HELLLLLOOOOOO AMAZING AMIGOS AND FAMILIA (notice my use of Espanol to add a fresh new Spanish flare)!!!! Not going to lie this week has had its major miracles and serious heartbreaks, but as a wise woman once said, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! However, before I get into the real nitty gritty lets have another spiritual thought from Elder McMullin!!! This week I want to talk about a very serious topic that has spirituality killed some of my sweet friends both in our ward and teaching pool. This is the destructive power of "Anti-Church" or "Anti-Mormon" material. My sweet Brothers and Sisters DON'T fall for it. Just as pornography warps and stimulates the sexual drive of our physical bodies, Anti-Mormon material attacks the very core of our spirituality, namely our testimony that we have spent our entire lives growing and nurturing. It aggravates our conscience letting lies and falsely based theories slither into our hearts and co-mingle with righteous curiosity based questions completely debilitating our avenue to feel the spirit. Yet that's only the beginning of an extremely self destructive spiral with the end destination of total abandonment and anger fueled aggression. Now, this is not to shame questions that might arise about the Church or spiritually in general. Jesus Christ Himself said in Matthew 7:7 we should "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you". Now I beg the question sweet Brothers and Sisters, who are you asking? Where are you seeking? Whose door are you knocking? There are millions of resources to answer our questions, but only a small handful are inspired by God and will bring you closer to him. Google will have answers, but the answers are influenced by the person with the deepest pockets and most optimized platform. YouTube is a shrine for aesthetic amateur and professional cinematography that can deceive anyone via creativity and beauty, but underneath lurks the same lies simply dressed in a more appealing outfit. These are the last of the Latter-days and we need to be more than ever aware of the deceptions Lucifer will try to sell us. My sweet brothers and sisters don't be afraid to ask questions, we would only be so extremely persecuted if what we believed was true.
CRAZY HORSE!!! This week we had the amazing experience to hike the Crazy Horse Volksmarch as part of Zone Conference here in Rapid City. Let me tell you it is way bigger than Mt. Rushmore but kind of less impressive because it's still in the process of being built, but awesome nevertheless. Elder Jue, Nielson and I had the amazing experience to hike with 15,000 other hikers and pass out comeuntochrist.org stickers along the way. It was an amazing experience to be surrounded by the beauty of God's creations, not only in nature, but also of his sons and daughters; our fellow brothers and sisters. I personally didn’t know each one of these hikers, but I did know that despite our outward differences we are all one big family sent here to support each other and come unto Jesus Christ.
NDBM Happenings!!! It's been awhile since I've given an update on the ever changing happenings of the good ol' North Dakota Bismarck Mission, so I thought I would give you a quick one. As many of you know President and Sister Howell are finishing their missions this month on June 30th letting President and Sister Camp fulfill their new calling as NDBM President and Sister. This isn't to say that the Howells are leaving quietly, we have a goal to have 100 Baptisms by the end of this month and so far we are on track to do so. President and Sister Howell have also announced that we will be having early transfers on the 20th so that we can be somewhat settled in for President and Sister Camp. As for me, I have been asked to take on the new special assignment of graphic design and sticker/pass along card manufacturing. How that applies to transfer calls I have no idea, but all I know is that sticker paper is my best friend right now.
FRIEND UPDATE!!! This week has had its serious ups and downs. We have unfortunately had to stop teaching Feather and Skeets because they can't see themselves following the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity. We also had to stop teaching Brad and Mackenzie because of their run-in with Anti-Mormon material and renewed belief that we are a cult that worships Joseph Smith (seriously don't Google spiritual questions). Leonard has also disappeared off the face of the earth and is worried that he might have died. However, a major highlight was John P. a friend of Tommy and Lynda is seriously reading the Book of Mormon and taking work off to come to Church on Sundays. He is very elect and gets very emotional in each lesson because (in His words) "each of [his] childhood and adult questions about God are answered without him even asking". So of course our teaching pool is pulling a wee bit of a Hindenburg, BUT the Lord loves effort so we will try even harder this week to find new people because clearly someone is out there, ready and waiting, Satan just doesn't want us to think so.
Well... that about wraps it up fam!!! Know that I love you all so much and that there's not a single day that goes by that I don't miss you all. Stay safe, but more importantly have so much fun since summer has officially arrived and vacation season has begun!!! Love and miss you all so much!!!
Your favorite McM from the NDBM,
Elder McMullin :-)
PHOTO GALLERY!!!!
1-5) CRAZY HORSE
6) This is a photo of Elder Archambault (we were on exchanges) and I with the Nothelphims and the Ringmores. Bro Ringmore was the head Chef for Queen Elizabeth, but later retired to be the head Chef and dietitian for President Gordon B. Hinckley. Sweetest people ever and can play one heck of a game of boggle.
7) God Bless America!
