Columbia Maryland Zone Conference November 27

Elder & Sister Hamilton with President and Sister Mutombo and the Columbia Zone missionaries November 27, 2018

Mary's Baptism

Conversion Story of Mariama and Tatima Konteh

Mariama Konteh (64) is from Sierra León and her daughter Fatima Konteh (11).

Baptized October 13, 2018.

Mariama had a stroke a couple years ago which effected her health quite drastically. When the missionaries first started meeting with Mariama it was hard for her to respond very well. In fact it was usually just one word answers. She understood everything that the missionaries were teaching her and she had a testimony that the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet but she didn't know how to voice it. We just felt as the missionaries that she needed tocontinue being taught .

We started to do her family history and she began reading the Book of Mormon every day. Every time we went over she could respond just a little bit more and she was so happy. We wanted to know if it could be backed up by doctrine that she was being healed by the Book of Mormon. We found a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott that states "the scriptures can heal us both physically and spiritually." We just felt that Mariama was going to be healed! It was a tender prompting from the Spirit. 

One day, we were reading with her in 3rd Nephi 17 when Christ heals the people in America and we asked Mariama if she would like a priesthood blessing. She agreed and later that week two priesthood brethren from our ward, brother Goodmansen and James, went over to her home and gave her a blessing. We missed the blessing but went over right after. We sat down to talk and Mariama started speaking in full sentences and laughing! We couldn't help but stand up and dance! She had been healed by the power of God. She was baptized two weeks later and bore her testimony the day of her baptism. She said, "this is the happiest day of my life."

 

She went on to the Philadelphia Temple the next Friday, October 18, 2018 to be baptized for her grandmother. Another man who was baptized the week before was baptized for her father and husband. 

 

Within the following week she had two special experiences in which her husband and father appeared to her in dreams. Her father took her by the hand and danced with her. He had never danced while on Earth. She believes it was an answer that he received the gospel on the other side. 

 

Mariama still isn't completely back to normal but she is getting better. Her story is a living testimony that the priesthood power of God is on the the Earth, that the Book of Mormon contains power and that our family is not far from us and we can be blessed as we do their work.

Miracle in Columbia 1

Now a miracle from the Columbia 1 area. This is one that has taken place over the course of about 6 months. Elder Stone and Elder Barney shared this in zone conference while I was serving in Keyser. Back in April/May, when I was still the Assistant, Elder Palmer and I would drive down a road where there were some apartments/townhomes. Everytime I drove by them I felt impressed that we needed to go knock/contact in that area. I told Elder Palmer and he hadn't been there before. We were really busy for a couple weeks but finally we were able to take some time one evening to knock the homes. After a few doors we knocked on a man's door. We will say his name is John (privacy reasons). John is old and he is Muslim....great name to pick right Elder Marshall? ANYWAYS. John, answers the door and I feel impressed to start talking about living prophets on the Earth today. He is really intrigued and says "What is his name? I want to meet him!" We keep talking about the gospel and the Book of Mormon and testify of it's truth. He tells us that he is Muslim and his whole family is Muslim but he doesn't believe in the faith. He has been looking for truth for a very very long time. If I remember right he said for over 40 years. He said that if he knew this was true that he would be exiled from his family and that he would lose everything. Also, he is very wealthy and successful in what he did. A lot is on the line for him with this. It was pretty intense. We asked him if he trusted God. He said yes. We testified and promised him if he acted in faith to join Christ's true church that God would take care of him. We ended up getting him a Book of Mormon in his language and he said that someone years ago gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon but he didn't know where it was. He was excited to read it and learn more. Told us to come back next week.

Next week rolls by and same story pretty MUCH. We start talking to him on the door step and he shares how everything would be gone if he joined. Another week goes by and I am on exchanges Elder Barney. He invites us in and we teach him about the restored gospel. He loves it. He wants to read the Book of Mormon. However, he is starting to get opposition from his wife and family members. A week or so later, before I leave the area, Elder Palmer and I go back to teach him with the Elders Quorum President and talk about God and the Plan of Salvation and how through baptism he can become clean and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It was a good visit. And that was the last time I saw John.

Fast forward to last Friday. 5-6 months later. In Zone Conference we are given an opportunity for a few minutes to share the miracles the missionaries have seen in their areas. So multiple companionships, including ours, stood up to share some sweet things that are currently happening in our areas. The last ones to stand are the Assistants to the President, Elder Stone and Elder Barney. They start off that this miracle involves a man named, John, and that Elder Marshall has a great part in this miracle. So I am anxiously waiting to hear what happened...

They have been able to meet with John off and on for a while with no real progress. Recently, they were able to get in and teach him and visit with him. John tells Elder Stone and Elder Barney that his family is extremely opposed to his research and study in the church. His wife even takes his copy of the Book of Mormon and HIDES it from him so he can't read it. But, he told the missionaries that he finds it and hides it from her. And when his family is sleeping, he goes downstairs and reads the Book of Mormon. He loves the Book of Mormon and feels it is true. He eventually comes to church a couple weeks later. He is attentive and just at the edge of his seat the entire time. He LOVES it. At the end of sacrament meeting, a member named Brother Heiser approaches him. Now. One thing to know about Brother Heiser is that he is the most missionary minded member ever. He is like 80 years old and carries pass along cards with him and shares the gospel with tons of people. His dog is named Mt. Timpanogus (the mountain in Utah) and uses the dog as a way to start a conversation about the gospel....sweet right? SO. Brother Heiser comes up to John and introduces himself to him...They both recognize each other from somewhere. They start talking and make a connection. Brother Heiser met John at a bank 10 years ago and he gave John a copy of the Book of Mormon. 10 YEARS AGO. Incredible right? Everyone at zone conference is losing their minds at this point.

So the missionaries meet with John the following week. They talk to John and he tells them that he loves everything and feels it is true. However, again, he will lose everything. He will have to move out from his home and give up everything to join the church. Elder Stone and Elder Barney ask him to pray to seek what God would have John do. He tells Elder Stone that he should pray. So he does. During the prayer, John is whispering under his breath "ok...ok........ok..." After the prayer they look up at John and John is just nodding his head. John looks up and says "God will take care of me"....the elders ask him what the plan is. John tells them that he needs to move out...that he needs to join the church. That is what God wants him to do.

He needs First Presidency approval to be baptized. But they are going to keep working with him and see if he can move out. John's hope is that he moves out for a few months and his family will be upset. But hopefully after a bit of time they will be more accepting and he can move back in with his family. 

You cannot make up these stories. It is only through the hand of the Lord that they are made possible. There are many other miracles I have seen throughout my missionary service. Each of them have increased my testimony that this is the Lord's work. And we are the instruments in His hands. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I know that through Him we can obtain the greatest joy and obtain eternal life. He stands with us. He loves us. And I know His work will continue forward. And I thank Heavenly Father everyday for the time I have had to be in this great work. Nothing is more important in the world today. 

Elder Dakota Marshall

Keyser is Zion

This is Elder Dakota Marshall speaking. Myself and Elder Miles had the wonderful opportunity to open the Keyser area in late August 2018. The area had been closed down for about a year and a half. When we entered the area there were 0 investigators, 0 potentials, 0 everything. We just had a clear slate with the members in the area to work with as well. I want to share that the Lord's hand was revealed as we strived to do our very best in Keyser. Over the course of 3 months serving in Keyser we were able to find close to 40 new investigators with one person currently on-date and another person who wants to join the church soon. I share Ammon's words as I do not boast in myself but I boast in my God. Only He could bring forth miracles. I am grateful for the blessing it was to be a part of those miracles. I would like to share a couple of those miracles with you. 

We had a miracle with finding a guy named Ron. We were in Cumberland (30 minutes from Keyser) and we were working our way back down to Keyser trying to contact some members. A lot of the plans fell through but we looked on the map and went to a street with more members to meet. It is 8:50 and we are walking down and a guy walks out of his home to his car and we catch him before he goes back inside. Long story short, he had been researching other religions trying to find truth. He has a ton of questions that have gone unanswered. He did not look into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints so we gave him a brief rundown and he responded, "I believe everything you are telling me." The Spirit just shot up my body as we continued to bear testimony of the restored church of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. He said he would read the book and will be going back to share more. Such a miracle. On the way home I just was thinking how truly this is the Lord's work. Not a coincidence at all that out of everywhere we could have been that night out of the hundreds of square miles we cover in our area that we crossed paths with the guy at 8:50 at night. Just little things like that that boost my testimony of this work.

Another miracle to share is that of Steve Hartman. In our first week in Keyser we went to contact some members in the area and were walking down a trailor park. I saw a man sitting in a chair with his lawn looking like a landfill and a big dumpster next to the trailor. We went over to him and asked if he needed any help and he gladly accepted. His physical condition left him unable to do a lot of things and needed help with it all. We went back the next day and cleaned up his yard. He knew who we were and was asking questions about the church. We were able to teach him a lot and invited him to learn more about Christ's church on the earth today. He gladly accepted the invitation and we have been teaching him ever since. He shared with us that 2 hours before we met him that he had prayed to God to send someone to help him. Heavenly Father was listening to Steve's prayer and answered. A few short months later, Steve has attended church and has a desire to be baptized.

November 7, 2018 Arriving Missionaries

Amazing Jacob McCorkle

This is Jacob McCorkle! He is amazing! His story is super sweet! He was looking at books on his phone one night and came across the Book of Mormon.

He remembered something about it and prayed that the missionaries would find him. The next morning he went to work at Bob Evans in Eldersburg. Then, six missionaries walked in! Jacob couldn't believe it! He asked for some literature and later met with the missionaries that day.

Over a few weeks Jacob came to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. He totally accepted the gospel and on September 22nd was baptized! A couple of weeks later he was able to go to the Philadelphia temple and do the work for his Grandfather!

He goes out teaching with the missionaries all of the time! His desire to share the gospel is incredible! He has already given out multiple copies of the Book of Mormon to his friends! He continues to bare a strong testimony of his Savior. Jacob is amazing!

Dawn Steele Baptism

One day Brother Bere decided to take Elder Nelson and I (Elder Coombs) out on missionary splits. We had a few people that we wanted to stop by and one of them included the Steeles. Brother Steele has been a member his whole life but has not really been that active. Dawn is his wife who he recently married.

In 2017 Dawn talked with the missionaries a little bit but nothing really went anywhere. So we went over and talked to the Stills and Brother Bere straight up ask them, "Dawn, do you want to be baptized?" Dawn answered with a smile on her face, yes, I do.

From that point on we started teaching Dawn every Tuesday night. For the next month-and-a-half. She really loved learning about the Plan of Salvation and what happens to us after we pass on from this Earth life. It brought tears to her face and she could feel the spirit very strongly when we taught her that lesson.

We set her baptism for September 2nd and Bishop Gilbert baptized her.  It was such a great service. Her husband Bill has since become active again and they live having the gospel in there lives.

About a month after her baptism they went on a trip to Delaware. While they were there there was a bad storm and they were not able to come home the day they wanted to. They had to stay in Delaware on Sunday and so since they were going to miss church, they decided that they would find an LDS church that they could go to in Delaware. When they got home from their trip they told us all about the story and were super proud of themselves that they went to church while they were out of town.  This was the first time that either one of them had done this in their life. It is amazing to see how the gospel can change people's lives.

Leah Wildey Baptism

One week Elder Nelson and Elder Coombs received a referral from a member on the referral manager that they needed to stop by the Wildey family and see if they could start teaching their daughter Leah. The day we received the referral we were not able to go by because they lived over 40 minutes away. That whole week we put in our plans that we needed to stop by but for some reason it always turned out that we're never able to go by.

Finally on Friday it was the last day of the month and we had lots of miles left for the month so we decided that we are going to drive up there and see them. Right as we got there they let us in and we started talking to their family. Brother Wildey is a recent convert of two years. He started shareing his testimony with us about how the gospel has blessed his family so much. He even said that his daughter was not a member and that 10 minutes before we got there she was talking with them at dinner about how she wanted to be baptized.

That whole week Leah was at girl's camp and while she was at girl's camp she had a very spiritual experience and from that point on she knew she wanted to be baptized. It is amazing how God led us to their house at the exact time that we needed to be there. From then on we started teaching Leah every week. Leah came to church and was really getting integrated with all the young woman in the ward.

We had her baptism set for July 27th but there were some complications and it wasn't able to happen then. They went on a family vacation so we had to postpone it for a couple of weeks. We were hoping that we could have the baptism before Elder Nelson got transferred but it ended up that the baptism was a few days after on the 25th of August. There were lots of people who attended her baptism and the spirit was felt very strong there. She has since been able to move in with her parents full-time and is loving the Westminster Ward.

Pittman Family Baptism

The Pittman family (Dave, Becky, Lucy, and Abby) started to be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ in the summer of 2017. They were friends of the Pullsufers and where their back door neighbors. The Pullsufers invited them to take the discussions with the missionaries so they did so.

They were taught off and on for a couple of months and then got super busy so no longer were able to be taught any longer. They started coming to church in April of 2018 but we're not being taught at that time. Elder Nelson and Elder Coombs started teaching them again in July of 2018.

Brother Pittman was ready to be baptized at this point but his wife and kids were not. For the next couple of weeks we went through all the lessons with them and brought Sister Bere over who played a big roll in their conversion. Sister Pittman was hesitant at first but after awhile received her own testimony of the Gospel.

They were baptized on August 4th 2018 and then a week later we are able to go to the Philadelphia Temple and do baptisms for their ancestors. When we did baptisms for the dead, Brother Pittman was able to baptize me and his wife and 2 daughters. It was a super cool experience because he had only been a member for less than a week and one of the witnesses thought he had been a member for years just because of how well he was doing it. They are now some strong converts in the church.

Baptism of Leo and Glory

Many months ago, a younger couple named Leo and Glory requested a Bible from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  When the missionaries stopped by to deliver the items, they were initially surprised at how quickly they had arrived, but gladly accepted them in to share a message about Jesus Christ.

At first the couple was more than wiling to progress towards the goal of baptism, and even accepted a date to be baptized and came to church several times.  However, stresses with work situations, the challenge of a language barrier, and internal difficulties with their relationship led the missionaries to eventually stop teaching Leo and Glory for a time, though they were confident they would eventually accept the gospel.

The time came.  A few weeks later, Leo and Glory called the missionaries asking to come be witnesses for their civil marriage at the local courthouse--the Elders at the time had no idea they weren't married--and from that day on the couple accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ with open hands and hearts.  They read the Book of Mormon consistently, came to church and other activities, were fellowshipped by members of the ward, and once again accepted a baptismal date.  With excitement and preparation, Leo and Glory were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the 13th of October, 2018.  Since then Leo has participated in baptisms for the dead in the Philadelphia Temple, has received the Aaronic Priesthood, and Glory has participated actively in Relief Society.  They still face their challenges as new members of the Church, but they know that it is true, and they love it!

-Elders Stackhouse and Barlow

Finding Refuge in the Savior

Sister Perez was baptized in July and her story is pretty awesome. As a young mother with a 5 year old girl, she was living in Guatemala. She wanted to come to the United States to find refuge from some of the things that were going on in Guatemala.

The time came when she thought it was the right moment to leave everything to find refuge in America. She said that she prayed and promised God that she would follow Him for the rest of her life if He would allow her to make it to the United States. Well, after a long and hard journey she arrived to the United States where she was able to find refuge with some of her cousins and friends.

As she thought about the promise that she made with God that she "would devote her life to Him," she wondered how she would do it. Well it shouldn't have been a surprise then when two young missionaries knock on their door. What she didn't realize is that her friends and cousins were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It took her from the first moment that she met the missionaries to getting baptized about 2 months. The main thing that she has expressed is that she knows that God is aware of all of us and knows all or our situations, and if we will be faithful to him, he will help us in whatever thing we might need of him.

Blessings in Woodstock Ward

We wish to share this experience we have had with our dear friend, and sister Toni Whitmer.

This all began with meeting her sister (Jody Miller), as missionaries we were passing by on a rainy day in April. We saw Jody on her porch sitting by herself, when we went up to her with smiles explaining who we are and what we are here to share for her and her family. Jody was welcoming for us to come back and visit her.

 

Because of schedules being in the way of meeting with each other, the only contact we had with Jody was through Facebook until the end of June.  Then we were able to finally sit down with the whole family, and that is when we were able to meet Donald, PeggyRose, Toni, and John. They all were ready to hear the gospel and work together as a family to learn and study!

 

We were so excited for them all especially when Toni told us that she was wanting to be baptized into the Lords church by someone who held that priesthood authority.  She had told us this on the Tuesday of that week, then we went by Saturday night of that same week to check in with them on their reading of the scriptures and all was great, they were excited for church the next day.

 

As Sunday had rolled around none of the Whitmers or Millers came to church and we were a little confused. We came to find out that Toni had passed away early that morning. Now the miracle of this wonderful family is that though Toni's passing left us heart broken Toni's daughter PeggyRose, being full with the spirit of the Lord, decided to be baptized into this church. With this journey that PeggyRose has started she will be baptized for her dear mother in a temple in a year from August 11th!

 

The Lord truly has allowed us to see with our eyes his work and his glory, and how he works in ways we don't always understand to bring us closer until we are a family. The Millers and Whitmers were not alone in this process, and they did not just have the missionaries as support. But they had the entire Woodstock Ward constantly visiting them and loving them like they were lifelong members.

We testify that this family has blessed the Woodstock Ward and the family members of the Miller and Whitmer families on both sides of the veil! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

For My Name's Sake

Oct 2018 - "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredold, and shall inherit everlasting life" (Matthew 19:29). Our friend Sarwar, who moved here from Pakistan, received a confirmation that he'd found the truth when he was at sacrament meeting with us a few Sundays ago. He literally wept in the back row because he'd been searching his whole life for THE truth. Since then, his wife and family has pressured him into not coming, hid the Book of Mormon, you name it. He has been praying and studying the scriptures for the past 6 months to know if he should leave his family and MOVE OUT or stay and essentially surrender. I'm DEFINITELY not qualified to make that type of decision for him so I suggested that we pray together about it. Mid-way through my prayer, I hear him softly say "okay" and then after I continued on and finished, he said confidently, still looking at the ground, "He will take care of me." He sat back in his chair, smiled and said "I need to move out." I picked my jaw up off the ground and explained that we'd do everything we could. Initially, he said, "please find someone my age, retired, etc", but then as we got up to leave he said firmly, "ANY family, please." I knew that Sarwar had been praying, fasting and studying for this answer for months, so the spirit of peace that we felt as we left was SO clear. His hope is that if he leaves for a few months, his family will miss him and welcome him back despite him being Christian. A testimony of Jesus Christ is more powerful than anything else in our life!

~ Elder Stone

Following the Spirit in Frostburg

Oct 27, 2018 - We got to take ten missionaries up in the van to CUMBERLAND, MD which is a city out in western Maryland to all work for a few hours. I got assigned around Frostburg State University who was prepping for their homecoming football game against Southern Virginia University (totally distracting... I know). We were walking and I randomly remembered that I had dinner with a family in my ward in Columbia whose son was about to leave to play lacrosse at Frostburg. He is a member of The Church, but isn't active and I had the thought, "dang, I should hit up Shawn and see if he's around." I got distracted and a few minutes later we had no idea where to go so we literally just said a prayer on a street corner and both decided on this back street to walk down. The first college kid we met said that he was standing outside the LACROSSE HOUSE. I thought, "dang, this would be too good to be true," but the kid said he didn't know a Shawn. As we headed out to leave, a car pulls up and LO AND BEHOLD IT IS SHAWN. He started hooping and hollering and it was a fun reunion. He said he was on his way to someone else's dorm, but then felt like he should come check on the lacrosse boys. I straight up told him that out of the HUGE college city, for the ONE hour that we had to spend there, THREE HOURS AWAY from the home town we first met in, God put us together. Even with all the madness of a college lacrosse house going on in the background, I could tell it impacted him to know God is aware of him.There are plenty of moments where I don't totally know what I'm doing, but I know God leads me as I try my best.

~ Elder Stone

A Change of Direction and a Change of Heart

Oct 22, 2018 - We were driving down a road we use a few times a day and for some reason this time I had the smallest thought, as we passed house 3627, that we needed to stop and knock their door. We were in the HUGE van and it was a tiny road, so there was NO where for us to pull over. After driving about a mile, I thought my soul was going to eat itself from the inside out and so I flipped a U-turn, parked on a side road, and we walked about 10 minutes back to the house. To be honest, it was THE tiniest thought in my head, so I was just praying inside, "c'mon Heavenly Father, I'm trying here, please pull through." We knock and a father of four named Peter opens up, looks at our white shirts and ties, says, "I'm Greek Orthodox... and I'm NOT going to change," then proceeds to close the door. I just honestly said, "that's okay sir, we were just driving by and felt prompted to stop." He said back, "that's what they all say!" As he stepped back, I mentioned something about the Family History Center just down the street. Random, but he paused, opened the door back up and we talked about his love for genealogy for a bit. The conversation led to him sharing how he'd visited the Temple in Salt Lake City and he asked about The Book of Mormon. All it took was a few minutes of sincere listening for him to understand that it is a witness of Jesus Christ that was SAVED to come forth in THIS day to help us. He asked for a copy and for the first time in years for him, we prayed and his WHOLE countenance had changed, like a thirst for something he didn't know was there was beginning to be quenched. We walked away and I literally just looked up at the sky and thought, "HOLY COW... I'm a NINETEEN year old kid that God just gave a clear, quiet prompting to in order to help someone find what they've been searching for their WHOLE life..." When the tiny thought came 30 minutes before, I couldn't have imagined we'd park a half mile away, almost get the door jammed in our face, and witness a man's heart completely change simply by feeling that God KNOWS him. I KNOW with everything I have, that I'm a part of God's work.

~ Elder Stone

Elder Marshall Served with Soul

Elder Dakota Marshall served with his heart, might, and sole!  Returning with honor...well done thou good and faithful servant.

Wore Out His Shoes in Christ's Service

"Greater Love Hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

You remember when you were little and you grew up singing, "I hope to be a missionary." You envisioned yourself with the name badge and with the white shirt and tie. You imagine getting the door slammed in your face, running from the dogs, and seeing those crazy miracles everyone always talks about. You encircled yourself with the thought of what it would be like to bring someone to the truth and perceive what that must feel like. It is truly humbling to know that the Lord has allowed me to experience all of these things. It is truly humbling to see the Lord's hand every single day within the things I have done. My experience as a missionary has in the simplest of terms transformed my life into something greater than I could have ever made it. Notice in Matthew 4 when the Lord calls to His servants and pleads, "Follow Me, and I will make you Fishers of men." Notice how it doesnt say come and make yourself a Fisher of men. He says If you come, I will make you that way. In John 2 the Lord when the Lord turns water into wine, we very seldom realize that he was not only preforming the initiatory miracle of His Ministry but he was exampling the very thing He said to His Apostles. He took something in its worthless form and made it the best that it could be. How much does it cost to get water? Most of the time its free and sometimes at a very low quality. How much does wine cost? Some bottles of wine cost hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. So it is a parallel of what the Lord can do to us if we allow him. My Friends, I have experienced this in only a small amount and my soul continually cries out to Him in prayer, "How Great Thou Art." I know that what I have experienced is nothing but a sliver, a forerunner as to what the Lord has in store for me. The mission has merely prepared me for the greatest and most miraculous things to come. I am so very grateful that the Lord allowed me to give my life for these people and I thank Him often with my tears.

My Purpose will always be to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of others. My life may change, trials may come, different joys may enter but that purpose will never change. My mission has changed not only my life but my very nature is different. The statement that I know that Jesus is the Christ is an eternal truth. The Mission is just a spec of dust among the span of mortality but oh my, what a wonderful spec. I often ponder of people, families, events, companions, and many other things and it is truly humbling to me to know how merciful our Father is to us. That He is willing to allow one such as I to further His marvelous work is something beyond ones comprehension. There are so many eternal truths which the Lord has made known unto us over the dispensations and I am so grateful for the many times that the same Lord that established these truths was generous enough to confirm them unto me. I have truly seen the effects and influences of the adversary. He has truly reeked unspeakable havoc upon myself and my family during the span of these years while in my service. However, I have seen the Lord deliver us. I am just so grateful and truly humbled for all He has done for me.

I love our Savior... He is Everything to me... The least that I can do is help others come to the same joy and peace which accompanies this information. I would do anything for Him if he needed me too, for He is the Messiah and knows all things as to bring us immortality and provide us Eternal Life. This is His Church... The Book of Mormon is the word of God in every sense of that phrase... He has made a perfect Plan for us... I know these things with everything that I have... and I gladly bear them unto you in the very name of Jesus Christ Himself.

"And then someday when I stumble to the tree,
Ill fall down at the Feet
Of Him who drank that bitter cup,
and made this fruit so sweet."

Thanks to all who have helped me.

Light the World 2018

This Christmas Remember Him and #LighttheWorld

Learn how you can help light the world at https://www.mormon.org/christmas/day-of-service

Promised Blessings for the Maryland Baltimore Mission

As we look back on the things we were taught by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, we will become better missionaries, better brothers and sisters, and better servants of Christ.  Here are a few of the highlights that we were taught that day.  I invite you to read through them and ponder them often as promised blessings will be ours.

PROMISED BLESSING FOR THE MARYLAND BALTIMORE MISSION

(By Elder D. Todd Christofferson Visit on September 8^th, 2018) with Elder Vinson, Elder Haynie, and Elder Calderwood of the Seventy.

1. As you focus on the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you will stay on the path.
2. Those who struggle will feels as the Savior has felt, and because of Him will conquer depression and stress.
3. As you stand at their door step, the kingdom of Heaven will arrive.
4. The Atonement of Jesus Christ will work most in your life as you do all you can do and leave your "mud" behind.
5. Your service here in the mission field is the greatest thing you can do for your families back home, even when trials are amidst.
6.  As you become better teachers, you will be able to help others along the path of repentance and the Spirit will guide you in what their next step is.
7. As you seek and ask, you will receive a witness of our standing before the Lord from time to time and it will bring you forward:

         -   You will have greater persuasiveness in our teaching
         -   You will improve and grow as disciples of Christ
         -   You will be trusted tools in the Lord's hands
         -   You will feel His love more than before
         -   You will find joy in the work 
         -   You will bless others and reflect goodness as you heed the counsel of the Mission 
         -    Scattered Israel hangs around Gathered Israel. 
         -    As scattered Israel reads the Book of Mormon, they'll hear their Shepard's voice. 
         -    You will recognize the scattered Israel because they will keep commitments. 
         -    You will find the elect and our mission will explode in baptisms as we get out of our car and talk with everyone.

     8.  As you humble ourselves and sacrifice, the debt will only grow. The Lord cannot withhold blessings from you as you move forward in faith and diligence.
     9.  All of God's promises are available to you as long as you are obedient and put forth faith.
   10.  Your hearts and desires will change as you live the Gospel.
   11.  As you turn to Christ, His light will immediately expel darkness.