Blessings from Boston: November 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

MISSIONARY CHRISTMAS

(author unknown)

I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving. The thrill just wasn't there.

No pictures taken with Santa Claus, my decorating has no flair. His

presents are shoes, shirts, and ties, two suits and socks...no fun. I've

bought him all white clothes because... This year I'm giving Christ my

son. I've spent more time in the temple, my testimony stirred. I've

reread November's Ensign, Felt strength

come from His words. Our family prays more frequently. My tears are

quick to run. Abraham seems closer because, This year I'm giving Christ

my son. I wonder how those Lamanite mothers, gave their sons to war? Or

how the pioneers chose Zion , their sacrifice was so much more. My loss

will be his presence, I'll miss his smile a ton for two years we will

pray for him, I'm giving Christ my son. I stare at his face when he's

not looking. I memorize his eyes, their shine. He's always hungered for

the part of him, that makes his soul divine. The stories and lessons he

always heard, His choice and mine are one. I'll put my faith in God's

hand, This year, I'm giving Him my son. Past gifts have lost their

glitter; I think I finally understand Christ's birth should be

celebrated by giving Him a hand. It's because I know Christ lives and

reigns that all his packing's done. My gift has taken years to make,

This year... I'm giving Christ my son. I know there's One who

understands, the sacrifice I'm making. Who knows the gift I willingly

give, The toll it will be taking. For He has done it all before Greater

love - there could be none. For years ago God gave to me, His only

begotten son. The hands I washed, the hands I held, The hands I taught

to pray; Now knock on doors to find the ones Who will listen to what

he'll say. Because I know Christ needs him, Until all the gathering's

done, My gift has taken years to make. This year...I'm giving Christ my

son. —

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Hello everybody! So as you all know this week was Thanksgiving week! Well sad story to tell. So Thursday started out quite well. First thing we did was we went down to Oxford to play some games with the District. We were there from 10am till 2pm. The first thing we did was we decided to make breakfast, so we made German pancakes (I have had them now mom :) a couple time on the mish, not a big fan but I think I would eat them when you make them at home now) and waffles and I think that was all that we had. After 2 everybody had to go to their respective dinners, but ours didn't start till 6 so we just went back home and tried to think of things to do. We found out that we have tennis racquet so we went to go find a tennis ball. We weren't able to find one so we ended up calling Sandy to see if she had one. She did and then she asked us, so have you had dinner yet. We were like o no it starts at 6. Then she said, o I thought it started at 2. E. Knight and I just froze and we both were thinking o no that's no bueno! So we called the young family, keep in mind it's around 5P.M. now, and what do you know Sandy was right....Dinner was supposed to be at 2! AHHHH!!! O well what can ya do you know :) miss communication. So what did we do, we decided to go to the church anyway and play with the tennis ball and have a little fun before we were hungry and we thought what the heck let's just go get a pizza some chips and a drink and call that good :) so that's exactly what we did. So besides the fact we didn't get a traditional turkey dinner it was still a good day. The rest of the week though was pretty good. We had a dinner every single night this week and it was all good food :) nothing none of you wouldn't know about, but I though it was all good :) When it came to teaching other people though it was a slow week. We were able to teach Mary this week again which was good. We haven't meet with them every since the snow storm, but they decided to come to church last week and we got an appointment with them :) so that was good. Well anyway that was my week for the most part :) i hope you all had a wonderful turkey day! talk to you all next week!

--
Love

Elder Camron Foust

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Hmmm....Happy Thanksgiving!

So yet another week has gone by. So this week is Thanksgiving! That just blows my mind away thinking that this is going to be my second and final Thanksgiving as a missionary..... that's just weird to me to think about. So we have a couple things planned for that day which I think are going to be great :) so in the morning we are going to get with the rest of the district and do something fun haha. Originally we had planned on playing Volleyball at the Worcestershire church, but those planes have been changed now sadly enough. Later that day though around 6P.M. I will be going to the Young's house for a dinner that they have planned for about 25 people haha! That's a lot of people eh?!?!? So this year will most defiantly be a HUGE difference then last year though both I'm sure are going to be memorable. So News for the week. We lost contact with Paul and Mary when the storm hit, but luckily they came to church this past week and we were able to meet with them yesterday and we read 2 Nephi 31 with them and talked about "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" which is lesson 3 in PMG. Pretty much all we talk about is finding faith in Christ, repenting, being baptized, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, then enduring to the end :). It sounded like they were able to learn something and they are looking forward to meeting with us again :) so that's good news. O yes so on Saturday this week we were able to meet with Ursula. She is from Poland and so is her mother. She speaks English, but her mother only speaks Polish, with a little bit of English here and there. So we were able to teach them a lesson one and it was kind of cool because Ursula had to translate for her mother so E. Knight and I had a had the chance to speak with each other a little bit while she was translating which helped a bit it thought haha. On Friday we went so Sandy's house for dinner and she made us Chicken Alfredo which was AMAZING! Figured id just tell you that bit of information because that is one of my favorite dishes :). That was pretty much my week for you :) so I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the turkeys!

Love

Elder Camron Foust

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Baptism!‏

Hello everybody :) this week has been a pretty good one for the most part. The biggest news that I have to tell all of you is that on Friday we had a BAPTISM!

WOOT! So R.J. has been getting taught by the missionaries for a little over a year now and has been going to church with is wife (who is a member) for a little over 2 years now. He decided that it would be really cool to get baptized on 11-11-11 so that is the date he set for him self and guess what :) that is exactly what went down! You should have seen the look on Jaska's face; she was beyond happy and couldn't hold back the tears of joy. She has been waiting for this day for a long time and now this time next year she will be able to get sealed to her husband and their new child who is due in February I believe.

Before that we have a Zone meeting in Connecticut, the same day, and it was really cool. Something quite interesting happened that day in the chapel. About half way through the meeting I had a realization.....the chapel looks 95% the same as my chapel back home in E-town W.Y.! I felt pretty good after I realized that and I just had a nice feeling of home and I enjoyed every second of it. Also on the news front, I might be getting a new apartment while I am in this area so just be warned on that for those who send me stuff, I may be giving you a new address within the next 4 weeks, but we may just stay put as well :) ill keep you all updated. Well it has been slow here, which is pretty normal, but it has been good. Today we were able to go to Amherst for another meeting that we had and it went well. President Evens talked about a lot of little things and we all gave input of how we all could improve on teaching our investigators. Well that's about it for now :) I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love

Elder Camron Foust

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

POWER OUTAGE!

So as most of you may or may not know we had quite a different snow storm last Saturday. First of all it wasn't anything I have never been in before, BUT the snow was extremely DENS and filled with a hecka lot of water. This snow was perfect for snow ball fights to say the least. So around 3P.M. Saturday the snow started and by 8P.M. the snow was so heavy that trees were falling to the ground :) so that's why we lost power cuz the trees hit all the power lines and took them down. So I was out of power till Thursday, which for a missionary really isn't that bit of a deal since we pretty much only use power for lights and other minor things
newjerseysnow

. We were out of hot water, but we still had heat! Thank you gas!!! We were even able to cook good food still since the stove is gas as well :). So that was fun I guess haha a good experience for sure though. So on Thursday also i got a new Comp. E. Knight is now here with me in N-Brookfield. Also good news, R.J. Is getting baptized this Friday :) so that's exciting. O ya this last Sunday we got a new branch president and we are going to be getting a new branch mission leader, so a lot of changes have been happening in this branch. What else to tell all of you. huh ya know I though I would have a lot more to tell you since i wasn't able to e-mail last week, but nothing is coming to mind right now. For P-day yesterday we didn't do anything to exciting this week, but we went up to Gardner and played some card games which was nice just being able to sit down and relax for the day :). well i think that's really all I have to say for this week so I hope you all have a wonderful week :) love you all.

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.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

MISSIONARY CHRISTMAS

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Turkey Day....

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Hmmm....Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Baptism!‏

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

POWER OUTAGE!

What do Mormons believe?

Contributors

Send me a letter

Mercy

Followers

Blog Archive