October 12, 2014 - Rollercoaster

My district

This week was a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Among the happenings
of the week were an interview with the Mission President, the death of
the adult son of a sister in the branch, finding and teaching one of
the most promising investigators I've ever had the honor of teaching,
and General Conference. I don't have nearly enough time to talk about
all of those, so I'm gonna stick to our new investigator and General
Conference.

Our new investigator is actually a pair of investigators, the Branch
President's nephew and his fiance. We taught them about the Book of
Mormon, which they'd actually already started reading. They
appreciated learning about where the book came from, why it exists,
and how it's related to the church. After we finished teaching, the
brother's eyes started tearing up, and he asked, "can I serve a
mission?" We explained that seeing as he was getting married, he
wouldn't be able to right now, but when he and his fiance were
retired, they could serve a senior service mission. Then we asked why
he asked. He told us that he was so grateful for what he's learned,
and he feels this desire to share it with others. That was by far the
fastest I've ever seen someone desire to share the gospel after having
received it. When he watched General Conference this weekend, he told
us that he loved Elder Bednar's talk. I expect that's in large part
because it resonated with what has already felt.
General Conference is and was fantastic. If you're reading this and
are not yourself a member, I highly suggest you watch Elder Bednar's
talk. It's entitled "Come and See." For me personally, President
Eyring's struck me to the core and made me cry. The spirit was so
strong throughout all of Conference, but the words "He knows your
name" hit me like a spiritual train.
I know the Church is guided by living prophets. He knows His people,
and He knows your name, and so much more than just your name. He loves
you.
Love,
Elder English

P.S. Random gospel tidbit for the day. I've been reading the Old
Testament lately, and Solomon's temple had a font on the backs of
twelve oxen. The record reads "but the sea (font) was for the priests
to wash in." (2 Chronicles 4:6) This font or "molten sea" wasn't just
a big pool for the priests to bathe in. Our word baptize is of Greek
origin, and wouldn't have been used in the Hebrew of the Old
Testament. They would have used the word wash, or something similar.
This font was for baptizing in. (I'm not smart enough to have figured
this out on my own, I've been using a manual as supplement to my
study)
The Gospel and the God that makes it known to His children have been
the same throughout all history.