I just got back this morning from another city (bascially I decided that I am just going to stop telling you the names of the cities because you probably don't even know them) I was there working with Elder Anisiforov. He is the new Branch President and has a lot on his shoulders! It was a pretty good time. A small branch with a lot of work to do but Anisiforov will do awesome! We also got a new missionary in our Zone this past week from Sweden. Sweet! His name is Elder Stegeby. He is a pretty cool Elder. Elder Eliason and I have been teaching a lot this past week and it has been a huge blessing! I don't have a ton of time to write this week because I had to write an article for the Mission Newspaper thing but I will send you a copy of the article that I am writing in case they don't send you the Newspaper. But, in short, we are doing great! We have one baptismal date. We should have a second one soon because Gary finished the Book of Mormon and is now praying about baptism and he will for sure get an answer! Things are basically going great and I am hoping that I get to finish my mission here in Voronezh because we have a lot of great investigators right now! We'll see though! I'll send a copy of the article but I gotta go! bye :)
A great person once said, "you gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this and I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the things you think you cannot do."
My best friend throughout my entire life has probably been my grandpa. His name is Kenneth Rone Bailey. I am his namesake (basically this marked me as the favorite grandchild from birth). He has been the greatest example and teacher for me as I have grown up. I was lucky to live only a mile away from him when I was younger and I spent as much time as I could at his and my grandma's house. We had many adventures. From doing yard work and fixing up old condos to taking a bus out to the city to look at the sites and having a root beer float. The memories of my grandpa go on and on!Unfortunately, on November 15, 2010 my grandpa passed away. At this time I was serving in Yaroslavl. This event was probably one of the hardest that I have ever gone through. I was on the other side of the world away from the people I wanted to see most and both comfort them and mourn with them. Of course with the death of my grandpa I began to reflect on everything I have learned from him and all that we have experienced together. Upon leaving my mission my grandpa was able to take my Book of Mormon and mark his favorite scriptures so that I would always remember. Throughout my mission, and especially during this trial, I often read these verses and studied them deeper and deeper to really try to understand them. The verses are Moroni 10: 32-34.These verses more than anything else have brought me comfort in trials and inspiration during times of doubt. I now have a new outlook on these verses. Verse 32 explains what has happened to me on my mission. "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness... (come on a mission and rid yourself from the world)... and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength... (how can we show more love to God than by serving His children and preaching the gospel to them)... then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ... (if we do this, then God gives us grace and we see miracles!)... and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. (Now we have experienced miracles and cannot deny the power of God)I know that this is God's work. I know that when we love God with all our might, mind and strength meaning serve His children with all our might, mind and strength and forget about ourselves then we see miracles. Trials come and they go but God is always near us. He loves us and blesses us daily. I have seen these blessing and miracles in my own life and especially on my mission. The Church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Kenneth Weihing :)
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