Blessings from Boston: October 2011

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Megan and Luke

Hey everybody :D hope all is well and i hope you all did something fun this past weekend and enjoyed some fun time for a change! I always find out that when i go and have a bit of fun every now and again it just makes doing all of life's stuff so much easier to handle and go about! Anyway this past week has been pretty good. We were able to get in contact with a potential family finally!! Their names are Megan and Luke and they have two kids, a boy who is 6 and a little girl who is 15 months old. The only sad part of this whole thing is that there little girl has cancer!!! how sad is that! 15 months old and has cancer. We brought up the plan of salvation with them and they really enjoyed what we had to say. Also the wife, Megan, asked us a lot of other questions that we were able to answer and she really likes the sound of how the church of Jesus Christ functions! So anyway were hoping that they turn into investigators sooner rather than later. Saturday we were able to go to SALEM witch town USA! it was pretty cool. We changed our p-day to Saturday and ended up working on Monday. We were able to see some pretty cool costumes that I never thought would be doable, but people out in Salem have a wild imagination. So we had a fun day out there and when we finally got home at 9P.M. I hopped into bed and crashed I was out! Then E. Clark said that he got into bed at 930 and he was out as well haha :) so we had a good day just walking around and looking at stuff, we were going to go into some museums, but there were too expensive! o well next time I come out here when I got a bigger income I'll be able to check those out! wow my hands are starting to hurt from typing! Anyway let's see what else happened. We were able to talk with Paul and Mary again. We were going to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ but after the first principle they started asking us all sorts of questions which ended up taking up the entire hour :) so it was good though i felt like we were able to help them out and we left them with 2 Nephi: 31 and asked them to pray about baptism, so hopefully they get a good impression from God while there praying so we can set up a baptism date next time we meet with them! Well that's it for now :) I hope you all have a wonderful week!! much love!

Love

Elder Camron Foust

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Hello

Why hello there people around the world that mostly live in Utah and Wyoming and other places that I may not know of, how are you? Probably just swell! Things out here are going well for the most part :) a bit slow but that's more then ok. It's kind of nice when you don't have something going on all the time and you feel super rushed and feel like you don’t have enough time to do all that you had planned on doing!!! That feeling is no good I must say, so I like it out here where we got enough to do but not so much that were running around like chickens with our heads cut off! Well let’s see what happened this week that i should tell you about that I can remember. O so funny story, Sunday night we went over to a member’s house for dinner. Her name is Sister. Kokernaker. She is CRAZY, but a lot of fun to be around. So when we got to her house, she hadn't even started dinner so we were like alright sounds good we will help you make dinner then :) so we did. I cooked some gravy and green beans while she cooked a roast and E. Clark did something, I’m not to sure what he did but he did something. Anyway dinner was over and we went outside to talk for a minute and then we came back inside and helped her clean the dishes. The phone started to ring so they told me to answer it, so i did. It was pretty funny cuz I said hello but in a deeper voice then she said hello? And I said hello (deep voice) who is calling please. She then said Holly and i pulled the phone away from my mouth and i asked s. Koker who is holly and she just started laughing and told me to tell her that she would call her in a bit, so i told her that then she asked me "May I ask who is call...I mean answering the phone" and I said in my normal voice " O just an elder" and she was like "O" then i hung up haha it was pretty funny. Rite after that sister Koker splashed me with water for some reason so i splashed here with a lil bit of water then she tried to get me again so i jumped across the room and stayed clear of her. Then all of a sudden she had a big cup of water and splashed E. Clark all over his chest! It was hilarious and E. Clark was like what the heck! I didn’t even do anything and Sister K said sorry you were behind me and I was just laughing my head off. Then i knew that she was going to splash me and i was just waiting for it and staying as far away from her as possible. Then she asked me to through something away and i was like dangit i cant say no and if i go get it I’m going to get splashed! So i had to go get it and get splashed my self haha :) it was a lot of fun though soon after we were done helping her we left and went home after. Alright well my hands are starting to cramp up! So i think ill leave you with that good story :) I hope you all have a wonderful week and HAVE FUN! That is the most important thing you could do is HAVE FUN! Alright that is my commitment for all of you this week go out and do something fun WITH the family or if you are away from family get some friends together and do something fun! I love you all!

Love

Elder Camron Foust

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

STAR VALLEY IS GETTING A TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you would not believe how happy I was when I herd president Monson

say that Star ValleyWyoming was going to get a Temple. Now I know that it won't really benefit me since S.V. is like 4 hours away or something like that, but the fact that WYOMING is getting a Temple just makes me happy L( and i love the face the Prez Monson gave when he announced Wyoming haha I found it quite hilarious.

Well this week has been pretty good I guess. We were driving back to the Oxford church yesterday after a bit of hiking and there was this beaver that started bolting to the road! It almost got hit by one of the cars in front of us and was like O CRAP I COULD GET KILLED so it pulled the fastest 180 i have ever seen and bolted the other way back into the woods! It was pretty funny to watch actually. E. Clark and I were like "Was that a beaver?!?!" haha yup so i have now seen a bob cat and a beaver out here, i might even see a deer after 13 months O.o how cool would that be ;) haha ok so not the most amazing thing but i would think it ta be pretty cool. So just like E. Foust JR said, if you have not watched all 5 sessions of conference THEN STOP READING THIS AND DO SO!!! http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/10?lang=eng

Alright so this week what happened! O so like I was saying about yesterday. So we went to this place towards Oxford that had a chasm and it was actually pretty cool. I got a good amount of pic's i think and will hopefully be sending them your way here shortly, 4gb sd card is kind of hard to fill up so I have been shooting as many videos as possible since that takes up a lot of memory :). Before we went hiking though we were in the Oxford church recording :) how cool is that huh. So E. Clark has a couple of songs that he made up and one of them was for last transfers district. So we went to the church so we could record the songs that the other missionaries wanted and i recorded them on my camera as well cuz there actually pretty darn good songs :). Then we went hiking and after that we just went to subway and had some lunch/dinner kind of think cuz it was like 330 when we ate haha so a late lunch I guess. So yesterday was pretty fun to say the least. On Friday we were able to go to Paul and Mary's house. Paul is a Less Active and Mary is our new investigator!!! It was a pretty cool lesson. We talked a little bit about the Word of Wisdom and a lot about the Plan of Salvation. She has two adopted handicapped children one with autism and I'm not sure what the other one has. So they were really curious about the hole baptism thing with handicapped people so we told them and let them know about the entire Plan of Salvation. Afterwards we asked her if baptism would be something she would like to do and she let us know that it probably would be but that she would need to learn more before making that decision :) so that was a pretty cool lesson. So looks like that's about all i got for now :) anyway i hope you all have a wonderful week and have a lot of fun :)

Love

Elder Camron Foust

Mercy

When our hearts are filled with the love of God, we become “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving.” My dear brothers and sisters, not long ago I received a letter from a concerned mother who pleaded for a general conference talk on a topic that would specifically benefit her two children. A rift had grown between them, and they had stopped speaking to each other. The mother was heartbroken. In the letter she assured me that a general conference message on this topic would reconcile her children, and all would be well. This good sister’s sincere and heartfelt plea was just one of several promptings I have received over these last months that I should say a few words today on a topic that is a growing concern—not only for a worried mother but for many in the Church and, indeed, the world. I am impressed by the faith of this loving mother that a general conference talk could help heal the relationship between her children. I am sure that her confidence was not so much in the abilities of the speakers but in “the virtue of the word of God,” which has a “more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than … anything else.” Dear sister, I pray that the Spirit will touch your children’s hearts. When Relationships Go Bad Strained and broken relationships are as old as humankind itself. Ancient Cain was the first who allowed the cancer of bitterness and malice to canker his heart. He tilled the ground of his soul with envy and hatred and allowed these feelings to ripen until he did the unthinkable—murdering his own brother and becoming, in the process, the father of Satan’s lies. Since those first days the spirit of envy and hatred has led to some of the most tragic stories in history. It turned Saul against David, the sons of Jacob against their brother Joseph, Laman and Lemuel against Nephi, and Amalickiah against Moroni. I imagine that every person on earth has been affected in some way by the destructive spirit of contention, resentment, and revenge. Perhaps there are even times when we recognize this spirit in ourselves. When we feel hurt, angry, or envious, it is quite easy to judge other people, often assigning dark motives to their actions in order to justify our own feelings of resentment. The Doctrine Of course, we know this is wrong. The doctrine is clear. We all depend on the Savior; none of us can be saved without Him. Christ’s Atonement is infinite and eternal. Forgiveness for our sins comes with conditions. We must repent, and we must be willing to forgive others. Jesus taught: “Forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not … [stands] condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin” and “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Of course, these words seem perfectly reasonable—when applied to someone else. We can so clearly and easily see the harmful results that come when others judge and hold grudges. And we certainly don’t like it when people judge us. But when it comes to our own prejudices and grievances, we too often justify our anger as righteous and our judgment as reliable and only appropriate. Though we cannot look into another’s heart, we assume that we know a bad motive or even a bad person when we see one. We make exceptions when it comes to our own bitterness because we feel that, in our case, we have all the information we need to hold someone else in contempt. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said that those who pass judgment on others are “inexcusable.” The moment we judge someone else, he explained, we condemn ourselves, for none is without sin.5 Refusing to forgive is a grievous sin—one the Savior warned against. Jesus’s own disciples had “sought occasion against [each other] and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened.” Our Savior has spoken so clearly on this subject that there is little room for private interpretation. “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive,” but then He said, “… of you it is required to forgive all men.” May I add a footnote here? When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgive—as well as perhaps the one who is most in need of our forgiveness—is the person looking back at us in the mirror. The Bottom Line This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following: Stop it! It’s that simple. We simply have to stop judging others and replace judgmental thoughts and feelings with a heart full of love for God and His children. God is our Father. We are His children. We are all brothers and sisters. I don’t know exactly how to articulate this point of not judging others with sufficient eloquence, passion, and persuasion to make it stick. I can quote scripture, I can try to expound doctrine, and I will even quote a bumper sticker I recently saw. It was attached to the back of a car whose driver appeared to be a little rough around the edges, but the words on the sticker taught an insightful lesson. It read, “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.” We must recognize that we are all imperfect—that we are beggars before God. Haven’t we all, at one time or another, meekly approached the mercy seat and pleaded for grace? Haven’t we wished with all the energy of our souls for mercy—to be forgiven for the mistakes we have made and the sins we have committed? Because we all depend on the mercy of God, how can we deny to others any measure of the grace we so desperately desire for ourselves? My beloved brothers and sisters, should we not forgive as we wish to be forgiven? The Love of God Is this difficult to do? Yes, of course. Forgiving ourselves and others is not easy. In fact, for most of us it requires a major change in our attitude and way of thinking—even a change of heart. But there is good news. This “mighty change” of heart is exactly what the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to bring into our lives. How is it done? Through the love of God. When our hearts are filled with the love of God, something good and pure happens to us. We “keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” The more we allow the love of God to govern our minds and emotions—the more we allow our love for our Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts—the easier it is to love others with the pure love of Christ. As we open our hearts to the glowing dawn of the love of God, the darkness and cold of animosity and envy will eventually fade. As always, Christ is our exemplar. In His teachings as in His life, He showed us the way. He forgave the wicked, the vulgar, and those who sought to hurt and to do Him harm. Jesus said it is easy to love those who love us; even the wicked can do that. But Jesus Christ taught a higher law. His words echo through the centuries and are meant for us today. They are meant for all who desire to be His disciples. They are meant for you and me: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” When our hearts are filled with the love of God, we become “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving [each other], even as God for Christ’s sake [forgave us].” The pure love of Christ can remove the scales of resentment and wrath from our eyes, allowing us to see others the way our Heavenly Father sees us: as flawed and imperfect mortals who have potential and worth far beyond our capacity to imagine. Because God loves us so much, we too must love and forgive each other. The Way of the Disciple My dear brothers and sisters, consider the following questions as a self-test: Do you harbor a grudge against someone else? Do you gossip, even when what you say may be true? Do you exclude, push away, or punish others because of something they have done? Do you secretly envy another? Do you wish to cause harm to someone? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to apply the two-word sermon from earlier: stop it! In a world of accusations and unfriendliness, it is easy to gather and cast stones. But before we do so, let us remember the words of the One who is our Master and model: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” Brothers and sisters, let us put down our stones. Let us be kind. Let us forgive. Let us talk peacefully with each other. Let the love of God fill our hearts. “Let us do good unto all men.” The Savior promised: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. … For with the same measure that [you use] it shall be measured to you again.” Shouldn’t this promise be enough to always focus our efforts on acts of kindness, forgiveness, and charity instead of on any negative behavior? Let us, as disciples of Jesus Christ, return good for evil. Let us not seek revenge or allow our wrath to overcome us. “For it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. … “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Remember: in the end, it is the merciful who obtain mercy. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wherever we may be, let us be known as a people who “have love one to another.” Love One Another Brothers and sisters, there is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness, bitterness, and resentment. We are not perfect. The people around us are not perfect. People do things that annoy, disappoint, and anger. In this mortal life it will always be that way. Nevertheless, we must let go of our grievances. Part of the purpose of mortality is to learn how to let go of such things. That is the Lord’s way. Remember, heaven is filled with those who have this in common: They are forgiven. And they forgive. Lay your burden at the Savior’s feet. Let go of judgment. Allow Christ’s Atonement to change and heal your heart. Love one another. Forgive one another. The merciful will obtain mercy. Of this I testify in the name of the One who loved so well and so completely that He gave His life for us, His friends—in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Megan and Luke

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Hello

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

STAR VALLEY IS GETTING A TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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