Elder Zachary Gehring: The Holy Ghost

Dear family,

This is the last Monday of the transfer. On Wednesday I'll be with my new companion. I'm excited but nervous. I'm starting my last transfer as a missionary of complete time.

I am shocked by the amount of time I have to think each week. I didn’t realize how much time I really have until I started to use it a little bit better. Sometimes I talk with my companion, sometimes we are quiet. We talk to everyone we see. Sometimes we don’t see anyone. And I realized all the time I am silent is time given to me by God to think, ponder, pray, meditate, search for answers, solutions, divine help, etc. We have 30 min of exercise, 1 hour until personal study, and then 1 hour of pure personal studying. Before 9am each day I have 2.5 hours of time to search for revelation for my Investigators- personally. Then there are the hours of lunch, language, and companionship study- 2.5 to 3 hours more to see how to help my investigators- as a companionship. Then a ton of time in the street, in lessons, in contacts, waiting for meetings to start, etc. All of these thoughts came from how President Willard acted this past Wednesday while we walked from the lobby of the chapel to the office of the stake President where we had a meeting. He only talks about the work. Nothing else even crosses his mind. If I used every waking moment like Presidente does, looking for divine revelation for my investigators, more would repent, and more would be baptized. Its hard but its my new goal. Also Im going to carry around a little notebook and write down any tiny thought I have. Sometimes I dont appreciate fully the things the Spirit tells me.

This week I also read in 2 Nephi 32:5-6 and I learned something new about the relation between the My Purpose and the Doctrine of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ in centered in the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We have faith in Jesus Christ that He really did leave the Holy Ghost as our comforter. We repent to be worthy to feel the Holy Ghost. We are baptized to fulfill the commandment, so we then can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then we endure to the end as we listen attentively to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost is so precious to God that he asked us to be baptized first to show that we really are going to take care of such a perfect gift. I want everyone in the whole world to have this gift!!! They just have to repent and be baptized first. The Holy Ghost is the only way for us to be guided back to the Father.

The other good news is that the Calero family was baptized!! Also Fortunata. The best part was that 6 investigators came on Saturday night to the baptism and then came back Sunday morning for church. They all had a spiritual weekend which will help them so much with their progress toward baptism. The Callisaya family made up 4 of these 6. They are progressing so well! The ward council is super excited after seeing baptisms and realizing there are more here in the near future. We set the ward goal for Feb. for baptisms. The ward chose 8. I know we are going to make it.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Elder Gehring