Authority is given...power is earned.

Cow intestine tacos.  Really?!

     Hello everyone - how are all of you? This week was another great week here in Reedley! It should be interesting to see if it's my last since we we have transfers coming up and we find out where we go on Friday.  Elder Pazmino and I have been praying that we'll stay together. We are pretty much brothers! But we will go where ever the Lord wants us to go.

     This week I was on exchanges so I didn't have too much time in our area. This was the first week we didn't have any investigators at church in awhile, so that was pretty hard on us.  But we have committed ourselves to the Lord and have been following the spirit in all that we do, striving to be where the Lord wants us to be! 

     This week we had Zone conferences down in Porterville, which is about 1 hour from Reedley. We had some great training lessons.  One of my favorites was from sister Gelwix who trained on, "We teach as Christ taught".  It was so powerful to go through the New Testament and really see the way our Savior taught.  It has helped Elder Pazmino and me tremendously in our teaching.  

     We are hoping to have a baptism this Sunday with two girls that we have been teaching for the past month.  Their mother has no interest but these two girls have grown in faith each and everyday.  We are so excited for them.  The Lord has blessed us so much! 

     When I get down and pray at night, I thank the Lord just for the privilege of serving and ask Him to help remind me that this work is not about me! 

     One thing I have really learned this week is that we as missionaries are given authority as soon as we have been set apart by our Stake Presidents, but power takes time to develop. As we see in Alma chapter 17, the sons of Mosiah, prayed and fasted oft, to teach by power and authority!  We also learn in the Doctorine and Covenants that we need to let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly in order to have the power of the spirit!  "Authority is given, but power is earned." This is a principle that we can use in any calling in the church or through our daily lives.  If we want to have the spirit to be with us we must pray always.  We must be worthy in thought and action and the Lord promises that He will bless us with his spirit. 

     I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ! The priesthood keys of God have been restored to the earth! This is the true church!  Have a great week.  Love you all!

Elder Tanner Aiken