Bible Study Activity Planned

Well, I've pretty much told you the main things going on over skype but last night we found out Elder Tuft and I are staying together one more transfer until he goes home! I'm very happy about it! Great things are going to happen, he's going to go out with a bang! 

We have our first Bible study coming up this Wednesday and we can't wait! We've knocked doors in all the ghettos to try and get me over to have a study, small refreshments, and basketball with ward members afterwards. This invitation has been made to members, active or less active, all of the missionaries in the ward and their current investigators and random people on the street! It's going to be exciting! We might just fill up our entire chapel! Then we will have to lead the discussion from the pulpit. Our goal is to break down the barriers we have in this area between ghetto and rich doctors. Yes, we have the extreme of both sides of the spectrum. This is a big reason why they haven't baptized in this ward for a very long time. It doesn't seem quite like a family because we need more black people! We've got a black family were teaching right now with their friends who are willing to invite all of their friends and family to the Bible study and church which is great!

Like I said before we've been sifting through a lot of couples recently. More than my entire mission actually. One in particular, April and Vince. We've done a lot of service for them in their apartment complex that they manage. Sadly our bowling and lesson appointment yesterday fell through and they will be traveling for the next week. We have a lot of confidence in them and hope they accept the invitation to be baptized the first time we have a lesson with them. They are dry Mormons already. The most friendly, loving, self reliant and faithful couple I've ever had the opportunity to teach. 

Everything else is about the same! Still knocking a lot of doors, talking to international students, running into the most liberal people I know and wow it is Hott!! 90 degrees with high humidity every single day this week. Summer is officially here and y'all know what that means around a college campus like UF...... Ugh..  Haha love the mission and love the challenge though! Hope y'all have a great week! 

Elder Greenlaw after a sweaty game of Basketball 

Another Great Week in Gainesville

Hey y'all,

Another fantastic week in the blessed land of Gainesville! Still sifting through many people, trying to find those that not only "have found Jesus" or believe "the purpose of life is to Glorify God" but are actually humble enough to change their wicked ways and foolish beliefs. We've run into a good amount of "anti" also. One man cussed us out, told us he was the devil and that we were created out of his image. We were also referred to a woman to give her a blessing but instead she called us crazy and told us we were the ones in need a blessing because we believe in all kinds of false doctrines, some aren't even worth repeating. 

We've created a great relationship with a couple that are the property managers of a complex. A member of the church lives there and he is the maintenance man. He introduced us to them and we've helped him do landscaping, pouring concrete and other side jobs. Brother Buckner told us that the couple already reads from the Book of Mormon in the past, but they are already full fledged into another church. He said we would be wasting our time by inviting them but we gained the courage anyway. We said, "April, we have a question for you, but you have to promise us that you will keep letting us do service for you. As missionaries, we share 4 basic discussions about our beliefs and how to have a closer relationship with God, would you be willing to listen to those?" They both accepted!! HA, proved Brother Buckner wrong! 

We've taught a lot of couples, focusing on eternal families and making covenants in the Temple. When we help families see the bigger picture of things, baptism and the other commitments we extend seem to be easier for them to accept and apply them. 

Rennick is going cold turkey from chewing tobacco again! He calls us everyday saying he is really grumpy and would rather have us come another day, BUT we showed up anyway and in the end we have a great experience. We've gone over there almost everyday this week helping him read the scriptures and find power and strength through them along with consistent and fervent prayer. His body is having a hard time adjusting because the nicotine addiction is so strong, but he's doing well and hopefully he can get baptized in the next month or so.

We had trade offs again this last week and I went to my old ward twice! I had the chance to see more of my good friends and give a good number of priesthood blessings. Thank goodness for the Restored Gospel and the Priesthood Authority of God back on the earth once more. I testify that this is true and the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and it empowers us to become greater than what we think. I pray that we may all humble ourselves once more before The Lord, acting in faith to obey his commandments with exactness, and allowing the power of Jesus Christ and his gospel to change our very nature. 

Until next time, 

Elder Greenlaw

Taking a Selfie

I asked Elder Greenlaw to send me a selfie. Here it is! He told me he and his comp have created a great workout routine! Every morning they get up and run about a 5k. Then every other day they get up a little earlier and lift weights at the gym too. He's lost 15-20 pounds or so now! He says his suit isn't so tight anymore. haha

Incredible Week in Gainesville

Hey ya'll!

It has been another incredible week here in Gainesville. We have been working very hard and we are seeing the fruits of our labors. After many hours of tracking, we have been led to some elect families that we are now teaching. The latest one was Friday afternoon. The following week we had gone to visit a less active family. We invited their daughter to the Young Single Adult activities and offered service, but there was no interest. So we started knocking doors close by. We had a few good conversations, but nothing special. After a while, it was getting dark and we had about 45 minutes left of the day. We hopped in the car and were about to pull out of the neighborhood when we both got the impression, we missed a house! So we drove back and the first home we were led to was a woman named Carol Barlow. She has fallen in love with the family history center of the church and it was perfect timing because her membership that she had paid for, expired the following month. We told her all the access at the church was free and now shes gone a few times and wishes she could be there all day. What a miracle! We were then impressed to keep knocking on doors in that neighborhood another day. Friday, we went back and found the elect Crawford Family. They recently left the Methodist church because they didn't agreed with the way they performed baptism. John Crawford gave us a book he wrote and a video talking about his beliefs and why Covenants are so important. After sitting down and basically teaching the first three discussions in one night to them, we are scheduled to come back Thursday and have another discussion over dinner.

We've talked to a lot of Hindu and Muslim faiths recently. About 10 percent of the student population at the University of Florida are Indian, with a Hindu background. It's quite difficult getting through to them since they can hardly grasp the concept of a Heavenly Father and prayer. After much trial and error and because they are such friendly people always willing to listen, we have decided to bare fervent testimony to them about the Love of God and it seems to be more effective. We also realized that if you are ever feeling down, just bare your testimony and then you become filled with the spirit and great peace and comfort overcome you, allowing you to continue on in confidence.

We are striving our best to get these families taught into members homes. As we do this, it strengthens and fellowships not only the non member families but the active members too. It also gives them the example of a happy Christ centered home, and the benefits of raising children up in a home with the gospel. 

I bare witness that God Lives and Jesus is the Christ. They are all knowing and unconditionally loving!

Take care ya'll and Endure to the End!

Elder Greenlaw

Panda Fighting Moves

Elder Greenlaw and Elder Tuft

Elder Greenlaw shows off his panda moves! 

Crackers and Coke

Hey y'all, hands down this has been the greatest week and a half of my mission. I've never had such a spiritual connection with a companion. The Lord has blessed us so much, there's not enough room to receive it all. Where do I even begin! 

I guess I'll start with the spiritual "AH HA" moments. Elder Tuft from Casper Wyoming, and I have gained such a greater understanding of pride and how it kills our faith. There is seriously so much I could say but I'll try to keep it short and then leave it up to y'all to study it more and apply it in your life. Pride is our greatest enemy, it is the natural man in us. Naturally we want to get gain, do things for our own good and bask in our glory. Wow, I am just amazing right now, there's nothing that can stop me! As soon as we have that thought cross our mind, things slowly start to slip. It is because the Lord then tries to humble us. God created the universe and everything within it. He creates us out of his own image. It is completely, utterly, impossible to repay him. We own him everything, including all the success we have. When life seems great and we easily overcome trials, we owe it strictly to the Lord because it was Him that gave us the strength and courage to overcome. When we don't recognize that, and forget to thank The Lord, those blessings start to disappear and our burden becomes heavier. 

Elder Tuft and I have given it all to the Lord this work. We easily rode 20-30 miles on our bikes each day, and worked non stop, always being greeted with a miracle around the corner. These Christlike attributes are nothing new: faith, hope, charity, diligence, humility, gratitude, and patience. We have gained such greater understanding of them in these past few weeks from being in Gainesville. My life has been changed forever. The Lord has blessed us with 11 new investigators this week. I'll try to focus on just a few. 

First, we started to tract in the Ghetto and we came across Yaziria. She is a single mother of two, who questions what the purpose of her life is, and how she can find peace and lasting happiness. She has struggled with drugs, alcohol, and with keeping her home nice and clean. During our second visit with her, we invited to her to be baptized! After a long pause, she said she would like to have us in her home but it has been a mess for weeks now and has never has time to clean. We immediately offered to clean her house. She stepped outside and watched us wash her dishes, fold her clothes, organize, sweep and mop her floors to where it was almost spotless. The entire time she was blasting praise music and telling all her neighbors what we were doing! They all loved us and afterwards it felt like a home and not so much like the ghetto anymore. She then repaid us with crackers and coke, and we were on our way.

Second, we tracked into a part member family that we had no idea about. The wife Makita was raised in Sandy Utah! She moved to Lake City, Florida and married Deon and became less active. Deon was raised in the hood, but has shaken the ghetto out of him. He found Jesus as a college student and only wants to raise his two children up in a church. He told us that he had never seen such dedicated young men before and as we watched us ride our bikes down the street, he thought to himself, I could see our family being a part of their church. So praise The Lord! We are hoping to have the first discussion with the entire family in a members home this week.

Third, we had the most awful lesson of our entire missions with a woman named Becky. Afterwards, we felt a strong confirmation that she was going to be baptized. She is supposedly atheist, and when we went over to her home, she was drinking a beer the entire time, cussing like a sailor. Her home was filled with lizards, snakes, and large spiders. We asked her what was most important to her in her life and she said her kids. She is divorced and the kids stay with the father. The entire time we were there, she was yelling, "I'm so happy! I will tell the world how happy I am!" We immediately realized that she was depressed, miserable, and in total denial that her life has gone to the pits. After struggling to have a lesson with no sense of direction, she whipped out the board game Candyland and we were forced to play....... After driving all the way home and never planning on going back, I stepped out of the car and realized I had left my iPad on her couch.... We were then late for curfew, BUT Becky then invites us back to tell her why each of us are serving a mission. So everything happens for a reason. We went back yesterday and found out that she had read the Book of Mormon. She's crazy but has a true desire to learn and become happier. 

The stories go on and on this week. I had the chance to go on two trade offs with missionaries back into the 2nd ward, my first area. I was able to visit many of our old investigators and members that I loved. It felt like a family reunion it was great! At the same time, I came to find out that those people I had taught, were falling back into their old habits. One woman we came in contact with had a boy who was going through chemo for his brain cancer. She looked us straight in the eyes, while being drunk, or high, or something, and said he's going to die. I got the impression that she has lost her faith and desire to live. It was very sad, and the worst part of it all is I felt like there was nothing I could do. She had received a Priesthood blessing, but it seemed hopeless... Many others have fallen back into their addictions of smoking. I felt some Godly sorrow that day.

We also were invited to the church Spirit of Faith by one of our investigators. It was TERRIBLE! I felt like I was at a concert. They disgraced the name of Jesus the entire time. They had a full band blasting worship music and repetitious chants. Theh service was filled with adrenaline and NOT the spirit of God. And ohhhhh the Pastor. He and his wife, who looked just like Beyoncé, got up and told the congregation to take their phones out and take photos of them posing and kissing on the cheek. They bragged about how great their love is and told the congregation to invite all their friends to come to the church to become as amazing as them! Most prideful man I had ever met. Half of his sermon was convincing the congregation, just like a skilled business man, to have faith in God and give him their Tithes and Offerings. He said, don't worry about where your money is going (as if he was being accused). Look at this band, look at these huge speakers, this is where your money is going! To build the church! 20 minutes earlier he had publicly thanked the crew members for setting up the tents and said he was taking them all out to lunch. Their tithing was also going towards lunch!! Hahaha wow it was an experience I'll tell ya.

So are you bored yet? This is very long I know, but there's more I wish I could share.

Remember the church is true, it is pure sacrifice. No one gets paid. The Lord has restored all the Priesthood keys and saving ordinances necessary to return to His presence and enjoy eternal life. I bare witness this is true along with Joseph Smith as a true prophet of God. Through the gift and power of God the Book of Mormon has been translated to be another testament of Jesus Christ, and we are able to receive personal revelation from our divine Creator. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

With Love, 

Elder Greenlaw

Elder Greenlaw and Elder Tuft emailing from their iPads

Fleming Island Assignment - Pictures from St. John's Florida.

Here are a few pictures of Elder Greenlaw in his last area with his companion Elder Huxford. 

P-Day! Elder Huxford, Elder Jensen, and Elder Greenlaw in St John's Florida

With Sister Emily Blotter, Elder Anderson, Elder Williams, Sister Davidson, Elder Eppley, Elder Greenlaw, and Elder Huxford in St. Johns, Florida

Elder Bennett with Elder Greenlaw