Ben 8/12/13

Wow! Life is Great! Missions are a trip! 

This week was awesome! Today was especially fun!  We did a district P-day at Cocoa beach! We had a sunrise devotional at 6 AM to beat the gentile sunbathers.... didn't work.... Hahaha anyways we had a great spirit as we read Elder Hollands talk about "feed my lambs" really powerul! Then we took pictures and stuff and I had to take one on the little dock thing with all the elders like we did for our senior trip in our speedo's! Anyways, then we played sand volleyball and that was way fun! I got super sweaty and wanted to jump in the ocean though! Then I caught a huge crab and put it on my nipple (through my shirt) uncle Rob style! Then we went to this 3 story Ron Jons surf shop then denny's.

It was nice.  

This week was crazy! Michelle and Mary need your prayers for this week. I'm not going to tell you whats going to happen because I've been jynxed before!  Also let me tell you James is my best friend!  I love that man! Probably my most solid man out here! Tasha however is falling back in to her old ways... Cutting, alcholism, depression, it is super sad, especially because I have to watch James watch his wife slip. But I read with him Ephesians 6 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood.... but rulers of darkness and Spiritual wickedness in high places!!!!  He is enduring like a champ! She lies to us and runs from us because she is ashamed now.  

There is nothing more sacred to me than hearing my best friends voice call me on the phone.  "Yo Elder G, I'm weak man, the devil tryin to dissemble me.... He know he won't get me through drugs and women, so he's going at me through my wife....."  

"James man I love you dude hold out!  Stay strong man we'll be right over"  

This man is converted and he is my best friend!  He came out with us to teach last night!   He always tells me our story... "I was just prayin  and I said 'God show me what to do and I will do it' and I looked up and there was you two guys in white shirts"  It literally makes my life to hear him say "I know you were sent to me man, when you speak you give me strength"  Honestly though, when he speaks he gives me strength.  When James opens his mouth, the spirit is there, he is a great example of qualifying yourself for the spirit.  He's solid!  

Elder H. is asking me my hobbies this week.... HOBBIES?  haha I'm just like, man what are my hobbies?  Honestly I'm to the point my hobbies are reading scriptures and saying my prayers.  That's what I do when I need a pick me up. 

I really enjoyed your letter this week mom! Thanks so much! I pray for you guys always! In reading it and seeing Tasha this week, seeing what everyone around me is going through, I start to realize how real Ephesians 6 is. Spiritual warfare and armour are very literal.  We are teaching this part member family, (football family- lots of fun) and I had just kind of bottled up a lot of anger at satan!!!  Basically I started the lesson with "IF you do not cling to this gospel, your family is done for. Hellfire and brimstone and drinking damnation.  I hate to have to be bold with you but it's the truth, and I wish someone would have been more bold with me."

Vision still stands out as the word of my mission.  If priesthood holders aren't doing their home teaching, it's because they don't have the vision that the Lord has.  The priesthood is the authority God gives man to serve others in his name.  If you aren't doing home teaching, you need to gain a testimony of the priesthood you hold.  If you're not repenting, you must need to gain a testimony and vision of what Christ really did for you and the power that the atonement carries. If you're not doing missionary work, you don't have a testimony of the atonement or the restoration or the preisthood. So strengthen home and our testimonies! 

LOVE YOU TONSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Elder G

***A letter to Ben's Mission President***

President Berry,

Just so you know!  Elder H. is doing Great!!! He is a fearless missionary and I am so blessed to be his companion! We are excited for the trainers follow up meeting this week.  Maybe you could have the assistants send out the date and time of it, just so we can plan.  

Honestly for us, the way we're going to be able to teach more right now is to focus on finding.  We are going to have two baptisms this week and we just dropped a few investigators, so our teaching has been good, but for us to increase we are going to have to put an added amount of faith in our finding.  We are grateful for all the teaching opportunities the Lord gives us and we work to make the most of them. 

Elder Gottfredson