The Author and Finisher of our Faith

Hey, it's me again! 

I can't believe its already my last p-day in the MTC! I've had such an amazing experience these last three weeks, and I am going to miss it SO much! But at the same time, I am beyond excited that I'll actually be in Iowa this week! So yeah, lots of emotions going on right now. 

On another note, here's a quick recap of this week! 

Sunday was incredible! We had a very powerful devotional that night, that was basically a call to raise the bar for all of the missionaries we interact with. So that was super cool! Then later that evening, we went to watch another recorded devotional that Elder Holland gave a while back. It was called Open Your Mouth. Wow. So powerful. But while we were waiting for it to start, the lights were all off, but the projector wasn't working properly, so we all just started singing hymns, and it was so spiritual. It really set the tone for the entire devotional, and it made the experience that much more rich. 

I was struck this entire week by how much the Spirit is really the teacher in my lessons. I am so incompetent at teaching when I don't have the Spirit, but this week I was supported by it so much. It was simply incredible. 

Our TRC investigators got mixed up a little bit this week, so we didn't get to teach Debi anymore, which was sad. We did get to keep teaching Oleg though, and there were miracles that happened there. It would be pathetic to try to explain the experiences we had with him this week, one of those, "it could not be written" moments. But suffice it to say that we taught by power and authority from God, and not from ourselves. 

In our second to last meeting with him, I was able to ask him to be baptized in August. He teared up, and said in his thick Russian accent, that he would. I referred the Provo missionaries to him, and I hope they are able to keep him committed. I was so sad when we had to say goodbye to him. That was probably the hardest thing, emotionally, I've gone through in the MTC. 

We also had a terribly long class yesterday, that almost killed us all, called the infield orientation. Basically it just helped us apply what we've learned to actual missionary things, like members and tracting. But it took way too long. I slept so hard last night. 

Today we were able to go to the Temple for the first time here. That was so great, I'm thankful for that opportunity. Then I got my haircut, which was exciting... 

Faith is a fascinating thing. It's really not something you ever have, rather it's something to you because you hope it's true. But as so as you exercise your faith, you often receive a manifestation that it's true. When that happens, your faith changes from faith to knowledge. We have faith because we hope that Jesus is the Christ, and as we exercise our faith, we grow to know that for a fact. Christ is the author of our faith, but also its finisher. There will come a day when our faith becomes a sure knowledge. That is the day that Christ finishes our faith, and takes us as His own. I testify that as we exercise our faith in Him, and repent every day, we can become one with Christ. When the master carpenter applies the finish to my life, I hope I've let Him do His will on me. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen 

--Moroni 6:4

Sincerely, 

Elder Housholder

At the temple

The Elders 

Darrel's Chair. He's our teacher from England, but his name is actually Tom. 

Praying for Oleg (photo credit: Elder Barney)