Conversion

This week was pretty good. 

Elder Ward and I have been getting on well, and have been helping each other a lot. On days that I'm feeling down, he can help me, and visa-versa. It's great! 

We've been talking of conversion, and how we are to be converted, and I really feel the best way to convert yourself is to ask God what he wants you to do. As we prayerfully submit our wills to His, I know that we can change to become the people He would have us be. But we have to ask, and be willing to do what he asks us to do. 

I love you all, and am so grateful to be able to serve a mission! I love helping people come unto Christ. I'm so thankful for your letters and emails of support!

Cheers! 

– Elder William Kevin Black

PS: There will be another ZD day next week, so I'll be emailing on Tuesday rather than Monday. 

Here's the view I woke up to this morning: 

[Story!]

We were sent yesterday to go give a lady the sacrament. She had been in a car smash with one of the young women (the only one, actually) in the branch. She was shaken, and had her heart set on never coming to church again, or ever seeing anyone from the church again. 

Last week, we saw her for the first time since the accident. We prayed that we'd be able to follow the spirit, and be guided to know what to do. She opened the door, and said "You're not getting me back to church." I explained our job wasn't to get people to church - it was to nurture them spiritually. We offered her a blessing, and she said she didn't have faith to be healed. I explained that she could be healed through the faith of the giver as well. With that, she let us in, and I gave her a blessing. 

Someone called her when we were walking up the hill, letting her know we were coming. It was raining quite a bit, so we were soaked when we made it up to her house. She wasn't planning on letting us in and certainly not taking the sacrament, but she took compassion on us, and just let us in, still not planning on taking the sacrament. We listened to Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude the branch president had left her, and she decided she would take it after all. When she said that, she immediately felt the spirit, which she hadn't felt since the car crash weeks earlier. 

I sang a sacrament hymn for her, and we administered the sacrament. She immediately felt physically lighter, as if her burdens were being lifted. She said that Matt 11:28-30 came to mind - "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." It was fantastic. She said that every time I talked, she could feel the spirit lifting her. She said, speaking of the blessing we gave, that it was the first rest she had had in weeks. Her mind had been clear at night, and she slept for a full 12 hours. She knew the blessing had worked. 

We'll keep helping her recover. Though it will be hard for her, I know god will be leading our actions. 

The Spirit is Real

By the numbers, not all that much exciting happened this week. 

But wow. The branch president is hilarious. President Kelly has a talent for balancing his serious side with a humorous side I love seeing him - it feels like leadership training every time we go, but he balances it with humour, and we always feel uplifted visiting him. Here's one of his jokes, paraphrased: 

A man has a 'Mormon' dog, and invites his friend to come see. "Okay Rover, Alma 41:10!" *dog flips through pages, pauses on a page* RUFF! "Wow, it really found it!" The dog finds a few more references on command. "Your dog is really impressive, but can it do normal dog tricks?" "I've never tried anything else... Go ahead!" "Rover, heel!" *dog places paws on the man's head*

But in all seriousness. I've been growing a lot with elder Ward. We've been relying heavily on prayer, and have been focusing on improving ourselves to improve the area. The more diligent we are, the more I feel we have the spirit guiding us. I've felt it much more often here than ever before. I love this area - the countryside is beautiful, and driving from town to town is a really relaxing experience. 

Thank you for all your prayers for me. 

Cheers!

– Elder William Kevin Black

P.S.: I'm a runner! Ever since elder Wilberg, I've been running every morning and loving it to bits. I wrote my dad this: "I enjoy running now, and find it to be a faith building exercise - Joseph Smith said 'When a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force' Running, I have found, is solely dependant on how much I push myself, and has very little to do with my physical strength. (though it did for the first week or so of running) I've enjoyed pushing myself, and changing my nature." So now I thoroughly enjoy running, and actually look forward to it in the morning! I love pushing myself - telling my body to run faster when it tells me to give up.