Elder Workman's "Hastening the Work": March 2014

March 19, 2014

Good aye,

Oh my gosh I totes had this long email written for you and it just

deleted it all !! So mad. Haha. So I guess I'll try and collect my

thoughts again. Mom that is awesome. I would love to be out in the

cabins in the cold snow. I totally would die to go camping right now.

That's the first thing I want to do when I get home is go camping

I totally miss four wheeling and camping but not as much as I miss Utah but not

as much as I miss my family but not as much as I miss my mommy. :) I

miss her very much. It's kinda like all I

have learned. I'm still way horrible at lessons and things like that.

It's tuff being good and teaching others. All I have is a testimony.

This past week has been pretty fun. Went on 2 exchanges. So I was in

charge because they came to Eugene. And I just decided to have fun and

laugh.

So me and Elder S, who is a nerdier version of me, talked

about Age of Empires for seriously 4 hours. No lie. It's was so fun

tho. He's kinda goofy. But it was fun. Finally fun on my mission.

Everyone is always so serious and stressed out and I'm like woah

brother calm down this is supposed to be fun. Hehehe :) I love you

mom.

What a beautiful week it has been. It hasn't rained in about a week

and a half here in Eugene. It's been so sunny and warm and all the

flowers bloomed. Everything is so extremely beautiful. All the birds

are chirping and cawing. You can hear the many dogs barkin in the

distance. The days are lasting longer. The sunrises are getting

gorgeous. Opportunities for service are arising. This is a beautiful

time of year here. And I think about its relation with General

Conference. And this is exactly how our spiritual renewing is during

the conference months. I feel like a little kid waiting on Christmas.

Such excitement. Such joy. We have made arrangements with a less

active family to go over Sunday morning and make a breakfast casserole

for them and watch it with them. So excited ! We are also working on

getting our investigators to go. Hopefully it'll all work out and

someone will be inclined to get baptized. Our ward hasn't had a

baptism in 8 months. We're really putting in some work.

I had to give a talk yesterday. Our congregation was about the size of

the attendance of turtle races in Canada. So I was privileged to speak

as a youth speaker. Ha. Out here on a mission

it's more of just testimony and experiences. My talk was on 3 Nephi

12:14-16. And condensing it down to just 5 minutes was hard. And my

thoughts were all over the place. At least I knew Sis A liked

it, she told me when we walked into Relief Society to give them our dinner

calendar. Ha! Old people in this ward are awesome. Always so willing

to help us out. Our investigators are slowly moving along. It's hard

because you have to explain every little detail. We were reading where

Nephi chops of the head of Laban with B. and he was freakin out

sayin it was murder in the name of God, until we told him the Laban

was a wicked king. Ha everything here is questioned. As it should be.

But in all honesty it is through the Book of Mormon we gain a testimony

of the entire church. Anywho it's been a decent week. The trick is to

have fun and laugh a lot. Makes the work easier.

Now as for my family, I miss y'all. Especially my brothers, my

sister, my mom, and dad. Ha. Totally miss y'all. I imagined all of

you sitting in the audience while I was giving my talk. Cried a little

bit while sharing my testimony because I could see my mommy crying and

my brothers makin silly faces, my dad with a grin on his face givin me

a thumbs up. And my sister sayin good job BeeDee at the end. Ah I

would do anything to see y'all right now. I'm so glad that we have the

opportunity to be an eternal family. And to hang out in the Celestial

Kingdom with all of us together, with our families. I hope all is

well. My words are short, and not so good but with you I leave Alma

7:26-27. Mostly verse 27 but I wanna sound cool so we will throw in 26

as well. Read it I dare you hehehe :) it's on page 226. I love you

Megan, I love you mommy, I love you daddy, I love you Ryley, I love

you Connor, I love you grandpa Workman, I love you grandma Workman, I

love you grandma Carol, and I love the rest of my family out there..

OHANA.:) kisses 😘

GRIZZ 👻

Alma 7:26-27 “And now my beloved brethren, I have spoken these words unto you according to the Spirit which testifieth in me; and my soul doth exceedingly rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given unto my word.

And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen.”

March 17, 2014

Good Day Mates,

Oh what a week it has been. I would love to say something exciting

happened, but really it was just a slow week as ever. This week tho we

had many miracles because of the heat. More people could see our white

shirts because we weren’t wearing our rain jackets. We had multiple

people approach us and tell us how they knew the Mormons or they were

once members. So this past week we did a lot of work with less active

people and recent converts. I would have to say the highlight of my

week was giving a blessing to a lady in the hospital. We had the

hospital call us and ask us if we were Mormons and asked if we could

give this lady a blessing at her request. It was an amazing

experience. I was able to pronounce the blessing upon her head and I

felt so lucky as I could feel the spirit direct my thoughts and words

to best meet her needs. I know that all priesthood holders have felt

this amazing authority of God. How blessed! I feel especially lucky to

hold this priesthood because it comes from My Father-passed down from my dad - who taught me the ways of the Jedi. Speaking of my dad.. I think of him daily. I'm constantly think what would my dad want me to do.

I'm a workman and I need to show that I work. This

past week I went on exchanges with an elder who lives in cottage

grove. The best town in Oregon. Totally hick town. But totally

awesome! So many off road trucks, the sounds of chainsaws up in the

hills, amazing! Totally reminded me of my dad and all the great

times I had with him making benches, and cutting fire wood. And then I

saw a truck with a four wheeler In the back. And fighting off the

tears, and struggles of not being able to go camping or riding I

managed to notice that it's carburetor was missing, so I chuckled and

said to myself, " ha sucks for them.. They won't be doing any riding

soon either." And I managed to get a smile back on my face. My dad has

been such a great example to me. I'm extremely proud to call him

father. I brag a lot about him up here. And his words are always going

through my mind when I'm doing The Lords work. Dad I'm so grateful for

you. Thank you for helping me with scouts and not letting me fail at

anything and always pushing me to be better. It's because of your

example to me that I am able to stay out here, and never give up. I

love you best friend.

Awesome! Now that that's off my chest we can continue with the story..

So the orcs we all around us... Surrounding us, I had no choice but to

fling a couple arrows into their heads. I reached back to draw another

arrow when I realized that I was out. This was not good as I had 60

remaining foes. I drew out my sword... The sword of Rohan, passed down

to me by my father on his death bed. It's hilt, pure gold. Outlined in

diamonds. The blade, as sharp as an exacto blade. I could feel my

fathers of past giving me strength to conquer the enemies around me...

Oh wait wrong story, my bad folks. But if you think about it this

could be applied to missionary work. But I'll let y'all figure it out.

Haha.

Missionary work is awesome! Some weeks are better than others. I have

become addicted to the scriptures. I know my mom is probably rolling

over in her bed, saying I told you so. But the stories and history the

book contains are amazing ! If I could do life over again I would

force myself to read them. So amazing ! To all you youngsters out

there.. Ima point out some of my brothers in the ward..Ryley, Connor,

and Braxton , Jaren, Luke and Ben, Seth,

Jaren, Robert, Carson, (side note there is an

elder memmot out here who is legit) Derek(congrats on your call

to Peru), carter (also congrats on yours), and all you other

brothers of mine in the 801.. If y'all aren’t reading your scriptures

daily, READ THEM !!! They will answer all your questions and make your

days easier. I promise you this. I promise that as you read them God

will bless your life, and give you a testimony of the church. If your

testimony is faltering, I beg of you to not give up. To stay strong

to the word of God, and read the Book of Mormon. The truest book in

existence in this world right now. I beg of you to never give up in

the gospel. Don't waste years saying you'll read it later, or that

you'll join the church when your done partying and sinning. If any of

you lack wisdom in the gospel, ask God for help, and read the BOM. He

will make things known to you. And if any of you say that you can read

because you don't understand, than read Ether 12:27. God promises

you that he will make your weaknesses your strengths. I can also

testify of this scripture as I have found it to be true. Now I love

y'all :) sorry if I made ya shat yourselves. That part of being a

missionary. Hehehe. Enjoy the week boys. Miss my homies in the 801.

There are however only like 8

young men in Eugene 1st ward. That includes all 3 classes of Aaronic

priesthood. So I miss the bigger wards, and friends in my ward.

Awesome awesome email mom. I miss home a little. I loved all the quotes. Ether 12:6 is amazing. It is only after the trial of our faith that we will be made strong and feel the blessings. Mommy fear not for The Lord is always on your side. (I guess he picked up on my worry over his sister in Costa Rica/Nicaragua) Things may cover the path but all we have to do is clear them from our way or step over them. I admire your courage to keep going. I admire how much you turn to The Lord, Our Savior. I do. Trials make us stronger. And I will pray for you like I always do :) "You could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a old lady wearing white gloves." Temples are amazing and I'm so proud of you mom. You make my heart swell how much you are doing for those around you. Stay strong and be of good cheer. Never get discouraged. I love you I can't believe London is already home. That's crazy. Welcome home dude! Let my bros know I love them. Haven't heard anything from them for a while.