Friday, January 5, 2018

A New Year Begins...

Hello everyone!

        I’m sorry for not having written a post in a while - repentance is real, and I will be better now! Well, for the next few weeks at least. We’ll see after that. 

       What’s exciting about this week that y’all would care about?  Curtis - you should care about Curtis, and I’m excited about him! Curtis is an older fellow who lives in a beat up trailer. He lives with a few friends who don’t have anywhere else to stay, so he’s kind enough to let them in. He’s had a hard life and has gotten a little beat up. He smokes two packs of cigarettes a day and has been feeling pretty down lately.

         We have taught him for several weeks now but he hasn’t been keeping the commitments God has given him, through us, to pray, read, and come to church. But, breakthrough, Curtis came to church on Sunday! A member offered to give him a ride, and he came to all three hours of church. He felt loved and needed, expressed how much he learned and enjoyed it, and said “Yeah, y’all already know that I’m gonna be back here next week.” I love Curtis - he has such a good heart and a desire to serve. I’m excited to watch as he keeps repenting and growing closer to Christ.

         It’s a new year! New Year's resolutions I’m sure are forthcoming with many of you and your families. I was thinking about starting a new year this morning, and how grateful I am for repentance, or the ability to get up over and over and over again in the process of progression toward perfection. How many times have you set New Years resolutions and then failed something within a few weeks, days, or even hours? I thank God for the ability we have to change because of Christ, what a joyful thing!

This weeks poem, to start off the new year, is about repentance and growth.

The ache of broken hearts,
Waiting for a new day.
That pain the dearly smarts,
Won’t seem to go away.

A hole that can’t be filled,
A gap that can’t be crossed.
Why can’t we just rebuild?
Why must we feel so lost?

Well simply we must try,
To look up up in the dark.
Something will catch our eye,
Two hands with nail-scarred marks.

It’s Jesus Christ our King,
The one who beckons us.
Now to his hands we cling,
Our lives to him we trust.
We went with the Young Single Adult Branch missionaries to IHOP for pancake breakfast this morning. It was fun to share time with them, but more fun to eat pancakes. Just kidding, I love these wonderful missionaries more than pancakes. :)
My trainer, Braden Day, visited Gainesville and we were able to talk for about 5 minutes in-between appointments. It was fun to see him - I love him and I’m grateful for everything he taught me as a young missionary, and for the example he sets for me now!




Love you all - happy new year and have a good week!

Elder McMullin

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