So today I won't be emailing because it is not our Preparation Day. This week is transfers and today through Wednesday we will just be doing transfer stuff. Taking missionaries places, taking luggage, make sure everyone has a place to live and the areas that need a car that they have cars! We will be taking our preparation day on Saturday and I think we will have another one on Monday! Anyway things have been good! Super busy! I will tell you all about it on Saturday!
I had a dream this last week and I have been writing my dreams down and using my journal more! I had a dream about the family and Valley Center but it was called Pocatello. Anyway we were doing transfers and I saw the whole family walking down the street. I really wanted to go see all of you but I couldn't because I was a missionary still! It helped me realize how much I miss all of you! I am grateful for the chance to help families be together forever! I miss you to the moon and back!
Love,
Elder Rush
This last week was insane!
It has gone really fast but it seems like it has been going on forever.
Monday we had to pick up all the missionaries that were going home. We
drove around the mission getting people and on the way back to
Pocatello we ran out of gas! That was fun. We just waited 20 minutes
for some missionaries to bring us gas. The rest of the day we spent in
meetings and getting things ready for the missionaries to fly home
Tuesday morning!
Tuesday we went to the airport at 5:30 so we could have all the
luggage ready for the 7 AM flight! That was a long day. At noon we
were able to pick up the new missionaries. The rest of Tuesday was
spent doing orientation stuff like that.
Wednesday was transfers. It went pretty smoothly. We made it half way
through the mission without any problems such as people forgetting
things but on the way back we had a few hiccups, which meant we had to
drive back up to Rexburg from Pocatello! That was a lot of driving
that day!
Since then we just had meetings with the new missionaries and we have
not had much time to go out and proselyte.
However there are two cool experiences we had with the little time to
proselyte. Both had to do with the power of reading your scriptures.
1. One of our investigators that we had not seen in a while randomly
texted us and asked if we could come over and teach her. We decided to
sit down and read the beginning of The Book of Mormon with her. We
read 1 Nephi 1 and everything just applied to her and what she had
been going through the past couple of weeks. It was awesome to just be
reading scripture and to feel like it was talking directly to us! I
definitely have a testimony that the scriptures are given to us for
our own betterment but we have to be willing to study them out!
2. We had another investigator we had not been able to get a hold of
recently. We knocked on his door and as we turned to leave he opened it so
we went in to talk to him! The once open minded person we were
teaching was closed off and not really willing to listen. He had a lot
of people tell him he was crazy to meet with us and why he shouldn't.
He had some strong words to share with us but we just sat there and
listened while he vented. (It was awesome to reflect and see that a
week earlier we pointed out to him that people would try and stop him
from meeting with us and the next day that started for him.) So we
proceeded to show him that what was happening in his life was what we
warned him of the prior week. He told us that this was the most miserable
his life had been for a long time. He told us he was not reading his
scriptures daily or praying or keeping the commandments we had taught
him about. We talked to him about the eternal happiness that comes
from keeping the commandments of God. We shared the experience Joseph
Smith had during the First Vision.
"15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed
to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled
down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had
scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power
which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over
me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness
gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed
to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of
the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very
moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to
destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual
being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had
never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I
saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the
sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy
which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two
Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing
above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and
said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
We related to him that following God's path is not easy and we will
have many things that try to stop us from following it. As we read the
scriptures, pray and attend church we will have the strength to do
what can be very hard at times, that is choose the right. I have a
deep love and testimony that the commandments are not meant to stop us
from having happiness but they are there to keep us safe and happy! I
love God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know with all my heart that
God has restored His church through the Prophet Joseph Smith. And if
you are not sure ask the ultimate source of Knowledge and that is God.
If you ask with a sincere heart and real intent He will manifest the
truth unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost!
I love you!
Elder Rush
It has gone really fast but it seems like it has been going on forever.
Monday we had to pick up all the missionaries that were going home. We
drove around the mission getting people and on the way back to
Pocatello we ran out of gas! That was fun. We just waited 20 minutes
for some missionaries to bring us gas. The rest of the day we spent in
meetings and getting things ready for the missionaries to fly home
Tuesday morning!
Tuesday we went to the airport at 5:30 so we could have all the
luggage ready for the 7 AM flight! That was a long day. At noon we
were able to pick up the new missionaries. The rest of Tuesday was
spent doing orientation stuff like that.
Wednesday was transfers. It went pretty smoothly. We made it half way
through the mission without any problems such as people forgetting
things but on the way back we had a few hiccups, which meant we had to
drive back up to Rexburg from Pocatello! That was a lot of driving
that day!
Since then we just had meetings with the new missionaries and we have
not had much time to go out and proselyte.
However there are two cool experiences we had with the little time to
proselyte. Both had to do with the power of reading your scriptures.
1. One of our investigators that we had not seen in a while randomly
texted us and asked if we could come over and teach her. We decided to
sit down and read the beginning of The Book of Mormon with her. We
read 1 Nephi 1 and everything just applied to her and what she had
been going through the past couple of weeks. It was awesome to just be
reading scripture and to feel like it was talking directly to us! I
definitely have a testimony that the scriptures are given to us for
our own betterment but we have to be willing to study them out!
2. We had another investigator we had not been able to get a hold of
recently. We knocked on his door and as we turned to leave he opened it so
we went in to talk to him! The once open minded person we were
teaching was closed off and not really willing to listen. He had a lot
of people tell him he was crazy to meet with us and why he shouldn't.
He had some strong words to share with us but we just sat there and
listened while he vented. (It was awesome to reflect and see that a
week earlier we pointed out to him that people would try and stop him
from meeting with us and the next day that started for him.) So we
proceeded to show him that what was happening in his life was what we
warned him of the prior week. He told us that this was the most miserable
his life had been for a long time. He told us he was not reading his
scriptures daily or praying or keeping the commandments we had taught
him about. We talked to him about the eternal happiness that comes
from keeping the commandments of God. We shared the experience Joseph
Smith had during the First Vision.
"15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed
to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled
down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had
scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power
which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over
me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness
gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed
to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of
the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very
moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to
destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual
being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had
never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I
saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the
sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy
which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two
Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing
above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and
said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
We related to him that following God's path is not easy and we will
have many things that try to stop us from following it. As we read the
scriptures, pray and attend church we will have the strength to do
what can be very hard at times, that is choose the right. I have a
deep love and testimony that the commandments are not meant to stop us
from having happiness but they are there to keep us safe and happy! I
love God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know with all my heart that
God has restored His church through the Prophet Joseph Smith. And if
you are not sure ask the ultimate source of Knowledge and that is God.
If you ask with a sincere heart and real intent He will manifest the
truth unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost!
I love you!
Elder Rush
Excerpt from
Personal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness
By Elder Quentin L. Cook
We all long for peace. Peace is not just safety or lack of war,
violence, conflict, and contention. Peace comes from knowing that the
Savior knows who we are and knows that we have faith in Him, love Him,
and keep His commandments, even and especially amid life’s devastating
trials and tragedies. The Lord’s answer to the Prophet Joseph Smith in
Liberty Jail brings solace to the heart:
“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions
shall be but a small moment;
“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”19
Remember, “God is not the author of confusion, but [the author] of
peace.”20 For those who reject God, there is no peace. We all
participated in the councils of heaven that provided for moral agency,
knowing that there would be mortal pain and even unspeakable tragedy
because of the abuse of agency. We understood that this could leave us
angry, bewildered, defenseless, and vulnerable. But we also knew that
the Savior’s Atonement would overcome and compensate for all of the
unfairness of mortal life and bring us peace. Elder Marion D. Hanks
had a framed statement on his wall by Ugo Betti: “To believe in God is
to know that all the rules will be fair, and that there will be
wonderful surprises.”
What are the sources of peace? Many search for peace in worldly ways,
which never have and never will succeed. Peace is not found by
attaining great wealth, power, or prominence.22 Peace is not found in
the pursuit of pleasure, entertainment, or leisure. None of these can,
even when attained in abundance, create any lasting happiness or
peace.
Emma Lou Thayne’s beloved hymn asks the appropriate questions: “Where
can I turn for peace? Where is my solace when other sources cease to
make me whole?”23The answer is the Savior, who is the source and
author of peace. He is the “Prince of Peace.”24
How do we stay close to the Savior? Humbling ourselves before God,
praying always, repenting of sins, entering the waters of baptism with
a broken heart and contrite spirit, and becoming true disciples of
Jesus Christ are profound examples of the righteousness that is
rewarded by abiding peace.25 After King Benjamin delivered his
stirring message concerning the Atonement of Christ, the multitude
fell to the earth. “The Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they
were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and
having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they
had in Jesus Christ.”26Repentance and living righteously allow for
peace of conscience, which is essential for contentment.27 When there
has been a major transgression, confession is required to bring
peace.28 Perhaps there is nothing to compare with the peace that comes
from a sin-wracked soul unloading his or her burdens on the Lord and
claiming the blessings of the Atonement. As another favorite Church
hymn puts it, “I’ll drop my burden at his feet and bear a song
away.”29
My heart rejoices when I realize that in our day tens of thousands of
young men, young women, and senior missionaries have accepted the call
to be emissaries of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. They are taking
the restored gospel of peace to the world, one person and one family
at a time—a work of righteousness to bring this peace to Heavenly
Father’s children.
The Church is a refuge where followers of Christ attain peace. Some
young people in the world say they are spiritual but not religious.
Feeling spiritual is a good first step. However, it is in the Church
that we are fellowshipped, taught, and nourished by the good word of
God. More importantly, it is priesthood authority in the Church that
provides for sacred ordinances and covenants that bind families
together and qualify each of us to return to God the Father and Jesus
Christ in the celestial kingdom. These ordinances bring peace because
they are covenants with the Lord.
Temples are where many of these sacred ordinances occur and are also a
source of peaceful refuge from the world. Those who visit temple
grounds or participate in temple open houses also feel this peace. One
experience preeminent in my mind is the Suva Fiji Temple open house
and dedication. There had been political upheaval resulting in rebels
burning and looting downtown Suva, occupying the houses of Parliament
and holding legislators hostage. The country was under martial law.
The Fiji military gave the Church limited permission to assemble
people for the open house and a very small group for the dedication.
The members as a whole were uninvited due to concerns for their
safety. It was the only temple dedication since the original Nauvoo
Temple that was held under very difficult circumstances.
One person invited to the open house was a lovely Hindu woman of
Indian descent, a member of Parliament who was initially held hostage
but was released because she was female.
In the celestial room, free from the turmoil of the world, she
dissolved in tears as she expressed feelings of peace that overwhelmed
her. She felt the Holy Ghostcomforting and bearing witness of the
sacred nature of the temple.
The Savior is the source of true peace. Even with the trials of life,
because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will
be rewarded with personal peace. In the intimate setting of the
Passover chamber, the Savior promised His Apostles that they would be
blessed with the “Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost” and then uttered
these important words: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”30 Then just before His
Intercessory Prayer: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me
ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of
good cheer; I have overcome the world.”31
Eliza R. Snow penned this concept beautifully:
Lift up your hearts in praise to God;
Let your rejoicings never cease.
Though tribulations rage abroad,
Christ says, “In me ye shall have peace.”32
I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love,
Elder Rush
Personal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness
By Elder Quentin L. Cook
We all long for peace. Peace is not just safety or lack of war,
violence, conflict, and contention. Peace comes from knowing that the
Savior knows who we are and knows that we have faith in Him, love Him,
and keep His commandments, even and especially amid life’s devastating
trials and tragedies. The Lord’s answer to the Prophet Joseph Smith in
Liberty Jail brings solace to the heart:
“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions
shall be but a small moment;
“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”19
Remember, “God is not the author of confusion, but [the author] of
peace.”20 For those who reject God, there is no peace. We all
participated in the councils of heaven that provided for moral agency,
knowing that there would be mortal pain and even unspeakable tragedy
because of the abuse of agency. We understood that this could leave us
angry, bewildered, defenseless, and vulnerable. But we also knew that
the Savior’s Atonement would overcome and compensate for all of the
unfairness of mortal life and bring us peace. Elder Marion D. Hanks
had a framed statement on his wall by Ugo Betti: “To believe in God is
to know that all the rules will be fair, and that there will be
wonderful surprises.”
What are the sources of peace? Many search for peace in worldly ways,
which never have and never will succeed. Peace is not found by
attaining great wealth, power, or prominence.22 Peace is not found in
the pursuit of pleasure, entertainment, or leisure. None of these can,
even when attained in abundance, create any lasting happiness or
peace.
Emma Lou Thayne’s beloved hymn asks the appropriate questions: “Where
can I turn for peace? Where is my solace when other sources cease to
make me whole?”23The answer is the Savior, who is the source and
author of peace. He is the “Prince of Peace.”24
How do we stay close to the Savior? Humbling ourselves before God,
praying always, repenting of sins, entering the waters of baptism with
a broken heart and contrite spirit, and becoming true disciples of
Jesus Christ are profound examples of the righteousness that is
rewarded by abiding peace.25 After King Benjamin delivered his
stirring message concerning the Atonement of Christ, the multitude
fell to the earth. “The Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they
were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and
having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they
had in Jesus Christ.”26Repentance and living righteously allow for
peace of conscience, which is essential for contentment.27 When there
has been a major transgression, confession is required to bring
peace.28 Perhaps there is nothing to compare with the peace that comes
from a sin-wracked soul unloading his or her burdens on the Lord and
claiming the blessings of the Atonement. As another favorite Church
hymn puts it, “I’ll drop my burden at his feet and bear a song
away.”29
My heart rejoices when I realize that in our day tens of thousands of
young men, young women, and senior missionaries have accepted the call
to be emissaries of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. They are taking
the restored gospel of peace to the world, one person and one family
at a time—a work of righteousness to bring this peace to Heavenly
Father’s children.
The Church is a refuge where followers of Christ attain peace. Some
young people in the world say they are spiritual but not religious.
Feeling spiritual is a good first step. However, it is in the Church
that we are fellowshipped, taught, and nourished by the good word of
God. More importantly, it is priesthood authority in the Church that
provides for sacred ordinances and covenants that bind families
together and qualify each of us to return to God the Father and Jesus
Christ in the celestial kingdom. These ordinances bring peace because
they are covenants with the Lord.
Temples are where many of these sacred ordinances occur and are also a
source of peaceful refuge from the world. Those who visit temple
grounds or participate in temple open houses also feel this peace. One
experience preeminent in my mind is the Suva Fiji Temple open house
and dedication. There had been political upheaval resulting in rebels
burning and looting downtown Suva, occupying the houses of Parliament
and holding legislators hostage. The country was under martial law.
The Fiji military gave the Church limited permission to assemble
people for the open house and a very small group for the dedication.
The members as a whole were uninvited due to concerns for their
safety. It was the only temple dedication since the original Nauvoo
Temple that was held under very difficult circumstances.
One person invited to the open house was a lovely Hindu woman of
Indian descent, a member of Parliament who was initially held hostage
but was released because she was female.
In the celestial room, free from the turmoil of the world, she
dissolved in tears as she expressed feelings of peace that overwhelmed
her. She felt the Holy Ghostcomforting and bearing witness of the
sacred nature of the temple.
The Savior is the source of true peace. Even with the trials of life,
because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will
be rewarded with personal peace. In the intimate setting of the
Passover chamber, the Savior promised His Apostles that they would be
blessed with the “Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost” and then uttered
these important words: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”30 Then just before His
Intercessory Prayer: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me
ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of
good cheer; I have overcome the world.”31
Eliza R. Snow penned this concept beautifully:
Lift up your hearts in praise to God;
Let your rejoicings never cease.
Though tribulations rage abroad,
Christ says, “In me ye shall have peace.”32
I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love,
Elder Rush
One exhausted Elder Rush
Pictures sent to me by My Idaho Angels!
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