Elder Ballard Was Here! 08/22/2016

Elder Ballard put it best when he said that the Canada Toronto Mission is the only true and living mission! Wow, we had such a great week, I can't even believe it, It's amazing! He flew in with Elder Bennett (Seventy), his son-in-law who served here, and his grandson on Friday night, Saturday morning we had a special missionary conference with him, Saturday afternoon we had a ward council meeting with him that was videoed into our buildings, and then on Sunday was the General Session. As I reviewed my notes this morning, I thought about the things that I wanted to tell all of you that apply to you. So here is a brief Idea of what was shared:

Elder Bennett; 

He spoke on Priesthood power, and how a setting apart gives authority to act, but obedience brings the power, it reminded me of President Nelson's talk this last General Conference. He also shared 2 missionary experiences he has had in the last little while, one took place on an airplane where he was prompted to talk to the man next to him, he did and it turned out he was a devout Catholic, they talked about their beliefs for hours and the next day, Kevin emailed Elder Bennett and told him that he wanted to meet up and talk some more. The Next was a man named Jeff who Elder Bennett met on an airplane as well, Jeff belongs to the Jewish faith and the way that Elder Bennett introduced the Gospel was by saying, "One of our volumns of scriptures actually follows a Jewish family who leaves Jerusalem and travels to America." This got him very excited and they still email to this day.

Elder Bennett also talked about how fear and doubt block our abilities to hear the spirit, that's why Satan works so hard to bring those into our lives. 

Elder Ballard;

He talked about not memorizing the Gospel but internolizing it. Not just knowing it in our minds, but understanding it in our hearts. I love this! He also talked about Sequoia trees, which are the largest tree in the world. In fact, they can grow 150-250 feet tall and live to 1000 years old. They have a very hard bark that is resistant to insects and fungus. He went on to tell of some Sequoia's planted at BYU. One which had died, which is surprising due to the type of tree it is. After researching what had happened, it was discovered the simply, the tree had died due to a lack of water. Even with all these strengths, it was killed because of a lack of water. He talked about how important it is to have the "Living Water" in our lives and feasting upon it. We do this by continuealy living the Gospel, reading the sciptures, praying, talking the sacrament... ect. The Lord will also micromanage our lives if we are willing to listen to the spirit and live so that we can harken to it. 

Someone asked Elder Ballard when we should go to Adam-Ondi-Amen, and his response was this "When you see the quorum of the twelve and the First Presidency packing their bags, then is the time to go, As for now, plant your cherry trees, worry about now!"

Whenever we come across hardships, trials, feel burdened down, "Let our minds go to Gethsemane" Remember the Savior always, don't forget, and think of him in the Hardest times. 

Lastly, he got up and said "I love being a general authority, I can do whatever I want in meetings" He then called up his son and grandson, got them both on his side and said "This is everything" Family is everything, it should be our main focus. It was very powerful!

I could go on and on, I'm sure you can tell, but I'll leave it at that and tell you a bit about what happened this week to us. A few experiences I want to share with you in particular, The first being a new couple we began teaching, Matheos and Thamara, they are form Brazil, and walked into church 2 weeks ago! They are so awesome, and the spirit is so strong in all of our lesson's with them. I really do look forward to them continueing to progress in the gospel! Next, we recieved a referral from a member to a MIA member so we went by and met him, interesting guy indeed, but the coolest things happened, his friend was there, who we ended up meeting with, he talked about how he felt there was no purpose in his life and how God could never heal him. We talked and listened for only about 15 minutes, we gave his a few scriptures, and by the end, the spirit had changed his views, he felt Heavenly Father's love for him, and he wants to find healing through the Book of Mormon now! I'm so excited for him! We also stopped by a former investigator named Alain, but he wasn't home. His brother Fabrice was though, and we started to teach him, he was baptized Seventh Day adventist but doesn't feel it 's true. He loves talking about the Gospel, and he even came out to church on Sunday, wonderful things are going to come forward with him! 

That really is how my week went, as for Mormon 9 I learned that Miracles come based upon our Faith! That we need to do all things in worthiness for the Lord and that God shows us our imperfections to help us. I also love how He talks about how the Book of Mormon is going to be in the language of his Fathers instead of Hebrew because that's the only way to make it fit even though it won't be as descriptive. He also says that it can't be translated by anything but the power of God! So amazing!

I love you all!

Elder Taylor