Week 17: It's Raining It's (almost) Pouring

I'm sure many of you know that I grew up in Maple Valley, Washington which is near the foot of the mountains and consequently I have seen more rainy days than sunny. Because of the lack of Vitamin D throughout my childhood I loath the rain and bask in the sun's "life-giving light".  The Lord saw fit to humble me though and sent me to the high desert where up until this week, I could count on one hand the number of times I had seen rain hit the ground. A few days ago and today we were able to enjoy the rain sent from the heavens to cool us down and help me appreciate the rain that I had once despised. 

This week has felt like a very average week as a missionary. We knock on some doors, talk to some nice people, have people flee from us and we teach anyone that will listen. But something that is exciting is the change happening within, within our investigators and within us. The change that happens within investigators is a result of an increase in faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As they learn more about Him through the Spirit, scriptures and His Gospel, they have a natural tendency to gravitate towards His light. If someone truly begins to understand who Jesus is, they will have the sincere desire to follow His example by being baptized. Our investigator, Diane, has found this out for herself and is going to be baptized on Saturday. This last Saturday, Jay, who is now a recent convert of some missionaries in our district also loved Jesus enough to be baptized into His only church. Elder Kunz and I were able to attend that baptism because months ago I was on exchanges and tracted into Jay with Elder Petrie. I have watched his progress from afar and was ecstatic when I heard that at the age of 81, Jay had decided to be baptized and enter into his "new home." 

Along with the change in our investigators I have also seen a change in myself. I have always known that I would serve a mission because that was my duty and a large part of my upbringing. I wanted to be an example to my brothers, cousins and I knew that it would better my life more than any other decision. But until recently those were my only motives. As a result of time I have seen my focus shift from being here because I should, to being on my mission at this exact time because my Savior needs me here. He needs us where we all are and if we are not where we need to be then my family can attest to the fact that he will move you to where you need to be either spiritually or physically or both. Elder Low, one of the current APs, said something that impacted me in the Train the Trainers meeting. He explained to us that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us more than we can comprehend (duh most of us probably believe that). But he doesn't just love members of the church, He loves ALL of us infinitely equally. Every person on this earth is precious to our Father and right now He does not have all of them back in His home, but He wants them. Parents, imagine if you were only able to have a small fraction (maybe one or two) of your kids return to see you for Christmas or thanksgiving or any other Holiday. Would you be able to pick which children get to come home and which stay out of the house for eternity? I think not. God wants all of His beloved children back. His whole purpose and glory is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." As disciples of Jesus Christ, it is everyone's job to help our Father fulfill His purpose by giving a ride to our brothers and sisters so they too can eat at the thanksgiving feast or sit around the tree with us at Christmas time. This becomes a lot easier when we have charity for everyone, so pray for that gift. Luckily we don't have to do this alone: "And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them"

God wants you and I back as much as He wants your enemy and your neighbor back so open your mouth and share your testimony in all things.

Love you all very much,
Elder Puzey



 A nice posterity picture: Left to Right
(My brother, my dad, my grandpa, me, my son) 
One side of the road:
 And the other side of the road:
Whenever we see a pretty lady in the desert we call her a:

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