this week was pretty cool

Another great week in the NCRM! This week was pretty cool, our mission expanded about twice the size geographically and we got 50 new missionaries! We also got to go to a mission conference down on the coast and Elder Holland came and spoke to us. He talked to us for a couple hours, he talked a lot about staying true after our missions and about teaching people on their level of understanding just as the savior would do. He also roasted nicodemus for a few minutes which was pretty funny. But overall that was an experience I will never forget!

The work in our area has been going good this week. We found 4 new people to teach, unfortunately nobody came to church with us this week. We also have been having a rough time with Terry. He was hanging out with his old friends all week and he canceled 3 lessons with us. We showed up at his house anyway and he was smoking and he started drinking coffee again. Kind of a big bummer but that's okay we have some great plans to get Terry back on track.

For the 4th of July we went to the rangnows for a big cookout! They invited some non-members and we got to talk with them for a little while. The Rangnows are awesome and they are doing some great things. Unfortunately we didn't see a single firework because we had to be in our apartment early, but we definitely heard them!

One of the Ladys we are teaching got admitted to the Hospital the other day. They aren't sure what happened to her yet but we got to go and visit her. She seemed to be in pretty good spirits though so we are glad about that.

As usual we did a ton of service this week. Everything from stacking firewood, to cutting down vines with machetes. We even cleaned out a nasty storage unit.

As if this week wasn't already crazy enough we saw the world's largest frying pan. You can cook 365 whole chickens on that bad boy all at once.

Overall this week has been pretty awesome, we got to teach a lot of lessons and we had some unforgettable experiences. There's nothing more rewarding than serving God and the people of North Carolina everyday. As a missionary or just in everyday life we are going to face trials and at times it's going to be hard. In Mosiah 7:33 it says...

33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage

When I read this it made me really think, what does it mean to really put your trust in the Lord? I started thinking about faith. Faith requires action, when we have faith in the Lord we align our life with what he asks us to do and we do our best to follow him. I came to the conclusion that there are 2 types of faith. There is faith in yourself, and then there's faith in the Lord. When we stop having faith in ourselves and start putting our faith in the Lord, and accept that we need him. That's when we see miracles. Thats when he can help us and when we are " delivered out of bondage " or set free.

Dont know if that makes any sense but that's my deep thought of the week! I love you guys and hope you have a great week!

Elder Forrest