Happy Independence Day!
Phew, long week. I'll probably keep my email shorter this time around.
Note: the above statement is false.
♤ Our new mission leaders are way cool and wasted no time jumping right into the action. President Hathaway and his whole family were all in a freak accident where two separate stray tires totaled both of their cars on the way to the mission field, and, miraculously, no one was injured besides some minor injuries to President Hathaway. In almost every other stray tire collision there is an extremely high fatality rate. Miracles right off the bat, huh? These guys are the real deal.
◇ Went on exchange to Stockton, Missouri, met a few polygamists living on "the ranch." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds that marriage between one man and one woman is ordained of God (Jacob 2:23-30,) so that was pretty wild to me. As soon as we crossed the boundary into their community the Spirit felt way weird and the vibes were not good, but hey, at least they gave us free ice cream. 
♧ After wrapping up our exchange with the Stockton Elders, we pulled up to Trek and pulled handcarts with the youth for a few hours! This was my first time at Trek and it was pretty sweet to be a pioneer for a day 
♡ MLC again! It's always fun, but this time around was extra special seeing as how it was the Hathaways' first leadership council. President and Sister Hathaway are miracle-minded spiritual giants with strong family bonds and the kind of attitude that makes me feel like they're my new surrogate parents. I'd sustain them no matter what, but after that meeting yesterday, they have my trust too.
~
Song of the week: "Master, the Tempest is Raging" from the 2023 Church Music Festival. Way good.
Friends to pray for (please:)
- Norma and her family
- Tilor and his family
- The missionaries of the Monett Zone!
~
Thought: The Gift of Remembrance
Doctrine and Covenants 6:22-23:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.
"Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"
Simply put, I was in the feels two days ago. You've got better things to do than read about my problems so all I'll say is that the whole week felt like one long string of "just one of those days." You get the idea.
Upon praying and asking my Father in Heaven for something, anything, I received a clear prompting to open my journal to an entry from exactly one year ago. I won't share everything I read, but one line stuck out to me in particular:
"...When I truly listen to the Spirit, I know that God has seen down these roads with perfect clarity and that He would have me serve his people right where He called me."
The gift of remembrance is precious. We all have times in our life when we do not feel the Holy Spirit. Knowing that, our Savior offers us this gift so that we may hold to our past experiences with Him as to a life preserver in deep water.
Here are some ways to magnify it:
- Journaling
- Expressing gratitude vocally
- Learning from past mistakes
- Testifying of personal converting experiences
Jesus Christ lives! His Church is alive and well. I invite you to magnify the gift of remembrance by making good habits of these four actions. I promise from personal experience that as you faithfully magnify this gift from God, you will always have a reservoir of His living water to see you through the spiritual droughts of life.
Love,
Elder Rigby
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