Mission Accomplished!

The Final Weekly

Well I guess this is it. 

What a ride it has been, high highs, and the lowest of the lows, and just about everywhere in between. My mission has had it all, and how grateful I am for it. 

In thinking about what I wanted to say for this final email, I had a whole lot of good ideas run through my head this week, but now that I'm here, it seems I've forgotten them all. That's more of a bummer for you than it is for me. It's hard to sum up what seems to be 10 years of life experience crammed into 2, but I'll do my best haha. 

First and foremost I know that God is real. It's hard to know if there's a God without having experiences with God. Over the course of these 2 years I've tried to consistently put myself in a place to have experiences with God. I know that he is there, that he loves us, and that any percieved lack of communication between Him and us, us not because He isn't there, or doesn't care........... It always takes initiative on our end, and when we act and ask, he will answer.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. What an incredible concept, the God of the universe cares about us so much, that he wants us to return to him! Bound as he is by laws of justice, he initiated a plan on our behalf, to be able to extend mercy. That plan involved an individual perfect and guiltless, a lamb without spot. How grateful I am, that not only was God willing to sacrifice his Son, but the Son was willing to be that infinite and eternal sacrifice. 

The Gospel, and Church of Jesus Christ have been restored in these latter days. Joseph Smith did what he said he did and saw what he said he saw. He truly was a prophet of God and the instrument by which God has initiated this last, and final dispensation. The Book of Mormon is true, not a fantastic work of fiction, but scripture, given by God to his prophets, kept and preserved for us in these latter days.

These are 3 of the most basic principles of the Gospel, but over the course of my mission, and thanks to it, they have become the foundation of my testimony, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Before my mission my testimony was there, but barely alive if anything. Reading the scriptures was a chore, and praying (when I remembered) was a halfhearted "help me sleep well tonight". And while I'm not perfect, and still (sometimes) fall asleep while reading the scriptures, the Gospel has come alive to me, it's taken on a whole new meaning, and I love it. 

Overall I've loved my mission, it's been tough, but anything that's worth doing usually is. I'm thankfull to all the people who I met that have changed my life, and I hope I was in some way, able to help change others lives for the good. 

Thanks for all the love and support these last 2 years. Love you all!

Elder McArthur

After All We Can Do

This week was good, long, hot,  sweaty, the usual. Not a lot happened noteworthy or mentionable so I'm just going to tell Y'all something I learned in my studies this week. 

2 Nephi 25:23 "....for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

A scripture that is often misinterpreted by those not of our faith, particularly those who are antagonistic to the church. But it can even be misunderstood by members of the church. 

If you'll recall in Alma 21-26ish Aaron preaches to King Lamoni's father and converts a ton of Lamanites and they become the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. The rest of the Lamanites are pretty chapped at their brethren and get the idea to come down and just kill them all. 

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies were about to take up arms in defence, when the king said these words. 

Alma 24: 11,15

Note the bold letters....

"11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been ALL THAT WE COULD DO (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, FOR IT WAS ALL WE COULD DO TO REPENT sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain,

15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as AS MUCH AS MUCH AS WE COULD DO TO GET OUR STAINS TAKEN AWAY FROM US and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day.........."

So now the question becomes? What is all we can do? What do we HAVE to do?

I think the point I'm trying to make, and the example used, speaks for itself.

Brothers and Sisters, ALL we CAN do is turn to Christ, all we HAVE to do is turn towards Christ, to repent and let Him make us whole again. 

Also on a side note, we went to a Non-denominational church on Sunday and it was wild hahah. Rock concert for the first 30 minutes, it was lit.

Love you all! Thank you all for the support and love given to me these last 2 years, it's been an incredible journey. 

Elder McArthur 

Two Weeks Left!

Welp T- minus 2 weeks 😰

This week was great, Tuesday we met with our stake president, to discuss the work in the stake and the people were all working with. Wednesday we had a fun exchange with the Mandarin Elders, they came to our area and I went with Elder Hou, from Taiwan, he's a riot Haha.

Thursday was Zone Conference, and it was sweet! We talked about the Book of Mormon, and how it is THE TOOL to help us gather scattered Israel. "In fact" says President Nelson, "the promised gathering would not occur, without the Book of Mormon" I paraphrased that a little, but you get the idea. It was awesome, we also talked about the joy of repentance and the gift that it is. 

Friday was sweet, the youth in our stake had youth conference at our church building all weekend and we were asked to participate all day Friday. So we hung out with all the youth and played ball and missionary jeapordy and all kinds of fun stuff, it was super sweet. 

Saturday was the best for sure. We helped a member move in the morning, and then that afternoon we drove down to Virginia Beach! Elder Smith had a baptism in his last area and the man being baptized asked Elder Smith to baptize him so we got permission to go to it and rode down with our favorite man Rondawg. After the baptism we stopped by the beach for a hot second to see the Atlantic and take a quick pic. 

Alma 12:34 "Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest" 

Elder McArthur 

Transfers

Hey y'all, this week was sweet, it also happened to be the hottest week on record in a while, with temps above 100 and humidity to match, surprised I didn't melt.......

Tuesday was uneventful, but extremely hot.....

Wednesday- Transfers!!!!!! We received a 3rd companion, trio life 😎

His name is Elder Smith and he's from Logan Utah, he's been out for about a year and just recently came from Virginia Beach! Innsbrook is a far cry from the beach but he says its alright.

Thursday was uneventful, a day full of planning,

Friday was MLC, and it was a very critical MLC, but awesome.

Since the Richmond mission absorbed the Chesapeake Mission we met after transfer meeting with all the new leadership and discussed how were gonna merge the missions. We had an awesome discussion on culture, blending of cultures, rules, vision and everything that comes along with it. President Droubay is handling it like a champ, seeing that prior to this call he did this professionally for the church. We also found out this week that President Droubay was in charge of filming The District. The cringy missionary training videos we all watch in the MTC and when were bored during dinner haha. 

Trio life is the good life haha.

Thought for the week: Mosiah 26:24-27, 

 24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they KNOW ME they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand.

25 And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that NEVER knew me come forth and shall stand before me.

26 And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed.

27 And then I will confess unto them that I never KNEW THEM; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels

We need to know HIM. Make the effort to KNOW HIM, its worth it. The next verses go on to talk about repentance and all who repent in sincerity are forgiven.

Love you all, Elder McArthur 

Saw Elder Newby at transfers! 

Time Is Speeding Up!

Hey yall, another week has come and gone, time is speeding up.

This was a great week, we found 2 new people to teach, which for us, is a big deal. 

Ron (mid 50s) was a referral from some visitor center sisters. He has had some family struggles recently and is just wanting a change of pace in his life. We hadn't met him so we went over to his place to just knock. He let us right in and we just started chatting, super cool guy. We have only taught him a few points of a couple lessons but were going back this week for a return appointment. It's still too early to say if he'll go anywhere but hey, I'm just excited we have someone to teach haha. Also he rides dirt bikes so we talked about that for a while. 

And Rick was found by Elder Berger on exchanges, he is an ex-RLDS member. We have a return appointment for tomorrow so that should be interesting......

The rest of the week was good, we had exchanges with both sets of  Spanish Elders, so I ate some bomb food. Also on Friday my homie from Meadowbrook, Mario, who is actually in the Cheaterfield Spanish ward, was baptized so I was able to go back for that. 

This week I read 2 Nephi through Words of Mormon, and the thing that sticks out to me more than anything else is the simplicity of the Gospel. Keep the commandments and prosper and be blessed. Not keeping the commandments doesn't necessarily mean that God will send trials or punishments or whatever. But it does mean that you are spiritually damned, meaning you won't progress. How long can flowing water remain impure? If we keep the commandments we continually progress and will keep moving forward. 

Love you all

Elder McArthur

President and Sister Droubay

Hey yall, what a week it has been. I'm pretty sure I said that last week, but oh well. 

Tuesday we had our meet and greet with President and Sister Droubay, and they're awesome!

Turns out President Droubay is a pretty big deal. He has worked for the missionary department his whole life (Elder Hinckley anyone??) ever since he returned home from his mission. He was in charge of the #LighttheWorld campaigns and most recently he was the managing director of temple visitors center operations and construction. So he oversaw the building of the Rome Italy temple and open house, he was there when the first presidency and 12 took that sweet photo in all white. Last but not least he was 1 of the 4 man team that basically wrote Preach My Gospel. He lived and worked at the MTC for 3 months and had daily meetings with members of the 12 and first presidency as he and his team composed the manual. Whata Legend. 

The rest of this week was great as well. Exchanges with Louisa on the 4th of July, and exchanges with the Mandarin Elders. IDK how Jake does it, that is not a real language haha. But those were great. 

MLC on Friday was fantastic as we met with the missionaries from the Chesapeake mission for the first time. And discussed with them and president what its gonna take merging our mission with whats left of theirs. 

1 Nephi 1:20 "I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

Goodbye Pres. and Sis Smith

Hey Y'all, what a week it has been........

President Smith went home this week, sad day..... Ironically, Sister Smith was wearing the EXACT SAME outfit in the first photo I ever took with them, and the last photo I took with them haha. Our last meeting with them was super fun, President and Sister Smith bore their testimonies and we had some fun skits making fun of them and the mission culture and each other, everyone had a good laugh. It was sad to say goodbye though, they've somehow were able to build a personal relationship with me despite having 100+ missionaries to care for. I love those guys. 

Saturday I went back to Meadowbrook for a baptism! Chris Pugh, a guy Elder Jones and found and taught like 10 months ago, he had a baptismal date, but he moved like 2 weeks before his baptism. But, he moved back to Richmond not too long ago and the missionaries picked him back up. Anyway i was able to go to his baptism and it was awesome! To see the seeds we plant finally come to fruition. 

I ended up meeting President Droubay at the baptism, which was cool. It was a different experience, he looked clueless haha, he introduced himself to me twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of the baptism, he's got a lot to think about so I can't blame him. 

This week we had some good exchanges, some good wrestling matches, and some good food. Also Saturday was the most sweaty I think I've ever been, we biked all day and it was HOT and exceedingly humid. 

D&C 58:2-4

          For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand."