Friday, December 4, 2015

August 24, 2015

Hi family,

My week was stressful and crazy and at some points a little frustrating. But in the end it was a glorious week! 
So I kind of got transferred.  I am still training and still with Elder Cox and still in the same ward but they switched up our ward boundaries.  My companion and I had to move into the city of Lancaster into an apartment complex.  We now cover a fairly small area (it's like 10-15 miles across) and no longer have a car.  So Thursday we spent all day moving all of our stuff over to our new place and cleaning our old one.  This was a hard day for me.  It was sad to be losing all of our investigator and less active families that we hard been working so hard with.  I was a little upset at the way things all turned out and just had one of those days.  That night I was just flipping through my iPad and found the talk "Remember Lots wife" by Elder Holland so I thought I would listen to it as I fell asleep.  This talk changed my entire perspective on the whole situation. He talked about the second shortest verse in the bible, Luke 17:32 "Remember lots wife" and the story in the beginning of the bible about lot and his family.

He said that the problem with lots wife wasn't just looking back but in her heart she wanted to go back and looked back longingly.  Before they had even left the city limits she was already missing what Sodem and Gomorrah had offered her.  This is honestly exactly what I was doing. I was missing my old area.  I didn't trust that the lord new what he was doing and just wanted to go back.  The talk goes on for like another hour but it just changed my whole outlook. He said that the past is to be learned from but not lived in. I decided that the next day I would just trust that the lord put me here on bikes for a reason and was going to be diligent and give my all no matter the situation.  So we did!

Friday was a great day. We meet with lots of people and just had an all around good day.  One experience that sticks out was with a less active named Sean.  He is a single dad raising 2 young boys who used to be very active but hasn't been to church in over a year.  We had a great lesson with him on Friday and he asked us to come back the next day so we did.  In short he came to church yesterday and stayed all 3 hours and had a marvelous time. This might seem so simple as you read it but it was a huge testimony builder for me. 

Saturday we had a very similar experience but with a different family. We went and knocked on their door late that night and he invited us right in.  They haven't come to church in forever because he works on Sunday's and she doesn't like to come without him. It just so happens that he has a job interview and Monday and took work off on Sunday to make sure he was all ready for it.  So of course we invite them all to church and with a little push they all committed to come the next morning. Sunday morning when we walked in the chapel there they were.  If he gets this new job he wont work weekends and they can start coming. The lord knows what he is doing.  It all just worked out perfectly.  The lord knew to send us there because he knew he had work off.  Once again this probably seems so small but it is amazing to watch the lord so his wonders.

I had to get on my knees and repent for my attitude toward the whole thing.  My testimony was once again strengthened and I know that this is Christ’s church and that he has a plan for each and every one of us.  Don't forget that! 

Also my good friend Elder Elzey from American Fork just got transferred into my ward so I get to see him several times a week now so that is fun.
I love you all,
Have a great week! 

Love Elder Roper 

Elder Roper and Elder Elzey

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