GOD IS THE GARDENER

What a week it was to say the least!

Some highlights of the week are as follows:

• We went on an exchange with the son of the Thailand mission president which was awesome! Jarom was his name and he was a way kind kid. It was cool to see that missionary work is still the same no matter where you are. We biked him around the dirt streets and actually taught some cool lessons!

• They were fixing a road while we were biking home (already a little bit late) and my tire went flat. I had to fill it up a few times just to make it home, but then on top of that my wheel wouldn't spin because it was so clogged up with mud haha. It just got stuck and wouldn't go back or forward. Pretty funny times. Made it home caked in mud

• We had zone conference and it was awesome! I love spending time with President and Sister Lewis. 

• We focused on EXPECTING MIRACLES! Our Heavenly Father is a God of miracles and we just have to ask and be faithful enough to see Him work His magic! Kinda cheesy, but if you expect miracles in your own life you will see the results. 

• And BTW I would love to hear of  a miracle you have seen in your own life if you have some free time. (jacob.gochnour@myldsmail.net)

We also had interviews with President and he shared something that really stuck with me. I asked why more people don't CARE! Why doesn't their personal salvation mean more to them? Why don't they want to have peace and happiness in this life? Why doesn't it matter to them? I just didn't understand. Although he didn't answer my question directly he just said something that really stuck out to me. He just said that you can't let it get to you. In our world today the adversary works SO HARD to try to beat us down and mix up the things that are most important, THE FAMILY! We just need to be optimistic and take on every day with a smile! 

I went on an exchange with Elder Phork (khmer) and he is the man. He recently had a family member pass away and he said the coolest thing, "honestly I don't know how I would have reacted if I wasn't on a mission. I probably would have been mad or something. But because I am on a mission I have peace and I know where he is going." We were able to teach about the plan of salvation to an investigator and the spirit was pumping! 

We were supposed to have a baptism this week, but our man had a meeting at his work he couldn't miss, and his two friends (who would have gone to church) went to the same meeting with him. Another investigator went to church, but before sacrament started he has something come up and had to leave, and our other investigator got bit by a dog with rabies haha. Those are just a few of the many that weren't able to go lol..... We have been working as hard as possible, but often times things don't work out the way we would like them too. 

 I was given the opportunity to read the talk called God is the Gardener, and it was just the medicine I needed! He tells the classic story about how the gardener had to cut down the current bush in order to show the true growth and fruits that the bush could bring forth. ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’ 

I love this work. Sometimes you get home and you are tired and you don't know exactly why everything that happened, happened, but I can say that God is the Gardener. Whatever undertakings may demand of you and of your attention, I tell you, young men and young women, you cannot make a better resolution today than this: “I am going to keep close to the Lord. I am going to understand Him better, and, understanding Him, I will understand myself and will try to put my life into harmony with His.” For I have come to know that every man and every woman has potential godhood dwelling in him, for God is in reality the Father of us all. 

That is all I have for this week! I love my mission and I love my Savior. This gospel is about becoming, and everyday we need to do a little better than yesterday! I love you all. 

Elder Gochnour

P.S. Everyday as we bike and walk the streets we see dogs fighting and it reminds me of how the world is. We are so blessed that we have a place of refuge from the world in our Heavenly Father's care. This is what one of the missionaries from my area wrote:

"Just know that every morning, everyday, every night is a warzone. All the dogs in the neighborhood just go at and are always fighting. A lot of times multiple dogs gang up on one dog or its one dog goes at it with another and every other dog in the area runs to get into the fight. We watch them fight from our balcony, sometimes they fight within our apartment gates or sometimes on our stairs. but just know that it is truly a doggy doggy world out here."