It's Okay to be Clueless

Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 12:16:15 PM
Subject: It's okay to be clueless

Hey!

I loved hearing the highlights of Stake Conference from everyone. We really have the greatest stake ever. I am so grateful for President Sinclair and all he has done for us.

Laney got her mission call?!?! Ahh! That is so awesome. She will be great.

Let me know if any other friends get their calls!

This week was...weird. It was all a blur. I got so little sleep with a lot of work haha. I definitely felt the enabling power of the atonement of Christ. SO much. It amazes me.I really could not have even stayed awake this week without Him. But I did that and missionary work, so I am filled with so much gratitude.

So TRANSFERS! We got up at 4 AM and began our long 4 stop and 5 and a half hour drive to Kirtland. Driving gave me lots of time to ponder and see how beautiful Ohio is. It is so strange how much my views have changed the past 6 months. Anyways, so we finally get to transfers, with 2 minutes to spare. Then we ran in and we met the new missionaries who we would be training. My new companion's name is Elder Gorringe. He is great. He just graduated High School and is from Riverton, Utah. He has a great testimony. He really is excited to work and wants to be obedient. That's everything I could have asked for in a companion. I am excited to serve together. Oh and he is a Visa waiter too. For Rosario, Argentina.

When we got back to the Zone Leader's apartment, we started taking out Elder Gorringe's bags and realized he was missing one. The small carry on he brought that had all his journals, his letters from home, scriptures, Preach My Gospel. So we made some calls and couldn't find it anywhere. We said a prayer that night and asked that we might somehow find it. and...MIRACLES ARE REAL! His bag had fallen out of the back of the truck on the high way on our long 5 hour drive. But this kind man pulled off the side a few hours later, picked up the bag and all the belongings he could find, and called Delta to let them know he found a lost bag. Wow. That is incredible. How many people in the world would pull off to pick up a bag at the side of the highway?! Anyways, so we got it back. He lost a few things, but his scriptures and journal were okay.

The next few days were stretching for me. It was hard and I love it. That is one huge lesson I have learned is that hard things aren't meant to make us unhappy. We can be happy and do hard things at the same time! But training is harder than I expected. I really felt overwhelmed and inadequate, but I prayed with all my heart for the enabling power of the atonement to strengthen me and help me be more than I am. And wow, I saw that. We went tracting one of his first few nights here and I was so happy. I was so filled with love for every person we talked to. I felt so much help and power to be happy and optimistic. Not only in that, but it so many other things this week. I am by no means even close to perfect. But I am doing it. I am doing what the Lord called me to do. "The Lord doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." and that is so so true. He will always strengthen us to be able to do what He wants.

I am doing so well. I am focused on what is most important or at least trying my best.

Tomorrow will be the official 6 month mark of my mission. I only have 17 months left! I really thought that I would know what I am doing by this point haha. When I left the MTC, I remember thinking "Okay, in 6 months, that will be awesome. I will know what I'm doing. I will be good." Yeah...I'm still waiting for that. I don't know if I will ever know completely what I am doing . And that is okay because I am not in charge here. I may not know the perfect way to work with the wards, to knock on doors, or to teach the word of wisdom, but in the past 6 months, there are things that I have learned and am sure about:

I know that Heavenly Father really is performing His work. THIS IS IT! This is "the great and marvelous work"! These are times that have been prophesied for thousands of years. You are literally living in the times that Daniel and Isaiah and Christ himself have prophesied of! We are a part of history in the making. This IS His marvelous work. He can do great things with us, even though we are not the greatest tools, He can make us the great tools He needs. The atonement is real.

I know that Christ lives. He is such a dear friend to me. The past 6 months, I have grown closer to Him. I love Him so much. More than I could have imagined 6 months ago. He is everything to me. Being like Him is everything to me. This is ALL about Him. and it's okay that we don't always know what we are doing, because He does. and He will never ever leave us on our own. He loves us SO much. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thank you for all you do! I am so blessed to have the greatest family and friends.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Heath Tenney