March 17, 2010

Can I say the weather yesterday and today has been BEAUTIFUL!!!! For the first time yesterday, in I don’t know how long, I was tracting outside without my big winter coat on and just my suit jacket. SPRING IS IN THE AIR. I think it’s finally here. I think I made it through my 2 Chicago winters. I think I made it through my fear that I had from the day that I opened my call letter. I think winter is behind me and I am loving this warm weather, to feel the sun on my face again, ahhhh, it’s invigoration to body and spirit. Speaking of call letter, it was two years today that I opened my call letter and found that I was to serve here in Chicago. It doesn’t seem like it’s been two years, it seems like it was yesterday. I still remember that day perfectly. I remember coming home and dad was there and told me that my call had come. I remember going with mom to Maggie moos ice cream to get some gift cards for the teachers at school. Then we went and picked up a carrot cake at costco. We opened the call at the Church and all of my friends had on my brothers scout shirts. I stood at the podium in the nursery room and the refreshments were on my left and the board with the map was on my right. I can picture everything of that day. It doesn’t seem like it’s been two years, it’s incredible how fast time has gone by. Nonetheless, warm weather is here and that is reason to be happy and to celebrate.

We have been able to implement Elder Perry's council to begin teaching less active and part member families as part of the finding approach. We have began to teach a 9 year old boy, Noah Dutcher. His mother and brother are members but the father is not and the family is less active. We have began teaching them with the help of the home teachers. The bishop will allow Noah to get baptized once the mother becomes active, and Noah wants to be baptized and his mother wants him to as well. We had sad news this week from the Mengel Family. Rebecca has broken some of the house rules and so her aunt and uncle have taken her to stay at a shelter. We are no longer going to be able to teach her. I can’t help but think that it was bound to happen because her aunt had blocked her from being able to contact people on the internet or meet people at school, they were smothering her and so she had no friends except people at church, which no one was her age. So we were really the only people her age that she knew. They said that they found a lighter in her room and so they thought she was smoking. They also said that she lied about staying after school to do school work and was hanging out with friends and getting on different web sites. It was a frustrating situation. I let it get to me a little bit. This news came during our planning session on Thursday just after we had discussed extending a baptismal invitation to her that night. They called though and told us the appointment would be canceled and they would probably be taking her to live at a shelter. Elder Layton and I decided to hold a special fast for Rebecca and the Mengel family, that hopefully hearts would be softened. Even though we had just had fast Sunday. We went to eat and then fasted. Hopefully Rebecca is ok, but we aren’t teaching her anymore. Maybe we can find out where the shelter is and have the missionaries there get in contact with her.

This Sunday was invitation Sunday. We had been inviting people ourselves and encouraging members to invite their friends. This was something that the North and South mission was doing on this same day at every meeting house in these two missions. We’ve been prepping for the pas 2 months. Invitation Sunday was great. We had 14 nonmembers there!!!! That was the tally from our ward mission leader!!!! We also had a number of less active members, and a couple showed up that had not been to church in 20 years. They will now hopefully be coming back. This was just a good spark. I hope members realize how easy inviting can be now. Really there wasn't anything different about services or classes. We just gave this Sunday a special name and had some refreshments at the end. If this is all that it takes to give added gusto to invite maybe we should do it every week. That was Elder Layton and my thoughts. Hopefully members realized this and will want to invite every week. I had to think I don’t know why it’s so hard to invite your friends to church every week, but then some treats and a different name for the day and now people will invite. I don’t know??

With less active work we taught the quit smoking program to an inactive father of a very active family. They were so thankful for our help. We really have the trust and friendship of this family and we hope to use it to fellowship another less active family.

So here is the scriptures for enduring a trial well. I call this my little dose of how to get through a trial, a little spiritual medicine. It’s a streamline of scriptures to teach and remind me what I need to do in a trial and how trials work. Start in DC 121:7-8 and then read 122:7 (focusing on the last line in 122:7). Notice in verse 8 of section 121 that it says IF thou endure it well. In other words the promised blessings from this chapter of have our trials be brief, exaltation, and added experience from the trial, is dependent upon IF we endure it well. So what does it mean to endure a trial well. This is found in DC 103:36. The victory over the trial will come because of our diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith. There is a scripture for each of these principles:

Diligence- DC 76:5- we must continue to serve and keep going, we cannot give up in our trials. Continue to be diligent in working and in doing.

Faithfulness- DC 136:42- Remain faithful in keeping the commandments. Don’t get frustrated and sin. We must continue to keep the commandments throughout our trial even though this may be the hardest time to do so. Be faithful.

Prayers of Faith- Alma 31:38- We receive blessings and help and strength so that our afflictions are swallowed up in the joy of Christ, because of our prayers of faith. Pray. Now notice it doesn’t say that the trial or the affliction is taken away, but swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Think of it like a horse with blinders on at a race track. Lots of hectic stuff going on around but the horse doesn’t get spooked and is able to continue on walking and is calm. Christ can give us spiritual blinders so that all the hard things of life are still going on but we don’t notice it or feel it and we are happy. Prayers of faith is what we must do.

These are principles that teach us to have a good attitude and to endure a trial well. There’s going through a trial with pessimism and resentment towards the Lord and others and then there is enduring a trial WELL. This is how we can go through a trial well. Both ways of going through a trial you may still make it out alive, but the blessings you will have and what you will learn will be greater if you have “Endured it well.”

I put in a few other scriptures here that are in a chain that can give added insight about trials:

DC 58:2-4, DC 24:1, 8, Romans 5:3-6, DC 98:3, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

I’d love to be able to teach this to you all in words some time because (2Nephi 33:1,4). Save this I like what I put down, maybe I’ll use it someday for a talk.

Love Elder Adams,

P.S.- President changed his mind about being able to go down to the city today for St. Pattricks day, maybe another day we can go though. They dyed the river green on Saturday as well.


Sounds like a week. I was going to have you send out my bleaching trays and bleach for me if you could. My comp bought some whitening strips at the store and that made me think I haven't bleached in a while. Also I should be sending some pictures home here pretty soon.

I love you all and have a good one. Josh what temperature does it have to be in your mission before you can take your jacket off. Mark Whitsitt said that they didn't have that rule and they could take their jackets off whenever they wanted to. He said it would be winter and they'd be with President and not have their suit jacket on. In our mission I think it's 70 degrees.
If you could please send out my bleaching trays that would be nice.