Will Your Commitment Also Fade?

What a week! We worked hard this week. I wasn't going to let the time that we had to take out for my food poisoning episode hinder the lives of those that we had the potential to effect through our message! So we put all our effort into doing our best this week and it paid off. Our desire and God's will just seemed to align and most of our plans worked out- we were able to visit the people we wanted to see, invite them to do the things that would bring them closer to Christ, and serve in the community. It's not often that all of those things happen so to see a week where everything lined up was a blessing.

I'm writing today, Tuesday, because yesterday was the mission's second annual Jingle Jam! The North Half of the mission met up in Lubbock at the Stake Center to all kinds of talents, eat lunch, and enjoy a surprise from President and Sister Heap! Elder Bench and I organized our zone and we performed Silent Night on Kazoos that we all bought. We had soprano, tenor, alto, and bass parts- not your ordinary Kazoo performance! We also did a small Number where Elder Bench sang a funny Christmas song and I played on the Piano. Throughout the rest of the performances I was able to play the piano for a few members of my zone who wanted to sing. I'm so glad that I have that talent to bless the lives of others! 

The Heap's surprise for us was we got to watch another movie! Last year it was "The Saratov Approach", but this year it was, "It's a Wonderful Life". Even though it was black and white... it was pretty dang good! It has a great message, and made me really take a step back and take a look at your life. Think of everyone you've ever come into contact with and how you helped change them for the better or worse. Which of those options is there more of? And it's never to late to change the answer!

I received another box of Omaha steaks this week from Grandpa Baum! My companions and I were able to cook them up on a little George Forman Grill and they tasted fantastic! We had a wonderful dinner of steak, chicken, salad, and crockpot cooked vegetables. It was almost like I was back home for a Sunday dinner again! Thank you Grandpa Baum.

The rest of this week was filled with lessons and errands for the zone. Lots of missionaries were receiving packages and letters through the mission office which we then had to go retrieve and store in our apartment. So the back room was just FILLED with presents until yesterday when we were able to play Santa and pass out all the presents to the members of our zone.

I did some fun service for our blind investigator this week and gave her Dog a bath while the others sat down for a lesson! She'd been expressing the need for a few weeks so I just went for it... proselyting clothes and all! She's a good dog, but didn't at all like being bathed!

We were able to go on exchanges with Elder Ramos again and we talked with him about how he could help some missionaries in his District that were struggling and also exchanged ideas on how to get our areas working better.

I'll admit it- I'm just the worst at filling out the area book. After a long hard day it's absolutely the LAST thing you want to do at 10:15pm. This picture is what it looks like at the end of the day in our appartment.  Proselyting is over, planning is done, calls to the District Leaders are usually done with... and you're TIRED. But I've been making an effort to write in it daily and update those that we met with during the course of the day. There's still lots of room for improvement but it's coming along! I've seen some area books that are just disastrous! But they're so important for new missionaries coming in. I've decided if you truly love who you're teaching, you'll write down what and how you're teaching them so that missionaries can continue in the work you've started or continued yourself. These are all God's children!

Missionary work. There's nothing else like it. You walk up to a stranger's door, a little apprehensively hoping that you'll be received in. Sometimes you're let into a home and you're not only received into a living room, but someone's life. They become an integral part of who you become as you serve, and if done with love and care, it will affect you, and them, for the rest of your lives. I love the people I'm meeting out here. I love the inspiring stories, strong testimonies, and faith of all of these wonderful people I get to know and love. 

One man we've been working with that I've grown to love is Robert. He's a less active member of the church that had fallen through the cracks of our little ward. We found him and began teaching him. He came back to church this Sunday. He's been coming out with us to lessons. He's quitting smoking, cleaning his house, and changing little things in his life. He's working towards returning to the temple so he can be sealed to his wife for time and all eternity. He knows this is true. And people like him let me see again, and again, for myself; this is all true!

My thought this week is in light of the Christmas holiday. It's the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ- his birthday! I know I'm not the only one who's seen it, but as a missionary it's very apparent- people are more tender, loving, and charitable at this specific time of year. It would seem that the summer sun dries up the ground and the love everyone feels these winter months as well. So- my invitation to y'all is to remember that a "birth" is a beginning. None of this love, none of this charity, and none of our patience, kindness, or hope for a better world should end after Christmas. Or after the ball drops on New Years eve. Or as the Christmas lights go down, and the days get longer and the nights shorter, or as the flowers start to bloom, or as the sun starts heating us all back up as well. The invitation to, "Come follow Me," as spoken by the Savior does not only stand during the months of November and December. It's a year long invitation, and a year long challenge. 

I love the Texas sunsets.  I have taken many pictures of them. As the sun sets on this Christmas Season remember that the invitation spoken by Jesus Christ to come, and follow him, is a year long commitment.  Don't stop giving, loving, or being happy. Those three things aren't just confined to the winter seasons! As the Christmas season comes and goes will your commitment also fade? Imagine Christ asking the same question he asked his Apostles: "Will ye also go away?" (John 6:67) 

Keep working hard and loving everyone! I love you and think of you all daily. Stay strong. Stay Gold!

Love your friend, brother, son, and missionary,

Elder Austin Sork