WK98 'Spiritually Creation=Miracles'

Family and Friends!!

Well another eventful week in the Christmas season of the SUNNY and HOT Southern Florida!! This week was full of every part of getting wet from biking in walls of rain, to going down into the baptismal font several times! We have learned an incredible amount and been blessed incredibly by the hand of the Lord. I am grateful for the love that I feel from Father every single day, and know that as we all live our lives according to HIS will then we will feel of that same love.

 

Today I wanted to share a little bit about one of the most basic and fundamental principles of the gospel, FAITH in the Savior Jesus Christ. There is a really good talk by Elder Cook that speaks about this. He talks about spiritual creation and how it is an element of faith. For instance, before the city of Enoch was translated they had a testimony. God created the earth spiritually before he did so temporally. So they spiritually created then in came to pass. Elder Cook talks about how if we want to bring something to pass, and it is the will of the Lord, we just must believe with the innermost part of our heart and then we will literally bring it to pass.

 

We saw this principle of faith many times this week. One Child of God we were able to baptize on Saturday had an incredible amount of doubts throughout the week. But Father was able to help us cultivate spiritual experiences as we believed with our whole heart and gave him everything we have! Another huge miracle came at the Book of Mormon musical again. During the intermission we saw two younger men and God gave me the capacity to spiritually create and see them as they could become. We began to talk and they are now being taught by the missionaries down in Miami. Last but not least, we were biking down the street on one side and the Spirit prompted us to go contact a man on the other side of the street. When we began to speak with him I felt tremendous power from Father [this because we believed with every part of our soul]! He accepted baptism and church right on the spot. Him and his family of three were at church on Sunday, loved it, and are getting baptized this Sunday!

 

Truly Brothers and Sisters, if we can just believe with our whole soul as we spiritually create then miracles are promised to come from the hand of the Lord.

This upcoming week we are looking at an amazing week. I am extremely excited and urge all of you to have the best week ever by applying faith through spiritual creation.

I love the Lord and I know the Lord!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK97 'ENDURANCE!'

Dear Family and Friends!!

This past week was crazy but as usual full of tender mercies from Father! What I feel like we as members of Gods church often times forget is to be keepers of our covenants. This past week I have been pondering on our baptismal covenant outlines in the sacrament prayers:

3 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and ^asanctify this ^bbread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in ^cremembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the ^dname of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his ^eSpirit to be with them. Amen. Moroni 4:3

In this covenant we as members of the church always remember that we need to keep the commandments and then Father will bless us to have the Spirit to always be with us. But what we fail to remember is the higher law part of the covenant. That we have promised with Father to take upon ourselves the name of Christ and always remember him. In this life the things of eternal importance are those that help us live this covenant. We need to live our lives in the way that others see Christ within us, that involves losing our will and constantly doing the will of Father.

One principle that Christ perfected and I have been studying about this past week is the principle of endurance. I was pondering on a couple of situations. First with sports, the last game is always the Championship Game, the game that matters most. It is then when athletes take everything they have worked on and give it all that they have. Also with school, I know at least for me because in high school I procrastinated, near the end of the quarters is when students scramble and give it all they possibly can to get their grades up. Unfortunately many times I feel with eternal matters that at some point we get 'burnt out', when in the end we must endure. We must focus on the things that matter most, and always press foreword with faith in Christ to be able to endure.

Elder Morgan and myself saw this principle in action when we went out Saturday morning on our bicycles and it began to pour rain. That entire day in was in and out of rain, but we pressed foreword with faith in Christ and endured. As a result on Saturday we taught 10 lessons, got 4 blessings, and in the end was able to get five people to sacrament meeting on Sunday!

Another time I saw this principle was on Friday night. I'm not sure if ya'll have heard about the BOM Musical that was shown in New York, but now it is moved down to Fort Lauderdale. The musical brings a lot of publicity to the church, so before the show as people are parking and walking in and during the intermission six missionaries go and contact as many people as possible to teach them the true meaning on the Church and Book of Mormon. On Friday Elder Morgan and myself were blessed to be able to be a part of it and saw huge miracles. We were contacting people before the play and not seeing an incredible amount of success when all the sudden a lady stepped outside of a car and the Spirit told me to go contact her. So I did and immediately she opened up on all the tough times she has been going through. That then gave us an opportunity to testify of baptism and church and how the Savior can help her through those tough times, and she accepted everything! She lives on her own private island but because of other things that have been happening the Lord humbled her to accept the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am excited for her to receive the Atonement through baptism.

Something I want to invite all of my friends and family to do is write me a letter with the specific topic of Endurance. I would love to hear your thoughts and know that they can be an inspiration to me as well.

Well as you can tell Father has been incredible to us and me for my entire mission. I am eternally indebted to him for what he has taught me and how he has helped me to grow in his service for the short time of two years. I know the Lord and He loves me!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK96 'Spirit of Thanksgiving'

Dear Family and Friends!

I know I say this every week, but this week was completely full of miracles. I have come to realize with even more of a certainty that our Heavenly Father does exist, and that Jesus is the Christ, the Holy Messiah! This week He has been so incredibly good to us and with the Thanksgiving Spirit, I wanted to start off this letter by stating a list of things I am grateful for:

My Family- Now looking back I realize how much you all did for me.

My Friends- Were always there for me through all the tough times, my fellow brothers and sisters from the pre-earth life.

My Mission- Changed my carnal desires to become a saint through the Atonement of Christ.

The Miracle of Forgiveness- I have seen this in my life and the lives of soo many of Gods children in Southern Florida.

The Prophet- I feel God's direction in my life through His chosen servants.

Food (especially Southern Soul Food)- I have grown a deep love for this on my mission!

Harvesting (tracting)- It is amazing to see how God leads you to His children who need you in the very second when they need it most.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost- One of the greatest blessings him my life, a huge source of comfort in all times of trials.

Eternal Families (sealing ordinances in the temple)- With this knowledge and peace I know that I will live with Grandma Ruby again.

The Sacrament- Ability to take what we have to the Lord, and allow him to make us whole.

President Anderson- His inspired guidance and leadership has changed my life.

My Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ- words cannot express how eternally grateful I am for all that they have done for me.

This past week was huge though, Elder Morgan and myself were blessed to have a lot of people come to church in every aspect of the work. We brought less actives back and rescued them. Baptized two of God's children. As well got some new investigators to sacrament meeting who are lined up to be baptized this upcoming week.

The baptism on Sunday was one of the most powerful baptisms that I have been a part of. The entire baptismal service the Spirit was extremely strong testifying to all of us there that baptism changes lives, and that it is the beginning step to receive the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Always remember that the power of Godliness is manifest in the ordinances thereof, especially saving ordinances.

One huge miracle that we saw that I wanted to share with you happened Sunday after church. We took a back road to try and get in contact with a part-member family that fell off the map. But it has been raining an incredible amount and as we were biking we soon realized that we were in a sand pit and basically surrounded with water. So we had to endure and push through it to get to the other side. Eventually we did and made it to the part-member family and they were home! We had an amazing lesson and set the members two sons to be baptized on the 8th! Huge miracle. This is often times what happens in our individual lives, we go through a rough patch, or in our case a sand pit surrounded by water, but as we ENDURE then miracles from God will come!

This month Elder Morgan and myself are looking to do what has never been done before in the FFLM and baptize 16 of Gods Children in December! So please include this in your prayers, we know with God we can accomplish all things!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK95 'Let Us Be Faithful!!'

Dear Family and Friends!

Thank you for your inspiring messages this past week and especially your prayers, they definitely do help! One of the high councilman who spoke in Plantation told a story when a young boy met one of the apostles. He said to the apostle, you know why you can travel all over the entire world and not be injured or get sick, cause I pray for you! So know most importantly that God is your loving Heavenly Father, and your prayers always help!

This past week I have been pondering a lot on the big eternal vision, how ultimately the purpose of this life is to prepare us to raise a family to live in the Celestial Kingdom. That is the main purpose of a mission, to grow and mature to be ready to be able to do so. One huge lesson that I learned this week is that the Spirit is the ultimate teacher, we just must find a way to cultivate spiritual experiences. We saw this specifically three times this past week. Once when we were teaching our baptism for this upcoming Sunday. At the beginning of the lesson she expressed doubts of wanting to be sure about baptism. We began the lesson with a powerful opening prayer that invited the Spirit, then it seemed like every word we spoke carried straight to her heart. As we spoke you could see her countenance changing to the point where eventually the Spirit hit her so hard that she said, "I need this! I can't help but not have this in my life. I am getting baptized!" The other experience was when we were teaching a lady who was a little standoffish the first time we met her, she didn't really want to do anything but her husband was elect. We stopped by and he wasn't there but she was so we decided to teach her. During that lesson we gave it everything we had, at the end she said "you're right, my family and I need this a lot. We are coming to church!" The last experience was an interview that I had this past week. Before the interview she was expressing doubts about baptism to the Sisters but I went in there with full faith. I began by asking her what I can pray for, offered my whole soul up unto my loving Heavenly Father, after the prayer she looked at me and said "Wow that was powerful." And so went the interview!

Well I am eternally grateful for this past week in the mission field, Elder Morgan is amazing! This week let's make sure we remember our God. This gospel is absolutely true! Let us stay faithful unto our Savior and our Heavenly Father.

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK94 'God is our Father!' (Plantation)

Dear Friends and Family!

First and foremost, thank you for the love that you all show to me. I truly can feel the Saviors love from all of you.

But this week has definitely been tough but at the same time very exciting! The area that I got transferred to was struggling really badly so they took both the Elders out and put me and my new companion in. It is actually an area that I served in almost a year ago, PLANTATION!! It has been amazing to see all the members and recent converts and their progression in the gospel of Jesus Christ. My new companion is Elder Morgan straight from the MTC, originally from Spokane Washington. He is an amazing missionary with huge desires and it has been amazing to see him grow already!

This past week I was able to learn some huge lessons. The Lord is allowing me to grow which is amazing. One huge thing I learned this past week is that the Lord doesn't always give you what you want, but he does always give you what will be best for you with the eternal perspective. He loves us as his children. As a result the whole purpose of this life is for us to grow and prepare ourselves to meet God. Yes sometimes we are overwhelmed and feel inadequate. That is to be assumed because our nature is fallen since Adam and Eve. But God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that through Him our weaknesses can be made strong. So in this life we need not think, what do I want, or what do I think would be best. But we must think what will help me grow closest to the Savior, and what does God want. As we do so we will accomplish the purpose in us coming here to Earth.

 

This whole week I was pondering on why God sent me back to Plantation to train and he gave me one of the reasons through an experience. As Elder Morgan and myself were biking one night it started to pour down rain. I began to ponder where we could go and immediately the Spirit told me to go to a former that I taught a year ago that started avoiding us after she came to church. So we biked fast and locked our bikes up then walked up to her house. She came to the door and then in her own words she said, "There stood Elder Pond wet as a dawg, but with a smile on his face! So I let him in." As we began to talk I thought back to the time when Elder Wardell and myself taught her and her family. The tough time they have been going through with the passing of two of her kids, and suffering from depression as a result. We invited her to be baptized on Sunday and she accepted wholeheartedly! On Sunday, Elder Morgan was able to bring this precious daughter of God under the waters of baptism and back up. One reason why I know God sent me back to Plantation is because her family needs to be eternal, and if he hadn't who know how long it would of been since missionaries met back up with her family. God is in control of all things, if we allow him to be.

 

Well always remember that God is our loving Heavenly Father. He is in control and will help us in the very moment when we need it. Because it is by grace we are saved, after ALL we can do! I love you all as well and pray for you daily. Pray that the work continues to go foreword. And this week, rely more upon Christ than you ever have in your entire life, and things will change.

 

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK93 'The Lord's Plan'

Dear Family and Friends!!

Well an exciting, eventful, and fruitful week! What else can you expect in the greatest mission in the entire world!? Now as far as transfers... Last night we got a call from the Assistants. They exclaimed that the Lord has spoken and someone will be being transferred out of the beautiful land of Opa-Locka.. Elder Harris [aka Hot Boy Paris] will be staying and I [aka Lo Key Dawg] will be transferring and training a new missionary straight from the MTC. I was completely in shock, but am extremely excited for what the Lord has in store for me. I know I will learn lessons these next three months that the Lord needs me to learn. And I am willing to give the Lord everything I have and go 'All Out'! This morning I was actually listening to Elder Dube's talk from this past General Conference and something he said stood out to me, "The Lord through His servants calls us to serve in various callings, which we accept with total commitment. When a release has been extended and a call in a different assignment has been issued, we joyfully accept it, knowing, as our forebearers knew, that in the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how!" We must be willing to listen to the voice of the Lord always!

This past week we were able to see some huge miracles. One of the biggest ones that I wanna share with ya'll happened on Saturday. Elder Harris and myself were going around talking with all of our investigators getting them pumped for church the next day. We went to see one investigator and unfortunately she wasn't home.. But as we were walking away we contacted this guy sitting outside his house. Before the blessing he talked about how he just got out of jail and really wants to now reach his full potential. After the blessing he said 'I feel goosebumps man.', and he came to church the very next day even after he only got two hours of sleep that night. After church he came up to us and exclaimed how excited he is for his baptism in a week. He is getting baptized this Sunday.

Well that's all I got for this week. I am excited for huge miracles to share next week. I promise there will be amazing miracles, so be ready!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK92 'OPA-LOCKA!'

Dear Family and Friends!

Well another week in the amazing land of Opa-Locka. Sometimes it is unreal how fast time goes by because another transfer has come and gone and transfers will be next week! I ain't worried though because I feel very strongly that God has huge things in store for me to prepare me to learn lessons that I need to learn.

One of the things I was pondering on today is how simple it is to share the gospel. We have to remember that we are not planting something foreign into God's children but they heard the Gospel taught by God himself in the pre-earth life. Also all of Gods children whether they have been baptized or not have the light of Christ with them. The gospel has a familiar ring to them. We saw this principle huge Sunday after church as we were able to go out after church and set eleven baptismal dates in less than five hours! Everyone we went and taught wanted to be baptized and was extremely willing to repent.

 

One of the baptismal dates we set was for this Sunday. It was a lady that I use to teach a couple of transfers ago, but never really progressed due to the law of chastity and the word of wisdom. But we felt prompted to stop back by and ring home the sweet message of the gospel. As we visited with her she had completely changed. She expressed that she had already quit smoking, wants to get married and baptized this Sunday! As we explained her her this was possible there grew a light within her of hope. She is extremely excited to be baptized on Sunday!

 

Another was a man that I taught a couple of transfers ago as well. We dropped him because he didn't want to be baptized. But as we were teaching him about the doctrine of baptism in the middle of it he asked, "When is the next baptismal service you're holding?" We replied, "This Sunday!" He said, "Alright I'm getting baptized on Sunday." Doctrine changes people.

 

The last huge experience I wanted to share with you was when we were going to an appointment but it fell through so we decided to knock one door on the way to our next appointment. The door we knocked on changed our life. She answered and accepted absolutely everything. As we went back and taught her the next day a question we asked her made her break down in tears. She then testified of how badly she needs baptism in her life. She came to church yesterday and will be getting baptized on Sunday!

 

Oh shoot one more experience I just thought of! We were walking out of an apartment complex and I said hello to a lady getting out of her car. As we were walking away she called out to us, "Hey do I know you?" Immediately I responded, "Yes when we were in God's presence before this life." We blessed her and she accepted baptism immediately! The Spirit will direct you exactly what to say we just must trust in the Spirit!

 

Well the beautiful land of Opa-Locka is doing amazing. I love the people so much, just wish I could express into words how much I love them. I am grateful for the time I have spent here and now I am absolutely willing to go where God wants me to go and do what he wants me to do, whether that is in Opa-Locka or somewhere else.

Be praying for miracles this week, we can feel it!

Love ya,

Elder Pond