Who's up for round 2?

 

Monday, December 2, 2013

As I said in my last email, Elder Taylor and I both got sick. Well I got better, my companion not so much. We went to urgent care (just like Quick Care) and my companion was diagnosed with a upper respiratory and stomach infection, as well as a common cold. So we were confined to the apartment from Tuesday to Saturday so that he could rest and heal. So we did much of the same stuff that we have been for the past week or so. But there were still blessings to be had, the sister missionaries in College Heights were able to contact a former investigator that now lives in our area and set up an appointment to meet with him yesterday. Unfortunately, he either forgot or just plain flaked on us. But the fact that he was still willing to talk to the missionaries gives us hope that we can still contact him and help him to understand better his relationship with his Father in Heaven.

I did have a great experience as I was reading the Ensign, and also thinking about what am I to learn from these past few weeks of sicknesses and trials. As I was reading President Uchtdorf's remarks, one passage summed it all up for me, "Brethren, our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward." Yes we were beaten physically and brought low. But it only made us humble and increased our determination to serve our Father in Heaven with all the energy we can muster, because now we know what it's like to be called to do something, and not reach the potential that our Father in heaven sees in us; to have a desire to serve and not be able to act upon it. 

So my counsel for you all this week is to read the conference talks!!! Learn about what our leaders have been inspired to say to us in these the last days. Their words are modern revelation, custom-fit to meet any and all walks of life. Especially as next Sunday is the Christmas devotional, you should all watch it. I can promise that the rest of 2013 will be full of brightness and hope if you do.

That's all for this week. Just trying not to count down the days until Christmas when I can talk to my family so I can focus on missionary stuff...here's to not thinking about it!!

Love you all,

Elder Cox