Week 84 ....

Good morning!

Shiprock is an absolutely amazing area.. I love it here so much. If anybody asks though, say I don't like it.. Reason why, is that you typically get transferred once you start getting attached to the people! For whatever reason, that's how it goes!

This week we had an opportunity to go over to a brothers house who's water heater had broken.. He had already taken the old one out and was needing to change out some of the parts on it so it would be a propane water heater instead of a natural gas one.. I asked if I could help, then acted like I knew what I was doing and switched out some of the parts! The whole time he figured I knew what I was doing, but I had no clue.. The joys of doing the things you didn't know you knew!

Message for this past week comes from a brother who we visited who has not been to church for quite some time.. He and his wife are converts, and have had a whole life time of learning and knowledge of the Gospel restored in its fullness.. This brother has had general authorites, stake presidents, and loads of elders come by his house. They have all tried their best to persuade him to come back..

Some of the missionaries have gone in there to meet with him and said that they would like to start from the beginning with the lessons. To just start square one and move forward.. This idea sounds reasonable, but that's not what he needs! The lesson this week is about helping others build their faith.. Without going to into detail, the opposite of faith would be fear or doubt.. One of the greatest, and oft unused ways to build someones faith is to sincerely, strategically, and lovingly compliment someone.. True compliments build faith because it helps someone to have the confidence that "the path they are on is according to God's will". Given, these compliments are best given when recognizing the things they are doing that are actually a good thing!

This week has been a learning one, but I am so grateful to be out here.. I know I'm exactly where I need to be, and know there are great things coming..

Love you all

Elder Sandberg