November 10th

Awww poor kyle, man that kid has to go through a lot! I will keep him in my prayers always. Let me know if anything changes with his condition.

Another week come and gone... and I now have my travel itinerary, I leave next wednesday at 6am to head on out into the field. I am getting excited but nervous as well. The first few days will take some getting used to and so I pray my trainer is patient with me and speaks spanish well because I know I sure dont speak it well enough to do everything I need to do. The snow has begun to fall again and the mountains are beginning to lose their green as they get covered up in snow. Oh an guess what??? Surprise surprise last night another Apostle came and spoke at our devotional. Elder David A. Bednard and his wife came and spoke, it was probably the best devotional I have heard since I got here. Sister Bednar talked about how all creations denote their is a Christ and how God has always spoken through prophets and always will. It was an excellent talk but she kept it short in order to give her husband more time to talk. Elder Bednar is such a fluent and powerfull speaker. When he got up he stated that he served his mission right after Parley P. Pratt returned from England. His wife then stood up and said "Dear now they are going to think you are as old as Parley" to which he responded, "Honey I am as old a Parley P. Pratt. He then went on to say I am not the teacher here tonight it is the Spirit, I am not here to give a talk or to teach you but to help you learn. "It is more important for your investigators to learn than it is for you to teach". He revolved his whole talk around 3 principles of teaching and helping our investigators learn, they are; Doctrine, Principle and Application. He stated Doctrine is a revealed truth here on the earth that helps us with our eternal progression. Doctrine always answers the question why, and the questions of the soul are usually why questions. The answer is always Doctrine (repeated at least 5 times). What is a principle? A principle a guideline that comes out of doctrine, and is there to help us excercise righteous moral agency. We need to teach the correct principles and then let people govern themselves with their moral agency. A principle answers the question what. Application, application answers the question how. He spoke of  Repentance and how the application is to return to Christ. He gave an example of a doctrine principle and application. Doctrine: Gospel of Jesus Christ, Principle: Obedience, Application: Tithing. He stated that many times within the church we try and fix problems by using applications when that is not what fixes a problem long term. He used Home Teaching as an example, not many people can give the doctrinal significance for Home Teaching which is why HT doesn't work. "There is no lasting spiritual impact from the manipulation of application'. The answer is always doctrine. "True doctrine understood changes attitude and behavior. True understanding is linked to the heart and is revealed as a result of revelation. Understanding is when clarity of mind meets the heart. If someone we teach has an addiction we need to not think, how can we get them to quit, how can we convince them to stop. But we need to think "What doctrine if understood better would bring about change". Deliverance from addictions is focused on covenants. The power of Godliness is the fullness of the blessings avaliable through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In Mosiah we learn that when we pray for help in times of trial, the Lord doesn't just lift our burden from us. The weight of the burden doesnt change, the people change, they become stronger. No investigator will overcome addiction if they do not understand the redeeming power of the Atonement and the Strengthening power of the Atonement.

When people ask us application questions we cannot give them application answers. We must answer application questions with a principle. When we answer with application we seem defensive. He used polygamy as an example. With polygamy the issue is not plural marriage, the issue is that of revelation. It doesnt help our investigators if we just give them an answer for there is no spiritual growth involved. We need to guide them to the answer and help them to gain a testimony of it. He talked of our future children and said when you are teaching them about chastity and how to help them to be chaste in a world were almost nobody is you must think, what doctrine if learned and taken to heart would help them to be chaste. He ended by saying," I am not strong enough, I am not spiritual enough, I am not good enough to be an Apostle of the Lord. I just dont have what it takes, but with the help of the Lord all things are possible". He then gave us an Apostalic blessing that as we study the doctrine and its principles it will be instilled in our hearts as the dews from Heaven and our Heavenly Father will bless us, our families and future generations to come.

I know the church is true and I am involved in the work of the Lord. Christ is the author of our Salvation and the publisher of our Peace. I love you all and pray for you daily.

Elder Jolly