4 months have come and gone since I lasted hugged my momma and only have 20 more till I get to hug her again! This week has had a ton of things happen and it has had its lows, its highs, and definitely learning moments! I have another bash story for ya’ll. Last Pday we had gotten all that we needed to do done so we decided to go to a thrift store because it’s always fun to see what is sold there sometimes. Anyway... Elder Nelson and I were going around looking at shelves and all of a sudden I see Ken...He is a known bible Baptist basher that has actually bashed every single mission in Pensacola for the past 2 years, honestly I was scared but it was my second time meeting him so I knew how he was. The rule for our mission since it is in the south is try to get out of the bashing situation, which we did(tried to walk away), then if he catches up to you tell him that we don’t have anything to do with him(which we did). THEN if all else fails....let him have it! The awesome thing is you can tell your growth of knowledge from bashing someone. Elder Nelson and I confounded this guy like nothing, enough to make him walk away instead of us stopping it, the big thing was "we believe that we can become Gods" which we do. My argument to end the conversation was...was Jesus not born of an earthly mother??? That’s how it’s done folks, south101. I don’t recommend bashing though! We did what we had to do and this guy is always asking for it.
I also had my trade off with my boy Elder Lane from Page, Az...He is about to go home though
(January) I’m going to miss that kid so much! This week we ended up having a
lot of sad experiences too. We taught these two boys that showed up to
basketball a few weeks ago and have kind of been keeping in contact with them
but this week we found out that their dad passed away and that they would be
moving. I felt so bad for these two boys and my prayers are with them. We also
had a recent convert from the Orlando mission move up here a few weeks ago
who is about 50
and he had asked for a blessing before he went into surgery the next day, so
Elder Nelson and I went to give him one and left. Two days later Bishop gives
us a call and tells us that this brother had died in surgery. We also hear of
two more missionaries dying in the field. Be grateful for the life you have,
for the trials you have in them, and always be worthy if you are called on a
mission on the other side of the veil! In all honesty being a missionary is really safe, 11 out of
80,333 is a pretty
good statistic and I know they are doing just fine in the celestial world.
Yesterday was the baptism of Ladarius and who baptized him??? That's
right, TJ! My first recent convert that I baptized was the one performing the
ordinance this time and it was super awesome! I gave a talk on baptism and the
Spirit was really strong throughout the whole meeting, the Lord has blessed
this area and our companionship more than we even realize.
The message I want to share today has a few stories to go along with it.
Yesterday was obviously the Sabbath and with the week that we had had I wanted
and needed to be spiritually uplifted so that is was I prayed about in my morning prayers. I
have never had a crazier/weird sacrament meeting in my whole life. This sister
who was a convert to the church talked and was walking the whole row where the
Bishop sits and the other speakers while she gave her talk and honestly I don’t
even know what she was talking about. It wasn’t her fault, she didn’t know any
better, and it was just different to what we know. Then in gospel principles we
had a lady who was also a convert into the church and was recently Baptist. We
were talking about the gifts of the Spirit and the gift of tongues came up. As
we all know the
gift of tongues is given to
missionaries that go to foreign speaking missions but the Baptists believe that
it is some
weird language they speak when they feel the Spirit. She still believed in that
and there was an argument between her and the teacher on that subject for about
10 minutes. To put what I’m trying to say into words, I wasn’t having the most
spiritual uplifting Sunday in the world and I was upset about that. We then
went to young men’s with Ladarius and that lesson really hit home. We talked
about being grateful and showing our gratitude. As I took a step back and
realized all the
things that the Lord has blessed me with, my family with, my mission with, and
the ward I am serving in with... needless to say I was hit with the humble
stick. At times it feels like we can never catch a break and I think that Elder
Holland put it best when he said; “If the bitter cup does not pass, drink it
and be strong". The Lord has blessed us all with so much and we are selfish, I know I
am. Before I pray I always think to myself, "Ok what do I need from my
Heavenly Father, what can He do for ME"? In Mosiah 23:21 it says;
“Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their
patience and their faith." It is never as bad as we think it is, the Lord has blessed us so
much, give a thankful prayer sometime. Sit back and think of all the things the Lord has
given you and will yet give to you. If you are
in a hard time drink the bitter cup and know that every stumbling block is just a stepping stool so
we can reach a little higher. I love and miss ya’ll so much. 19 years old here
I come! All is well!
Elder Welch
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