Time continues to explode

June 4, 2012

Time continues to explode by as usual. As time is going by we continue to be flooded with blessings from the Lord. I know so strongly, and know stronger and stronger as my mission goes by that He sees us, He understands and knows our effort, He recognized when we push and endure through difficult challenges, and He knows when we make correct decisions.

The past few months have been the best, most enjoyable of my life. I've never recognized the Master's hand more in my work, I've never felt as strong commitment as I feel now, and I've never felt as connected to the spirit. Our area has received so many unexpected blessings. June is gearing up to be a great month. Yesterday we had 3 investigators at church-all of them Chinese students! 2 of them have baptismal dates for later in the month. One is a referral from a recent convert who is making such leaps and bounds in her spiritual understanding and progression that she may be ready for baptism before her date on the 24th! We've witnessed her sweet first prayers and she builds a relationship with God. We've seen her repent, show faith, and develop a desire to follow Christ. The spirit is enlightening her understanding and she tastes the sweetness of the gospel beginning to enter her life. What a blessing it is to be a missionary!

The recent converts we've had in the branch are doing so well. I have such a strong testimony of conversion and the power the gospel has to change our natures. I know the Atonement is real. I've felt its power.

The great London Zone is doing so good! We have goals to baptize double this month than what was averaged every month last year. Elder Hancock and I are preparing for Zone Conference on Tuesday-the revelation that the Lord gives us if we ask with a sincere desire to help others is real. I've felt direction come so many times as a leader. I'm grateful for His watchful care.

We're praying for 3 baptisms in our area this month! Miracles will happen if we consecrate ourselves more each day.

-Elder Porter

Grace and the Atonement

April 30, 2012

What a fantastic week here in the Promised Land! We had a lot of amazing and memorable experiences. I've learned a lot about grace and the Atonement.

Yesterday was a great day-we had 2 baptisms! Nadia and Priya were both baptized yesterday one after another. It was a very spiritually charged and powerful program. One of the best I've been to on my mission. It is so fascinating to see the distinct changes that happen in a person's countenance as they learn, accept, and live according to gospel laws and principles. Priya has always been a kind, humble, caring person. But showing faith to live the Word of Wisdom and showing love to her Savior by making scripture reading a habit as the only Christian in her family has changed her into someone more than a good person. She is being shaped and cleansed by the Holy Ghost and she is becoming a Saint through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Nadia being able to change her life from her very rough background was a miracle within itself as well. They were both confirmed directly after their baptisms. After receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost they were both beaming. There was a light and life in their eyes that wasn't there before. The spirit was strong and bore witness to everyone there that what was being done was according to the Lords mind and will.

One of them struggled with the Word of Wisdom. Cigarettes have been a temptation since she was 14. She was in the habit of smoking over 2 packs before she met the missionaries about 2 months ago. Since then she has accepted the gospel, been healed from scars and experiences of her past, and made a covenant with Heavenly Father to follow Jesus Christ.

Early on in the teaching process she cut down from 2 packs a day to between 2 and 5 cigarettes a day. She has made such remarkable progress and had worked as hard as she could to overcome her addiction. Everyone in her house smokes, so completely cutting the habit we thought may be impossible. She has such a STRONG desire to join the church and come closer to God. However, before baptism one needs to live the Word of Wisdom. We gave her a Priesthood blessing right before her baptismal interview. In the blessing, a specific promise from the Lord was given to her..."your body will no longer desire cigarettes". She went on to pass through her baptismal interview, and since that time last week cigarette smoke from her family members and friends has made her nauseous and sick to her stomach. Her cravings are gone and she is fully enjoying the gift and constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. The power of the Priesthood is real. The full gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. This is His work and what He wants for all of His children who are willing to accept it.

As a person does all they can, grace can carry them the rest of the way. It could be a Priesthood blessing that provides a person with divine help stronger than they have themselves. It may be the power of heaven that can only be unlocked by fasting. It may be loving guidance from Heavenly Father that only comes through long, painful sincere prayer. Whatever it is, God will provide a way for us to accomplish the things which He has commanded. I know that this promise is true. I testify of it. I know that God lives, that the Gospel is His perfect plan for our happiness and progression. I love this work and do not want to leave. The Lord loves me and has blessed me with a custom-fit mission. It has been a perfect mix of struggles, questions, doubts, and incomprehensible joy at times. As we serve Him with all we have we will never be led astray.

Elder Porter

Wonderful Investigators!

April 10, 2012

We have had a great and exciting week! Elder Hancock and I are working as hard as we possibly can, and the Lord has begun to pour His blessings out on us. It’s been incredible to see the explosion of success and good things we've been part of lately. We have such a rhythm and tight unity that the spirit is able to help us make a difference in people's lives. We are finding by the spirit, teaching by the spirit, and helping people work towards baptism. I've never felt more connected to the Lord in His great work than I do right now. My role as a leader and with a great companion has let me develop the sharpest skill set I've had my entire mission. We are being effective, and making every second of our day count.

We have 3 investigators just on the brink of baptism! We are fasting and praying with one Chinese girl who is so close. We knocked on her door about 7 weeks ago, she didn't believe in God, she had no faith, she'd never prayed before. Now she prays like a lifelong member of the church, she has insights from her scripture reading, she recognizes the spirit in her life, and she has faith and hope that Christ can bring healing and a better life. Her unsupportive family in China is her biggest setback. We've been reading the Book of Mormon with her lots to help her faith grow to overcome her fears. She is SO CLOSE.

We have another girl who loves the church, its activities, and the restored gospel. She is working to overcome her deep-rooted smoking habit before her baptism which is scheduled for April 22. It’s amazing to see the spirit teach different people individually how the Atonement can apply to them and heal them.

Another person who is very close to baptism is a girl from Toronto. She was born in another country but has been here in Canada for a few years now. She had no previous background with Christianity, and had a small faith in Hinduism. She has felt the spirit enlighten her view of the world as she has learned about the Atonement and what Jesus Christ did for her. She loves the Book of Mormon and has received answers to her prayers. She is set for baptism on April 29.

Other than these great investigators, the Lord is leading us directly to people who are prepared. We have started tracting apartment buildings around the University, and 2 of our baptismal dates are on the same floor of a building. We are teaching and helping our investigators be integrated into the church almost constantly. We are finding people to baptize. We are feeling the spirit bear strong witness to those we find that Christ is real. My testimony of this work has grown a lot in the past month. The Lord keeps his promises. He will not abandon us if we keep our covenants.

My mission has been the greatest, most exciting time of my life. It’s been hard and dark at times also, but through all the trials I've grown the capacity to feel true joy. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. God loves us, and he wants us to succeed.

Elder Porter

A successful lecture!

April 2, 2012

Transfer calls were last night! I wasn't expecting to get a call, and I didn't. Elder Hancock and I will be together for at least another 6 weeks. He's only been here for 3 months, or 2 transfers. We are almost positive that we'll be separated after this one though. We'll make it count and hopefully baptize 3 or 4 in the next 6 weeks.

The lecture went great! Elder Hancock and I presented for about 35 minutes on the basics of the LDS faith. We did our whole presentation from the visual aids on Mormon.org. We taught briefly about how the gospel blesses families and showed a few "I'm a Mormon" clips. We taught the Restoration from a powerpoint-type-slideshow on the site as well. We had open Q&A for about 45 minutes after that. It was slightly intimidating answering questions from the Catholic Priesthood (people training to be ordained priests) and other non-members, but it went very, very well. We found ways to bear testimony and invite all to come closer to Christ through pondering and reading the Book of Mormon. There were about 30 people there, many of who were members from the London YSA Branch, some of who were staff at Kings University College (a catholic college), and just a handfull of nonmembers from the campus there. The best response was from the staff. The spirit definately touched some of them as they asked sincere questons and of their own initiative took a Book of Mormon to review furher. It was a GREAT experience. I wasn't scared or nervous at all. Although there were not any immediate fruits, we planted seeds and softened hearts, and it was a great use of time. A truly memorable experience!

Preparing to Lecture on College Campus

March 26, 2012

I've been in London for 5 weeks already! I can't believe it. YSA work is crazy different than the previous work I've done. It’s taught me how to be more real and it’s come to help define the testimony I've had through my mission.

Elder Hancock and I are having a great and really unique opportunity on Wednesday! We are going to be managing a presentation at a Catholic College about the basic beliefs of our church! A few weeks ago we emailed all the religious Professors at the University of Western Ontario and the surrounding religious colleges. The head Priest for the college had us over for a chat, and he is providing a venue for us to give a presentation. We've made flyers and distributed many hundreds of them. We're presenting in a lecture hall this week. We're very, very excited. It is such a unique opportunity. We'll be pulling most of our presentation from Mormon.org and the Restoration lesson from Preach My Gospel. We're praying and having faith that someone with a desire and intent to search for truth will be able to make their way to hear our message. We're a little anxious, but mostly excited to share what we know to be true in such a unique place.

Yesterday at church we had 7 nonmembers. We're doing some serious work and experiencing some great and heavy blessings from the Lord. We're currently teaching 2 Chinese girls who are here for another semester. They are so close to accepting a baptismal date! They are in the stage of trying to recognize that their prayers have been answered and that all these things really have helped them out in life. They are slow coming, but coming nonetheless. We found a great girl from Sri Lanka in the same building as the Chinese girls. She's accepted to work towards baptism in April and came to a Christian church for the first time yesterday! She's beginning to feel the spirit as we're teaching her about who Jesus Christ is and why he's so important. Also, we're teaching a roommate of a less active who is doing great! He's a really down to earth business student working for his Masters Degree right now. He's gaining spiritual insights from the Book of Mormon as his belief in God is sprouting and growing.

I know in a real way we receive revelation as to what these people need to hear and learn about in order to have their faith grow. I love this work and will miss it forever when my time in Canada is done. I revere my mission as a sacred part of my life. I know the gospel brings more happiness than anything else. I know prayers are heard. I know baptism is what Father wants for us. We are all involved in this work in different ways. Doing what we should brings blessings regardless of what assignment we have. Keep doing what you should and the Lord's promised blessings will come eventually.

Elder Porter

March 12, 2012

What a great week! Elder Hancock and I are seeing the Lords mercy. We are so busy with administrative stuff and running around the zone for exchanges that we don't have a ton of time in our own area. Our zone covers a huge geographical area; it takes around 2 hours to travel from one end to the other. It consists of mostly small cities (100,000 or less) with a 2 larger cities, Windsor (which is only separated from Detroit by a river) and London (where I'm serving). E. Hancock and I travel around the zone every week and work with the District Leaders for a day in their area. We get to see a lot, but we're pulled away from our own area as well. It’s been incredible to see the Lord pour out success in the time we have to work here. We literally find for 1/5 of the time that other missionaries are able to, but we are seeing lots of success. We literally don't have time to teach everyone, it’s incredible. The Lord has seen our diligence, obedience, and hard work prior to being here and now he is blessing us. I have never felt more fulfilled in my life. The past 3 weeks have literally been the most spiritually satisfying time of my entire life. I have never been happier, felt better about who I am and who I am becoming, or had more faith in Christ and in our Father's plan for us. There are 3 things I want to highlight today from the past week.

We are still working with two Chinese girls that we found our first few days together. (Fan and Peipei from mainland China.) Their faith has gone from absolutely nothing to begging us for things they can do in their life to feel more of the sprit. Their faith has grown, and their desire to be better people and do more for others has increased as they have learned to have kneeling prayers on a regular basis, study and learn from the Book of Mormon, and come to church in preparation for their baptism. They are set for next Sunday, but it may need to be pushed back a week due to some family concerns that have come up over the past few days. Hopefully the spirit will encourage them to move forward with making these big, positive changes in their lives! I am blessed to feel the love that Christ has for them on a daily basis. As we study, pray, and fast for our investigators, we are blessed to feel the overpowering care and love that Father has for them-what a tremendous blessing!

Last year when I was here, right after a session of general conference my zone leader pulled me aside and asked me to come teach a lesson to a non-member who had strolled into conference. I remember the lesson vaguely, and didn't think much of it after that. Once I got into London, I realized that the man who I had taught was baptized, has received the Melchizidec Priesthood, and is actively working towards serving a mission this summer! He comes teaching with us all the time and is one of the most incredibly righteous and motivated converts I've ever seen. He's been struggling with some past habits lately and some very difficult decisions he's needed to make. We sat down with him earlier this week and he requested a blessing. I was able to lay my hands on his head, and give him powerful counsel and promised from God himself. I have never given a blessing with such ease as I was able to on this occasion. I knew the words I spoke were not my own. There was power and the spirit was very strong. He was able to act on the counsel he received in the blessing and the promises that were made have come to pass. The Priesthood is real!!

One more cool experience from this past week-we were having a discussion from a man from Brazil, he's a strong Christian but has had some problems with the Book of Mormon. He hadn't given it adequate attention before judging what was in it as false. We felt prompted to read the book with him. There was a particular chapter that came to mind as we opened the book. As we read, I offered a silent prayer that the spirit would be able to come powerfully to testify that this is God's word. As my personal prayer closed, the spirit immediately, quickly, and powerfully entered the room. I had never felt it come that quickly or powerfully before. As we read the chapter the room was on fire. It was a sacred personal experience that reminds me when we ask for righteous things in faith that Father will grand us what we seek. Many blessings are made conditional on us asking for them.

I love my mission. I love the gospel. It is real. Don't slow down or break your covenants, and the Lord's promised blessings will come eventually.

Until next week,

Elder Porter

March 5, 2012

This work is amazing. Missionary efforts in London are doing very very well as we are watching many people prepare for baptism during this month of March. This past Friday my companion and I were at Zone Leader Council in Brampton. It was such a spiritually intense experience as we were able to discuss with the leadership of the mission the direction in which things need to be carried out. Being surrounded by the best of the best brings such a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow on a whole new level. The missionaries in this mission are of a remarkable caliber. I am amazed just by who they are.

With the assignment that I have right now, my companion and I do not have as much time to work in our own area as we normal would. We are busy doing reports and driving across the province some days. You would think that the work and good things in our area would slow down by us now working on them as much, but I've found that as we work as hard as we know how that the Lord allows us a chance to meet the standard of what we are expected to do. We are finding new investigators, teaching so much we don't have time to find very often, and helping multiple people prepare for baptism this month as well as next month. We have perfect unity, perfect focus, perfect balance between having fun and working, and perfectly divided teaching and finding. I have never worked this hard at anything in my entire life, and I feel happier right now than I ever have before. I have more fulfillment and enjoyment out of what I am doing now than I have ever felt. It is a tremendous blessing. I know the gospel is true and that this is the Lord's work.

As time has gone by quickly and as I have felt happier and more fulfilled than ever before, I have been taught a valuable lesson. Through the past couple months I've been praying and putting lots of effort into strengthening my love, passion, urgency, and desire for my mission. I have learned that as I focus on PEOPLE, than the love Christ and Heavenly Father have for them is allowed to flow through me. If I focus on how many lessons I will teach, and how many hours I will go tracting, and how many people we will try to get to church, you find temporary satisfaction in hitting your goals. You can feel good about yourself if you tracted for 20 hours in a week or found 3 new investigators. As I fast, pray, study, ponder, and work hard to lift these PEOPLE to have spiritual experiences and develop faith in Jesus Christ, everything falls into place. The focus isn't on these "activities" of hitting goals, but rather on the ultimate measure of success-"achievement" of fostering and growing one's faith in Christ. I have focused on real people more than I ever have before, and as I do so I open myself for revelation to help them progress towards baptism. Again, I am able to feel the love that God has for them flow through me. It has changed the way I view my mission, the gospel, and my own testimony.

Since I came into the area 2 weeks ago, we've have more success than I've ever had. The secret is love, unity, and pure desire to follow God. We have 2 baptisms lined up for this month that we found my second day here, and 1 more lined up for April. They are all students at the University here from China, so teaching is different from anything I've done in the past. London is a white and ripe place. Our faith is high, and we're seeing success and results.

YSA work is still different. Going to activities and lingering after church to build relationships with the members is honestly what brings most success, so it’s been a bit of a change in focus. We have strong unity with the branch and because of that, their fellowshipping is fantastic! It’s such a blessing to see the diversity of the Lords work as a young missionary.

The church is true!

Love,

Elder Porter