Elder Noah Lawrence Featherstone: Email #56

October 2, 2017

Montgomery, Alabama

Wow! What a week! I hope it has been just as amazing on your end. I don't know where to start. This one might be a little longer... I have to make up for all those lousy weeks where I didn't have much to say. I guess starting with earlier in the week.

Elder Oldham and had a few extra minutes between lessons so we went tracting. We were knocking doors in a Spanish Trailer park and we had a lot of people who would stop moving as soon as we knocked and then you'd see the blinds open a little bit with white eyes staring at you through them. But no answers. We got to about the 10th or 15th house and a woman named Raquel opened up and welcomed us in to meet her family! We shared a quick Restoration message with her and she said she wanted us to come back. We went back a few days and she opened right up and we were able to answer some of her questions. After listening to conference this weekend It was amazing to hear others testify of the divinity of the Book of Mormon as well as Joseph Smith. I loved it.

During the Saturday afternoon session we were able to watch the session at a members house with an investigator. The session was exactly what she needed to hear. God always knows what we need to hear and how he can help us. It was one of those experiences seeing God's hand in our lives as well as others.

As we were sitting in the Priesthood Session with everyone in the chapel, we were in the middle of Elder Richard J. Maynes talk, and BOOM! The power goes out. He was just getting to the good part of his story too.... Ugh.... So everyone shot out of the parking lot going home to finish the session but we didn't really have anywhere to go. So we went and visited a less active and then went home. But then I had a brilliant idea! Let's get up early. Go to the Family History Center at the church and put the session over the projector. So my companion and I, as well as 4 other elder in the area, all got up early Sunday morning to go watch the rest of the Priesthood Session. It was great. After we finished watching it, we went to another members house where we were watching the Sunday morning session in Spanish with all the Hispanics in the ward. We got there, we got everything running and... Bam... Internet goes out... So... we just made Carne Asada instead and had a big lunch. ha! The Hispanic culture is like my favorite. Then the last session was BIIIGGGGG!!!! We called up Morgan Lee (Who I have talked about in the past. He is Inactive and like a Rock....) I called him on Thursday afternoon and asked him if we could watch the Sunday Afternoon Session with him because we didn't have a place to watch it. He said no to us because his son was being rude and is grounded. We were pretty bummed... But then we were waiting for Zone Conference to start on Friday and I get a call! Guess who it is... Morgan Lee! He apologized and said, "It sounds like a wholesome activity for our family so we'll see you guys at 3 on Sunday." So we went over there for the last session. It was super amazing! It's been amazing to see how he has changed since I've been here. He is now talking about going to church. I really hope that happens! That would be so great!

So I guess to sum up our weekend, we missed a lot of General Conference so for P-day we are going to be watching a lot of what we missed to catch up.

Before the power went out at the Priesthood Session, I was sitting there thinking about the family. I closed my eyes and went home thinking about all of my brothers and my Dad sitting around me at the Stake Center listening to conference. It felt like I was there with all of you. Thank you for the love and prayers.

I wanted to share a few of the things that I enjoyed from Conference. There were a few quotes from the Bible that I've been thinking about. "Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief." How can we truly submit our will to the Father? How can we truly rely on the Savior? One of my favorite talks was Elder Maynes. He talked in the Priesthood Session about "Integrity of Heart." One thing that really hit me was that we must earn His trust by putting our trust in Him. Trust is essential for a Christ centered home and life. We must never compromise our integrity. At times, trust and integrity are overlooked, but we must always be honest, and trustworthy in all we do. I remember a few different topics that were talked about, and were some of my favorites. Family, Spiritual Wellness, and the Book of Mormon. Elder Russell M. Nelson talked about the Book of Mormon and that was a great one as well. He proposed 3 questions about the Book of Mormon.

1)What would life be like without the Book of Mormon?

2)What would you know without it?

3)What would you not have without it?

Those are some very inspired questions. It really makes you think about how much of an impact that specific book has had on your life. It really is the word of God. When we read it everyday, we come closer to our Father in Heaven and we have an increased knowledge of the love our Savior has for each of us.

This week was a great one! I hope you all learned a lot at General Conference and are able to build on what you learned and were inspired by. Thank you for your steadfast examples of our Savior. Love you all! Have a stellar week!

Strength and Honor

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

Elder Noah Featherstone