Week 23 PRAYER LOVE PEACE

April 29, 2019

Holyyyyy goodness time just absolutely flies by out here in the mission field! The weather is pretty bipolar out here it's wild. The locals always say if you don't like the weather in Illinois/Missouri then wait a half hour

I love you all so much and I miss y'all like crazy! Shiloh area is doing so good! I love my companions! The people are so amazing!! Elder McKeon said to me in the car this week, "I think the best part of a mission is the true instant love you gain for the people you meet each day." We talked about it the rest of the car ride. As I began to reflect on the people I've met out here the last 3 weeks and the previous 5 months I spent out here, I realized that I truly did gain such a strong love for so many people! I can knock on a door in a city and on a road I've never seen. As soon as that door opens, it is as if my Father in Heaven allows me to feel all the love that the Savior Jesus Christ has for every individual. I get this overwhelming sense of love and build an immediate desire to want to help those I meet grow closer to Jesus Christ. I want to help them around their home. I want to help them with their yard. I want to sit down with them and bare my testimony that I know without a doubt in my heart and mind that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to share with them how important my relationship with God is.
There is no checklist I'm fulfilling out here. There is no point system. There is no promotion I receive. I do not get paid for being out here....
I sincerely care and love every person I meet. It's unbelievable the love I feel for people I meet out here. I am only catching a glimpse of what our Savior Jesus Christ feels for each of you and every individual on earth  I have found way too much love for My Savior to not share that with others. Jesus Christ himself said come follow me. So we should all for exactly that  there are so many ways to do that, but if you're curious how?!?! Then start with a prayer

Prayer has been such a powerful tool for me out here. I wish I wasn't but it's pretty easy to be homesick out here. It's really easy to hear someone say something that reminds me of my brother. See a dog that reminds me of mine. The mission may be one of the hardest things anyone can do and definitely has been for me. But I am not alone. There are 70,000 other servants of the Lord across the world doing exactly what I'm doing. Everyone will go through their own struggles and tough times even in the mission. Especially in the mission. But we cannot forget that we are never alone. This is why prayer has been so important to me. Prayer is LITERALLY a conversation with YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. How cool is that  it breaks my heart when I meet people that are afraid to pray because they "don't know how" or "don't know what to say". It's a conversation. If you don't want to ask for anything... then don't ask Him anything. If you don't want to pray for blessings... then don't. There's no script. There's no pattern. This isn't doctrine but I'm going to go ahead and say that nothing is or should be more personal than the relationship you have with your Heavenly Father. He loves you. He loves you so much. He knows you. He knows what hard things you're going through. He knows what blessings you need. He's just waiting for you to reach out to Him and trust in Him. Pray for everything. Pray for anything. Pray anywhere. Pray anytime. I'm sure you'd want to hear from your children of you knew they were going through a rough time, especially if you have billions of children  haha

Sorry that I went all over the place, love to prayer, trials but I hope you were able to get something out of it  if not then hopefully you are having a great day and continue to have one!

I KNOW, not kinda a little bit. I absolutely KNOW that Jesus Christ lives. We have a loving Father in Heaven. They care about each of us and have a love greater for us than we could ever comprehend. Our relationship with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ will grow as we turn to Them in prayer often. As we seek for Their Hand in our lives. If you ever tell yourself that you are praying and not receiving answers, then you're not looking. The times we feel God is not listening are the times we need to start looking. He is always reaching His hand out. We need to grab ahold. I love this Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is THE reason I'm out here. And it all starts with Faith. I am so grateful for each of you on this list and for every human that reads this

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY! And if someone asks how you're doing, my Grammy who’s my best friend, always says, "Terrific why not!" And she's exactly right. There's no reason to not be terrific 

LOVE YOU!!!!

- elder shua newbold