SLIDELL SCROLLS: CHAPTER FIVE

Slidello my friends,

I've received revelation this week- time and time again I have uttered the slogan, "Welcome to Louisiana, where the crazy just keeps getting crazier." Well, with a little dash of optimism this week, I've opted for a more.. peppy superlative... "Welcome to Louisiana, where the elect just keeps getting elect-er." I think one thing a mission teaches a man.. is to never set worldly expectations. Time and time again, God has outdone himself and left me gobsmacked at his mercy and love... I think it's about time I stop being so fixated on what the world expects.. and instead remember what God can accomplish. Our realism is God's optimism- so it's about time we start believing in His omnipotence and watch the elect exponentially evolve. Yes, my friends, we have had yet ANOTHER STELLAR WEEK- so climb aboard, cause we're going on a trip in our favorite "Slidell-ship" in the SLIDELL SCROLLS: CHAPTER FIVE.

Our experiences are elect this week. 

And the elect just keeps getting better. 

I think, as with the miracle hype of last week, in order to understand how wonderful the elect are... I think we first need to understand exactly what the elect are. 

AS DEFINED IN THE GUIDE TO THE SCRIPTURES:

Elect:  The elect is those who love God with all their hearts and live lives that are pleasing to Him. Those who live such lives of discipleship will one day be selected by the Lord to be among His chosen children.

And you know how in spelling bees, a definition is usually accompanied by an example and a latin of origin? Well, I'm pretty sure the latin of origin of the elect is EVERYWHERE because they can be found even in the spookiest alleys of New Orleans, and I have more than enough examples from this past week to demonstrate the reality of those who are prepared to receive the blessings of the Gospel.

(May we enjoy a chronological documentation of our elect 

EXAMPLE#1:

We tried visiting one of our people who lives a bit on the far side of town because we hadn't heard from her in over two weeks. She hadn't responded to our texts or followed through on her commitment to come to church.. so we were finna ready to, "throw-down." We knocked four times.. (usually the standardized expected knock is two or less- but in extraneous circumstances like these, we were prepared to take desperate measures.) and rang the doorbell twice. We even started playing some, "ghetto-ball" on her court outside, hoping her kids would hear it and come out to play... alas, we were left without a response. As we were headed back to our car, this woman hollers out us from across the street... "HEY, WHITE BOYS, I LIKE YOUR TRUCK." We ZOOMED on over, hoping to use our truck as an introduction to the Gospel.. she also had the most adorable Pomeranian.. and ya know, if it ain't a Shih Tzu, I'm all for it. Turns out, she was a Catholic who had seen missionaries around before- and many have tried but few have succeeded in converting her... She said she liked our truck though, so we'd have a leg up on the other guys. :) ANYWAYS, as we were discussing the Gospel.. our person walks OUT OF HER HOUSE having heard something going on, ten minutes after we had first knocked. We ended up sharing an incredible lesson with her... and committed her to come to church again. If we had never run into that lady with her adorable pup or had a 2018 Toyota Tacoma, we would've been on the other side of town and missed our opportunity to see our girl. I know that God sent that Catholic woman as a way to test our faith and give us results accordingly. 

EXAMPLE #2:

We received a text on our phone with a referral that said something along the lines of the following... 

"She wants to be a member of the church. She's felt a lot of darkness in her life, and after googling Mormons, thinks she can find light here. She attended a church service in Baton Rouge and basically just wants to become a member already."

Yeah. I know. THE ELECT JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER. We called her up and it turns out that she has never done anything religious before, and she searched up every religion.. but the Mormons called to her. She just wants to start over and give religion a try and thinks our church is the place to be. ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT, we met with her at the church, and she has the most amazing questions. She's willing to sacrifice her former habits and passions to become a member- and even asked for a tour of the church. While we were showing around she says, "so... um... where is the baptismal font?" And, "I've done my research.. so... I have to wait a year after my baptism to go to the temple right?" You couldn't imagine mine and Elder Spencer's faces if you tried. We were FLABBERGASTED I TELL YOU, at her election. We love her. She is awesome. And we are so excited to see her at church this coming week. God is WAY too good to us Y'all.

EXAMPLE #3:

This week we went on exchanges with the Assistants to the President. I was blessed to be companions with one of my good friends, Elder Dilldine. Just to let you know how DIVINE this exchange was... We are both obsessed with Dear Evan Hansen.. and we were both in choir.. so you can bet we were ready to take Baton Rouge by storm. We taught the first lesson to this suave gentleman in a Celtics hat and hooked him with a football/prophet analogy. We had the most spirit-filled lesson.. and after meeting him only 30 minutes prior.. we invited him to be baptized in August, and he ACCEPTED. #elect. We sang a two-part arrangement of How Great Thou Art to a Christian Rap Crew and their, "leader" tried signing me to his label for $20,000. We taught a few lessons, learned about the luxuries of Liberian living, and even had this guy DRIVE up to our car, thinking we were salesman, asking for a job, and upon finding out we were Jesus people.. told us he had been searching for truth for 22 years and committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. To top off our night, at 8:50- we learned the importance of enduring to those last ten minutes. We knocked on the door and immediately we knew this woman was prepared.. she literally beamed with the light of Christ. We were getting dripped on by her drain, so she invited us in and LOVED our message. She said it all felt familiar to her.. and we told her that it felt like we had met before. She said she had never felt the Spirit so strongly. BUT WAIT, there's more... We were having the time of our lives with this awesome woman, and upon trying to make a return appointment she says, "can Y'all come on Thursday so I can share this with all of my friends?" YES. AND-, "I actually went to culinary school for three years and love French pastry, do you think I could bake you all refreshments when you come next time?." I'm gonna leave it at that. The elect just keeps getting better.. and come with yummy snacks. :) 

FINALLY EXAMPLE #4:

We had a combined MLC (Mission Leadership Council) this past week with the Mississippi leadership, and now we as a mission feel so much better about this merge! It was very relieving... but also stressful in the way that our area was UNOCCUPIED FOR TWO DAYS. Sunday was the saving grace of this stress. We taught one of our referrals from God, read the Book of Mormon, shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her.. and by the end of it, she was excited and accepted an invitation to be baptized! Just when we thought it couldn't get better.. her husband, who had just taken the kids out for sno-balls, comes back and she says to him, "honey, they want us all to come to church," to which he replies, "I'll come. Let's bring the kids." He is SUCH a good guy. And her daughter had been nagging her for the entire week about us bringing her a Book of Mormon.. so she's basically a missionary already. And we couldn't be more excited or feel more blessed.

If that isn't an elect week, I tell you what Y'all? 

This area is incredible. A promised land of its own, and we couldn't be happier. Transfers are coming up this week, so PLEASE pray that we might have God's glasses to see his hand in all the new changes. We're lowkey just praying that with all of this work Elder Spencer and I have done... we might be able to harvest it all together next transfer- however, submission is a valuable trait.. so we'll just roll with the punches and see what comes out of next week. Thanks for all the prayer and thoughts regardless! You're all legends... I challenge you to recognize your own election and to see how God is preparing those around you and your friends to receive his Gospel. Never say no to a Pomeranian.. you never know who could come walking out of that door. ;) HAVE A BLESSED WEEK Y'ALL! ELDER BOYD LOVES YOU!

Blessed by the elect, sincerely yours-

Elder Boyd

Pictures This Week:

MLC

Zone Conference

This Week's FB Post:

Don't just count your blessings, make the blessings count.

We as a covenant people are selfish if we do not share the blessings of the Gospel with others. Here in the beautiful bayou, we use a special phrase that I think is often overlooked...

"Have a blessed one, y'all"

We are all so blessed to live in such an amazing time. And even if you don't feel them now.. for those of us who live the Gospel, blessings come.

I think there is even more responsibility as a blessed people, to share those blessings with others. May we all follow in the example of your friendly neighborhood Louisianan.. and wish a blessed one to all our brothers and sisters.

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."
--Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

#LBRMSingingSunday