Satan’s a Jerk

This week was insane. We had an Oregon snowstorm from Sunday to Tuesday, And by snowstorm I mean they got like three inches of snow over the three days haha it's funny because they literally shut down school and work and everyone takes the day off for it, even though it's not a whole lot of snow. Although it did kinda suck because of the seven investigators committed to coming to church only two of them actually came because they didn't want to drive in the snow. Either way, I guess I'm not one to make fun of their snowstorms #arizonaboy. It was fun though, we had a zonewide snowman competition and Elder Anderson and I took second place.

I got to bike for the first time the other day haha our district leader needed to borrow our car and so we toook the bikes out, however the bike i was borrowing apprently is like infamous for being a piece of garbage, and it totally was haha the seat didn't stay up and the sprockets were broken so i couldnt change gears and it rattled the entire time i was going haha it was an interesting time, fortunately it was only for one night.

We got a new car this week. It's a bright red 2018 corolla, and we're calling her Tina. She's very nice haha we ended up spending over six hours at the mission office and getting our old car washed and cleaned and switching out the hardware for the mission's safety device thingy and all that jazz, which was frustrating.

I had a couple hard days this week. A couple of our investigators dropped us and the rest of them are progressing but are all going through lots of trials and challenges and are expressing new doubts and we know that Satan is just trying to work at them and keep them from coming unto Christ. It's been hard and we've been super busy just running around visiting all of our people and keeping track of their needs and the ways they are progressing and trying our best to maintain daily contact with all of them. We also accidentally slept straight through our alarm like three days in a row which didn't help anything. I was feeling pretty unmotivated and really overwhelmed, and I had a couple days where I was struggling. But I just received so many promptings and reminders to do the three things I've learned will always help. I just had to focus on others and their needs, be positive about whatever situation I'm in and looking for solutions instead of the problems, and just remember Christ in EVERYTHING I do. Christ is literally the best. He is the ultimate friend, and he truly knows everything about us and our situtation becuase he felt it too. For every investigator who dropped us, I remember that He was betrayed by one of His closest friends Judas. When I complained about walking or biking, I was reminded that He had to walk from Jerusalem from Golgotha bearing his cross. For every feeling of discouragement or sadness or frustration, it helped me to remember that He literally bore mine and everyone else's. For every temptation I feel, I remembered that he suffered temptation of every kind. (Alma 7:11-13) For every time I miss my family and feel like I can't bear being away from them, I was super humbled when I thought about Him how He must have felt as he cried out "Father why hast thou forsaken me?" Jesus Christ truly lived. He is my Savior, and I know he loves me perfectly and without end. He knows me, and through Him and His teachings I know that I can become better and learn to experience a more true joy.

I love you all. Keep it lit

Elder Bond