken some damage due to high traffic 19-21 yr old boys living there. So they are remodeling it. So our morning was spent packing up, moving out, and tearing up the carpet, the padding, the carpet tack strips, and the base boards. All in all it took about 4 hours. Now tonight they are going to be painting, and then the tile guy comes tomorrow. We should be back in by this weekend, but it'll be crazy.

Yesterday was an eagle court of honor for 5 guys in the ward. We didn't go, but we had to do our sunday night reports and got there as they were cleaning up, so we got some left over food. Egg Rolls and Cake (hence the subject line). It rocks. 2 of the boys are brothers, and their parents are from Cambodia. They actually escaped during the war. The Father in the family has told us stories about being near the killing fields (like Elder Nielsen talks about) and stuff, it is crazy. His wife makes really, really good eggrolls. I am going to go home and eat some today.

I Love Y'all! Have a great week!

--Elder Braxton C Foust--