New Years

     Hello!

     This week was really good! We had our New Years Eve movie nights with some other missionaries and that was really fun! We watched the movie, "Inside Out", it was really good. I really liked it haha, it was nice to relax for a little bit and watch a movie!

     My new companion is great! We get along really well and we are having fun serving together. 

 

     It's nice because we're both experienced, well-seasoned missionaries and we both want to work really hard, so the work is starting to pick up this transfer! We have some plans this week to go street contacting and to work with a lot of leaders. 

     I was reading in the Old Testament a little bit this week. I read in Judges 9 a few days ago and I found some interesting principles that can apply to us today. In Judges 9, Abimelech, Gideon's son, is made king. In his reign as king, he begins his ministry in a terrible way. He has fear that his brothers will overthrow him, so he slays 70 of his brothers. Amidst this slaughter, one of his brothers, Jotham, escapes from the torment. After Abimelech is done slaying his brothers, his only remaining brother Jotham returns to Abimelech and prophesies of his destruction. He tells Abimelech that because of his unrighteous dominion, he and his people will be destroyed. He tells this using a parable and compares the leaders of Israel to trees, and compares Abimelech to the Bramble tree which will cause himself and all of the other trees to burn and die. I know this all sounds weird, but if you open to Judges 9 and read for a little bit it will start to make sense.

     The application is the fact that; We as leaders in Christ's church have been given a responsibility to lead in the way that Christ would if he were here. If we try to do it our own way, or the world's way, then we will see limited success in our labors. If we do it Christ's way, there is no limit to our success.

      Love you all, have a good week!

         -Elder Strate