Elder Derek Knighton

August 4, 2014

Hello everyone!! its an exciting day for me in the mission field! This week has been a very good week! we are going to be having a baptism in just a couple of weeks! Maddie is finally getting baptized! its very exciting! I have also learned that many of my investigators that i taught in Ontario are being baptized as well! i'm so happy for all of them!  We have also had the great opportunity of being able to see a few of our potential investigators and things are going really well with them. Jim Bell is probably the most exciting there, his home teacher told the missionaries never to stop by there, because he doesnt want missionaries stopping by! Well guess what??? WE STOPPED BY ANYWAYS! Hahaha and we have visited them several times now. His wife is a member, and she is active, and the visits we have had have been very good! he participates, he enjoys our messages, and its all been going well! We will hopefully be teaching him the lessons very soon!  Another exciting thing this week was transfers! And im going to be training! Im really excited and thankful for this opportunity for me to be able to grow and learn, and be able to help this new missionary to do so also!  There is a scripture that for some reason i happened to read the day before we got our transfer calls and knew where we were going.  It's in 2nd Nephi chapter 10 vs 20. it reads:

And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon the isles of the sea.

Now at first reading this you might think, "what the crap does this mean? what are you trying to get at elder knighton?" Interestingly enough that is not how i saw it at all. To me it means growth. How? Because! the "Land of our inheritance" can be our comfort zone, or things we are used to, but unfortunately those "Comfort zones" don't allow a lot of growth.  The Lord knows what we are capable of, and any new change in our lives is a chance for us to grow. We might not always use it that way, if we don't understand what changes are for.  We may want to hide, and run, or we may complain the entire time like Laman and Lemuel did when there family left and traveled in the wilderness.  They didn't let the experience build them.  They didn't grow from it.  Now Nephi did.  He grew in faith, in testimony, as a person, and in his knowledge of his heavenly father. He was able to learn and grow and we know what type of person he became.  He was lead into a "Better Land" into a unknown place, that helped to build him.  We all have these things happen in our lives too! Change is good, because we grow. Drastic change is even better sometimes, because it almost forces you to grow. That's kind of how i feel right now with training! Its going to be a drastic change, teaching someone new, and helping them learn. It is going to be tough but rewarding! That is how all changes can be. They can be tough but they can be rewarding as well. 

Now don't let us forget the most important part!! Changes in our lives often come from God, and ALL of them are good if we look at them and use them correctly! How can all change be good????? the lose of a loved one, being fired from a job, etc... It all depends on your attitude, is your loved one gone forever? or is he in a "Better Place" in the spirit world? Are you not going to be able to provide for your family anymore, or is there a better job around the corner that if you look for diligently you will find?? These things reveal our true character.  One of the people Elder Parker and I would visit on a regular basis is Jack Kindle. One of his favorite quotes is "Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it." Jack Kindle is a great guy, and he actually came to church this week! Anyways. All change can be good. And in order to make it good, we must do as it says in 2nd Nephi and remember our merciful God, lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, but rather look up with hope, and see that the lord has provided for you a chance to grow. A chance to leave your comfort zone and become better! Our Heavenly Father wants to build us! he wants us to grow as much as we possibly can, and that is why we have adversity, and the ability to choose what we will make of it. im very excited to train! and to see where the Lord decides to take me! I have been learning to leave it all up to him! And let him mold me into what he knows i should be. Anyways these are just my thoughts, i love you all have a great week!!