Brock - February 6

This week was remarkably similar to last week, except without the nice little "miracles" of last week. We swung by the girl´s house probably thirty to thirty-five times or more this week, and they didn´t answer the door once. We actually caught them outside like twice, but they ran inside both times. So we scratched her off the list. And the young man who showed up? Well, he wants to be a missionary--in his church. So it was, once again, a lot of knocking doors and a lot of zeros at the end of every day. So up until now we´ve just got this lady that Elder J has been working with for three transfers now (because they have to be married) for this week. And she isn´t really stopping smoking. But anyway, we´re still going at it. Knocking doors. It´s been pretty hot and then pretty rainy like every day this week. You never know what to expect. We´ve been having a lot of fun though. Elder J has seen a lot of the movies that I have, so whenever no one is in the street to talk to and no one comes to the door we´ll start quoting stuff. Like Goofy Movie and Secondhand Lions. So we´ve been able to keep our spirits up.  So as Dad observed, we will have a transfer next week. I am usually not very good at guessing these things, but if I had to, I would say that Elder J and I stay together for one more, then he leaves and I maybe train for one, and then I move on to my last area for the last two transfers. Like I said, I´m terrible at guessing, but this doesn´t seem too outlandish. What is outlandish is how fast this transfer has gone by, and how I only have four more transfers after this. SO CRAZY! Time moves so fast!  So anyway, I´ve been trying to do a "speed-read" of the Book of Mormon, like what Mom told that the stake basically asked at the end of last year. She said she really saw some things differently by doing it. I first did a speed-read of the Book of Mormon at the CTM. Actually, that was the first time I read the Book of Mormon in its entirety alone. I did it in about a week, and the comprehension I gained from that week has lasted with me the whole mission. On Sunday I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I don´t know if you guys remember this day, but I do. Dad came home early from work that day, saying that he´d had an "epiphany". I asked him what that meant, and he told me that it was like, a sudden understanding of something. I replied (I remember clearly, we were outside on the driveway), "Oh, I think I had one of those." The night before (this was way back when we shared a room, Parker, Jack and I), I was almost asleep when a thought occurred to me. I didn´t know if the Book of Mormon was true. I had to have been eleven or twelve, already baptized and possibly already had the priesthood. I´d been a member all my life and didn´t know. It was a very strange thought to have just come to me; it was a Thursdaynight, I hadn´t studied at all recently, nor was there any apparent reason. Nor did I ponder about how my question might be answered. I didn´t think of Joseph, reading James 1:5, or Moroni 10:3-5, or any other scripture. Without a moment´s hesitation--without even leaving the bed, honestly--I prayed.  The immediate, and overwhelming sensation that I have come to recognize as the Spirit filled me, and I began to cry silently. I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the events of that book had actually taken place! Only years later here in the mission field do I see the true miracle. This entire thing that had happened to me is described in the introduction to the Book of Mormon. "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost." I had no idea I was fulfilling the requisites for revelation. I was guided by the Spirit and came to a knowledge by seeking in prayer. I remember that night and the following day, and will remember, forever. I sincerely hope that all of you have come to this knowledge already, and if you have, that you share it often. I love you guys. Have a great week.  Elder Blaylock

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