The Spirit of Discernment:

Whelp, Last pday was super weird! We all decided (The AP's and us) that we just wanted to have a rest day and take a nap, but that didn't end up happening. Our van tire blew out so we had to get that fixed, then we ate at an overpriced pizza joint where our waitress was trying to flirt with us, so that was interesting! By the time we got back to our apartment it was already 5PM so we got to have a 30 minute nap! Better than nothing I guess!! HAHA

On Tuesday the AP's and all the Zone Leaders got to go hike Kenesaw Mountain for MLC, so we got the van. HIP HIP HORRAH!! 

Thursday we went on Exchanges with the TT's again!! It was such a good time!! We were able to find a few people to have lessons with later!! The worst part of it was when we were following up with peep's in the Area Book I was trying to find the house number while I was biking and something not so good happened! You see, there was this mailbox that was poking out farther than all the other mailboxes, so I uh!! I tried to swerve out of the way but as I did so I also squeezed the brakes and fell on the frame of my bike, where the sun don't shine if ya know what I mean!! I had to take a few minutes after that experience.....THE MORAL OF THE STORY ISSSSSS!! Don't build your mailbox 10 ft from the curb!! HAHA just kidding, probably don't ride/drive and be on the phone too I guess!

That night we had dinner with the Okonkwo's! He actually invited his best friend from Lehi Utah to come have dinner as well! I didn't know the guy personally, but we had mutual friends so that was pretty cool!!

Friday, Elder Frandsen was having some pretty bad teeth problems all week so we went to a Dentist from our ward to see what was up! It turns out that he had a Root Canal so I got the privilege of watching him on laughing gas for almost 5 hours. So that was a good time!!

Saturday, Elder Frandsen was still having teeth problems so we did a three way exchange with the AP's, Twin Oaks ZL's and me!! It was actually a really good time!!

In the Afternoon I went with Elder Wagoner to the only ghetto in all of Fayetteville to followup with some potentials and we had a lot of success out of it! We taught the Resto for the first time (in Fayetteville) on the doorstep. That felt good!

Elder Wagoner

Wagoner Street

 Later that night I went with his comp Elder Finnley! We taught a lesson to a recent potential and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever been in!! It was incredible!! We started out just trying to get to know him and as we did so the Spirit let us know what we needed to talk about. We for some reason started to just talk about Modern Day Prophets and kinda skipped everything else. He expressed his desire at the end to learn for himself if there were truly modern day prophets. That was pretty cool to use the spirit to discern Isaiah's thoughts to teach to his needs!! Being a missionary is awesome!

We also went to dinner at the Nelson's house and it was literally the best dinner I have ever had on my mission!! We had crab, shrimp, crawfish, and Alligator!! It was so flippin awesome!!! After that Brother Nelson let us see he Porshe and we got to rev up the engine and all that!! So Cool soo cool!!

Sunday I had a bit of a spiritual awakening if you will! I have been studying Ministering ever since the last General Conference and while I was doing so I realized something so crucial!

Jesus Christ, the Minister of everyone still took the time to listen, even though there are many times that the scriptures say He "knew the thoughts of others." That alone shows me how important listening truly is, and not just with our ears but with our very soul! 

There is a quote from Elder Holland in PMG that says, “More important than speaking is listening. These people are not lifeless objects disguised as a baptismal statistic. They are children of God, our brothers and sisters, and they need what we have. Be genuine. Reach out sincerely. Ask these friends what matters most to them. What do they cherish, and what do they hold dear? And then listen. If the setting is right, you might ask what their fears are, what they yearn for, or what they feel is missing in their lives. I promise you that something in what they say will always highlight a truth of the gospel about which you can bear testimony and about which you can then offer more. … If we listen with love, we won’t need to wonder what to say. It will be given to us—by the Spirit and by our friends”  

I personally felt the spirit witness to me the importance of ministering to our friends! I feel the importance of making these things known to the inhabitants of the Earth, and I hope all yall have the same desire! One of my favorite quotes from my mission president is "If you live the Gospel, if you love the Gospel, you WILL share the Gospel."

Love yall!! Go back and listen to Conference! So many Gems in those talks!

Elder Northrup