The Next Chapter for Ol Elder Macdonald 1/27/14

welp... transfer calls came, and as much as i really thought i was staying in clarksville.... i'm not!
actually i'm going to an area called "marshilees 2nd" in the springdale zone (still in arkansas)
i get to hang out with the pacific islanders in arkansas! what the hey!
but evidently its one of the highest teaching and baptizing areas in the mish, so i'll have plenty of work to do up in springdale!

man i dont even know where to start with this! last week i said the lord works in strange ways but now i have proof!

so don't ever think if you're doing everything right and your plans just look like they're going to work, that the lord wont pull you to a grinding halt and change everything for you.

seriously though, i'm so excited to get a taste of a different culture, i honestly have no idea what its all going to be like, but i hear so many good things about this area, its one of the lucky ones i guess. but i guess president felt the prompting to put me somewhere where the lord will truly test me.

anyway to change the subject, i guess i should put in something spiritual! these past few weeks most the people we have taught have all had some pretty hefty trials come their way, and i have done a lot of studying from 2 nephi 2 on the subject. really showing people the need for opposition.

for if we have no opposition we have no blessings. or at least i should say we have no idea what a blessing is until we face trials.

its basic simple stuff that basically simply means everything. (woah.... deep)

but when we go through these rough trials, i truly think that that is a blessing in itself, because it gives us the opportunity to come closer to christ than we were before. because when we begin to sink in the sea like peter did, that is when we must call out to christ for him to personaly pick us back up.

so when we enjoy a good day, we enjoy it like any other good day. but when we get an average day after countless days of storm and cold and who knows what else, it makes that average day become the greatest one we've ever had. trials build even the smallest blessings, making it bring us great joy. so when we face these times of trials, be grateful that the lord trusts us with them, knowing we will become stronger in our own knowlege, but also in our faith.

anyway, thats the news.
love you all

Elder Macdonald