April 28, 2014

I probably only have 2 weeks left in Ontario! Crazy to think about! there is this boy that we have started teaching his name is Dillon, and he is only 11, and is very shy to doing somethings like praying or reading in front of people, but once he does it he feels good about and is just doing really great! his mom is less active, his dad is not a member, and is across the country for military, but his grandma that lives with them is semi active, she comes when she can but with her health its hard for her.  I can see the mom of the boy being interested though in the teachings we have been teaching her son, and she has been listening in on the discussions! :) I hope to be able to see her reactivated, and her son baptized! then when the father comes home hopefully he will be baptized as well!

 

As a missionary there is something I see more than anything, and that is families obviously.  I've been able to see how many different families function, and how the gospel effects each of there lives, as well as how those with out the gospel in there families are only tied together by small strings.  In the gospel we are sealed to our families, and we know that we will live with one another forever. the gospel blesses us to be happy as a family. When we are following the teachings of the savior and growing as a family in the gospel, we become so much stronger!  I love seeing how happy a family can be because of the gospel, and how that can help protect us from the outside world, when in our homes there is peace and joy.  I know what I want my family to be centered around when I have my own children.  I know that the gospel blesses our lives personally and especially our families lives! I hope you all have a great week!! :)

 

Elder Knighton

March 31, 2014

Elder Derek Thomas Knighton sent us these pictures of yet another one of his p-day adventures:

March 10, 2014

Elder Derek Thomas Knighton sent us these pictures:

March 10, 2014

Hey guys!! this week has been pretty good! :) kinda slow but that happens.  We still had the same amount of visits this week as we usually do, but for some reason the week just seemed kinda slow! but that's ok :) just means we can do more this week! its crazy how fast the time flies, in 3 days I will have officially been out for 4 months! that's so crazy!  haha anyways we have had some really good visits with our investigators and less actives, we have actually recently got 3 in active member reactivated! hopefully it stays that way! hahaha its been pretty cool! i have also gained 30 lbs on my mission so far... lucky all of it is going towards muscle haha other wise it would just be weird! i need to stop gaining weight at this rate though, i don't know if its particularly healthy! Anyways! hahah enough about me.

 

i was in Sunday school yesterday and on of our recently reactivated members was teaching the lesson! (crazy right?) hahaha its actually really cool but anyways there was one thing that she said to us that i kinda played with in my head for a little while, and we were talking about having knowledge, and how important that is! it was really cool for me to realize what the most important thing we can learn in this life is. The most important knowledge we can gain in this life is the Knowledge of our Savior.  There is one thing we take with us as we progress forward into the eternities and that is the knowledge we have acquired here on earth. We have often been told that we should try to gain as much education as possible.  To learn and develop as much as we possibly can in this life, to help us as we progress to the next.  But i would advise us all to learn the things that are of the utmost importance first.  The man who has no knowledge of mathematics or science but yet knows his Savior, is far better off than the man with the PHD and no knowledge of his Savior.  In a world where discouragement, sorrow, and sin are seen in our lives on a daily basis, in times when fear and despair seem to prevail over all else, i would council us all to do as it says in Mosiah 4 vs 9

 

"Believe in God, believe that He is, and that he created all things both in heaven and earth; believe that he has all power, both in heaven and earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the lord can comprehend." and then in Vs 12 the result:

 

"And Behold i say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always REJOICE and be filled with the love of God and always retain a remission of your sins, and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true."

 

As great as mathematics and science are, the knowledge belief and love for our Savior helps us through those hardships. It will help us through those times of despair and sadness.  Our knowledge and love for the Savior helps us to keep moving, keep rejoicing, and keep living. It helps us to face the future, and make it into what we want and rejoice in our opportunities! That last bit is the most important, a knowledge of our Savior brings Joy! and who doesn't want Joy??? i love you guys!! have a wonderful week!! :)

March 3, 2014

This week has been really great!! We actually got two of our less actives to come to church!! And they BOTH bore there testimony in fast and testimony meeting! It was great!! It's so good to see people progressing and moving closer to our heavenly father!  One of these less actives will be able to take the sacrament really soon hopefully!  He has some trials in his life that are really hard for him to overcome, but with the help of the lord it is possible to do anything!  Our Heavenly Father is continually building us into what he knows we can be, our job is to make sure we don't fail him! He can try as hard as he wants to build us into something beautiful, but if we are not willing to be molded into our potential, there is not much he can do.  There is a story that I really like:

 

Imagine for a moment yourself as a small run down cottage, old and worn out, a couple of holes here and there and several leaks and cracks that are all a result of hard times, and things this old house has gone through. We invite a builder (the Lord) into our lives to help restore us to our original form, to build us back up to what we know we can become.  So he starts small, repairing small holes and filling in cracks and leaks, and slowly but surely we start to return back to what we originally were! But the builder continues, an extension is added here and 3 more over there, some walls are smashed to the ground and rebuilt somewhere else, and it becomes extremely painful! eventually a beautiful courtyard is built, a second and third story and a lovely porch to top it off.  You thought you were just simply going to be a cottage. But the Lord was building a palace.

 

The lord knows what we can become. He knows our potential in this life and in the life to come and is continually trying to shape and build us into what he knows we can truly be!  He loves each and everyone of us and wants us to all have the best experience in life as possible.  Yes sometimes some of the things we go through can be painful, but It is all for the better. The Lord is building us up and refining us into our potential. Whether we realize it our not, when those walls are smashed to the ground, they will always, through the lords help, be built up again stronger, and in a place that our heavenly father knows they need to be.  It is our job to recognize what the builder is doing.  Though painful, the process of refinement is a part of life.  We must be willing to be built by the Lord.

 

I love you guys have a great week!! :)

February 24, 2014

Hello Everyone! :) This week has been a great week, and has really helped to build me up a lot! i know that my heavenly father is always looking out for me, and is always willing to help me if i ask him! So first week as senior companion down! haha :) it can be really kinda stressful being senior comp! but Ive learned so much already and i know that i will continue to learn and grow as i serve the Lord! This really is going to be a trail for me on my mission, because i have only been out for about 3 months, and im already senior companion! its really kinda crazy!  I know that trials strengthen us though, a lot of the time we done see them that way, but they really do! they help us to learn and to grow and become closer to our heavenly father. They strengthen us so that when we have more trials come, we have our foundation firmly built on Christ, we have a unshakable foundation of faith, that when the devil tries to bring us down, he has no power over us. There is a poem that President Monson quoted in one of his recent addresses that says

 

"Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger the wind,

The stronger the trees,

The further sky the greater length,

The more the storm,

The more the strength,

By sun and cold

By rain and snow

In trees and men

Good timbers grow"

 

Love you guys have a great week! :) remember trials can be a good thing! :)

February 18, 2014

This week is going to be hectic! I've been thrown on ice and I don't yet know how to skate! my skates aren't even on write! ;) i'm going to have to get my footing sometime soon. Transfers were this week, and Boswell and I are no longer companions.  I have a new companion whose name is Elder Horne, and he is really cool! he has only been out 6 weeks and hasn't been enjoying his mission so far because of his last few companions, and so hopefully I will be able to help him realize the growth that comes from being a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ :) I am also senior companion, and ive only been out for 3 months! its crazy! im honestly freaking out about it a little bit, just because im super worried about messing up, but I know the lord will always help us and wont leave us to fend for ourselves. I know I cant do this with out the Lord, and with out his guidance in my life, and I love being able to see that :) He is our loving Heavenly Father, and he won't let us down!  I gave the analogy the other day in a lesson of a small child trying to get a cookie from the top of a fridge.  lets say for a moment that we are this 2 year old child and the cookie on the fridge is our potential.  There are 4 things that the child does.  it can see that it is there, it tries reaches and falls, sits down and cries and realizes that he cant do on his own, and then goes to the father and asks for help reaching the cookie he cant get by himself.  Often times we do the same thing.  We can see that we are able to be better than we are, we know our potential to become like our heavenly father and live with him in the eternities forever. we try our best to reach for things that on our own we cannot obtain.  There is not one man on this earth save Christ that was perfect. We all need the help an assistance of his infinite atonement.  We try, we fall, we mess up, we look to the Lord for help, and his assistance is given to us.  Then the same thing happens again and again until finally we realize that we truly cannot successfully make it through this life with out the love and guidance of our heavenly father. He love each of us and is willing to help us out if we ask! But like the father of the 2 year old, as much as he would like to stand up from the get go, and give a cookie to the child, he does not. He waits, he watches carefully and rejoices when the child looks to him, and their relationship is strengthened.  That is when he helps his children. We cant just be handed things, they must be worked for, and when we take the time to follow our savior, we can slowly reach our full potential. Im going to be learning a lot this transfer! and I know the lord will help me through it all as long as I look to him! he loves me and he love each of you! I hope you all have a fantastic week, and I hope that analogy made sense haha it is a lot easier to say then to write down, that is for sure! love you all!

-Love Elder Knighton