July 20, 2020

Pictures from Elder Trezise's hike in the Tetons:

Here is Elder Trezise's email for this week:

Hey family! 

Sorry this email is super late. I spend an hour driving out to go hike, 3 and a half hours hiking up tablerock mountain, then 2 and a half hiking back down. So its been a long day. A great one, but a long one.

This week was a blast, and we got a ton done. We are so close to finding a new person to teach, and are working hard to make it happen. We have a good amount of work going on in the area, and are trying our best to keep things moving forward. It's just a little hard right now.

I've been thinking a lot this week about following the promptings that we receive. Sorry if this email is a little rushed, I'm running out of time. But as I pondered on the topic, I was reminded of a funny story I heard in a talk. In the story, the speaker talks about a man from Burbank California. The man was a big burly guy, smoked a big cigar, and had some rough language. He wasn't a member of the church, though the rest of his family was. Missionaries had tried and failed in the past, and the rumor went around over time that "you don't bug brother so and so about joining the church." Well, nobody did, for 20 years. Eventually a new young couple moved into the ward, who had not received the news not to bug him about joining. Soon a father's and sons outing took place, and as the sons were roaming around having fun, the fathers were sitting and talking by the fire. The man pulled out a cigar and went to light it. The young new member of the ward stood up quickly, shouting, 

"What are you doing? I thought you were a member of the church!" 

The man responded, 

"No I'm not a member! I'm smoking a cigar, can't you see that?!" 

The new member responded, 

"Yeah I see that, but I've seen you at church the last few weeks, and seen you at functions like this. You obviously know the church is true don't you? So why haven't you joined the church? Will you join the church?" 

The man responded, 

"Nobody ever asked me that before. I'll tell you what though. I've got a quarter in my pocket. I'll flip that quarter. If it comes up tails I'll join your church, if its heads I won't. What do you think about that?" 

The new member replied, 

"I haven't got anything to lose, flip your quarter."

So the man flipped the quarter into the sky and it landed on his hand. It came up heads. This man, in his own words, said,

"As I sat there staring at the quarter on my hand; for the first time, after 20 something years of semi-activity life in the mormon church, I heard the voice of the Spirit. And the Spirit spoke to me as audibly as if it were standing next to me. And the Spirit said, "Cheat." 

He looked up and said, 

"It's tails, I guess I'll have to join your church."

He was baptized shortly afterwards and became one of the great rocks of the Burbank ward.

Now I'm not suggesting that the Spirit is often going to tell you to cheat. But what I am saying is that in a very real sense the Spirit is speaking to us every moment of every day, and if we are to hear it, we need to maintain some sort of condition. A spiritual condition. If you were preparing for a marathon you would run every day, building up to run great distances. If you want to prepare to meet God you need to maintain a condition of prayer, scripture study, and spiritual experiences. If you can create that condition and continue to work towards it, I promise that you will be able to recognize the spiritual promptings you receive, and follow the guidance that the Lord is giving you. Because the Spirit wants to bless you. Wants to help you. And is prompting you in EVERY decision that you make. Can you feel it? If not, what do you need to change in order to feel it?

I love each of you, and promise you that our Heavenly Father loves each of you. He wants you to be happy and will help you in whatever ways He can. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

-Elder Trezise