Keeping Our Covenants . . .

April 27, 2015

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for the package that you sent us. It was heavily inspected, all of the eggs opened and dumped in the bottom and the card was opened as well, so I am assume that they were looking for drugs, but the protein was intact!!  Thanks so much! We loved it and it was much needed!!

Things here are going well.  We are continuing to work hard, even though we are not seeing any results!  We now have about 3 weeks of just knocking on doors all day, and no one will let us in!  It is a little bit funny because we knock or call into their house, a person will come out, and they say, "I'm catholic". I just have started responding, "Nice to meet you Catholic, I am Elder McEwan." It is funny because before even knowing what we are doing they are rejecting us!  We have been trying to do lots of service too, and they are rejecting that too!  The only person who accepted our help was someone who needed help putting a Pack'n'Play down, and the instructions were in English, so they let us help.  When we asked if they would like us to help them with anything else, because they were moving, they rejected!  It was weird...  but anyway, we just keep working! Sometimes they ignore us and pretend like they don’t see us. It doesn't get to me though.  I don't get sad, because if we get sad it makes us get disanimated, and that can lead to losing your testimony, so that is why I don't do it!!I listened to a really good talk by Elder Holland saying that this is just my chance to get a glimpse at what the Savior went through.

So this week we lost the last person we had that was progressing.  Celsi decided this week that she didn't want to meet with us any more, so we are officially to zero.  It was sad, because where she stopped was the word of wisdom, and I think that it was just because she has problems with it.  She smokes, and so I think that she just doesn't want to give that up!  It was sad, but hopefully in the future when she is able to give it up she will get baptized.

So we were talking a lot this week about the priesthood, and how much power and authority it gives us, and it was really interesting to me to see the difference between the power and the authority.  Every man who has received the priesthood has the authority, but we receive the power through keeping our covenants, especially the covenant of the priesthood that is found in doctrine and covenants.  It is like trying to use a cell phone that isn't charged.  Every person who buys a cell phone has the ability to use it, but if they don't plug it in to charge then they will never be able to use it.  We plug ourselves into the priesthood and become endowed with the power as we learn to recognize the promptings of the spirit and keep the commandments and covenants that we have made.

I love all of you.  Don't give up on the things that you are doing.  Things might get tough, there might be struggles, but that is what makes us stronger, and makes the achievement of our goals that much sweeter.

Love,

Elder Garrett McEwan