January 2, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

 

I"ve been on my mission for 3 calendar years!!

 

Well, I thought about styaing up for New Years, but having to still wake up at 6:30 didn't sound appealing to me. ALso, the minute I thought about staying up, I just all of a sudden felt tired. Thought back to the times in high school when I had to stay up until 2:30 to do my AP Biology homework!!

 

Well, the last week was a pretty good week. Which is typical for Christmas, most people are doing things and it's really cold, etc. We still tried to proselyte.

Yesterday it was really cold, we had plans on tracting for most of the afternoon. We got to the area to tract, couple people told us we picked the wrong day to do this, but others appreciated our zeal to still do it, even if it is still cold. We actually were able to talk with a guy, who does duck hunting and he was showing us a video when we knocked on his door about him duck hunting. He was really nice, he let us in and we talked about the Book of Mormon, he took a copy. He said to us, "I don't know why there's so many translations of the Bible, people don't all agree on one thing" Something to that effect. He told us we could come back any time, as long as his truck was here, he would be here. We'll come back later.

 

Let's see, I believe that's all I really have to write. My 18th month mark is on Sunday, so shortly after that day I will hopefully write to everyone that I have addresses to. Also, since I usually tried to tie in a scripture with my thank you letters, I'm doing a huge scavenger hunt/activity thing. All, the people who receive a thank you letter will recieve one. Not everyone who gets my e-mail personally will get a thank you letter. In addition I send this e-mail through blind carbon copy, so you won't be able to look at the e-mail addresses, HAHAHAHAHA. It's an activity that if you follow it correctly, you should be able to solve it with the cooperation of others and communication. I'm trying to teach a lesson, with this activity, so I hope you learn something from it.

Well, I'm fairly close to finishing the Book of Mormon for my 7th time on a mission. I read chapters 9-11 today of the Book of Ether. Well,. . . . . . . Personally, I find most of the book of Ether rather boring. Chapters 2-4 & 12 pretty interesting, but the others just testify to me that Secret Combinations are evil, war isn't always good, greed, pride, lusts and all that are found in this book. I guess the only interesting thing I find is the fact that this time period is from 2500-600 B.C. Since it is in that time frame, they have the records up to that point in the Bible, and so they are able to learn from Cain, and that is how secret combinations was learned. How they did it in the New World because of how Cain slew Able. I guess. Other than that I'll leave the rest to you.

 

LIke I will always do, and that is to testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. The truths in the Bible are reaafirmed in the Book of Mormon. You truly do, learn something new in it every time, (even in the Book of Ether) and it is very valuable to learn something from that Book. The Bible is a good book, but the Book of Mormon is a better one. For one can get nearer to God, by abiding by the precepts that are in the book, says Joseph Smith in the intro to the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon, it truly testifies of Jesus Christ. In whose name I bear, in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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Elder Colby Stewart Haymond
Oklahoma, Tulsa mission
Owasso, Oklahoma