Well this week was a rough week with not to much to report on.

We spent a lot of the week in a new development called Baker Ranch. A really nice community that had about 100 new families move in in the past 2-3 months, so we decided to go door to door and offer a Book of Mormon to everyone who answered the door and wanted one, we ended up placing about 10 to the roughly 30-40 housesthat had someone answer the door, so a pretty good ratio.

Afterward we found out Last night that the Aliso Creek ward (a ward in our stake ) split and with the split took Baker Ranch (even though the stake said nothing from our ward boundary would be affected). So that is super frustrating mainly because that was our biggest hopes of new ground that no body as a missionary had been on before, so thats a bummer.

The calendar we pass around got zero sign ups for dinner or lessons so we are on our own this week ( excluding Wednesday and Thursday ). So we shall see how that goes...

In our WC meeting yesterday we talked for 20-30 minutes about how the members need to have the missionaries over in their homes once a month, what happens, no body from WC signed up to have us over in the next month with the exception of our RSP, Bishop, and WML. So again, frustrated with the work, myself, and the ward. We shall see how the coming weeks go. Dont want to complain to much though, really at all, I have no reason to so I shall move on. 

We went with the sister last night to a LA / PM family named the Ogden's. We had a fun time. The dad is a Non-Member and he and I hit it off pretty great, he loved that I love sports and we talked a little about how I handled watching sports and having to go to church on Sunday when I was home. So I told him how and he thought about it, told me that he and I are on the same page but that I needed to stay there cause I was starting to "float up a little bit." 

Conference is this week though and I am super excited as always for that!!I

t is always fun to see how the members react to the "Call to do missionary work." We are doing a missionary miracle week this week. We started with a stake fast yesterday and are ending on Sunday by having a testimony meeting sharing the miracles we had seen this week. So hopefully we have miracles to share, just have to look deep I guess. 

Challenge for this week from atonement study:

Memorize "Gethsemane" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (posted below). Contemplate the "purpose of Gethsemane" in your life. Write down something that you can do to better submit your will to Heavenly Father. Do "in the garden" scripture chain.

Quotes from 

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

BY ELDER JEFFREY R. HOLLAND

"every other principle, commandment, and virtue of the restored gospel draws its significance from this pivotal event (Garden of Gethsemane/ Atonement)."

"This infinite Atonement of Christ was possible because;

 (1) He was the only sinless man ever to live on this earth and therefore was not subject to the 

spiritual death resulting from sin, 

(2) He was the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore possessed the attributes of godhood that 

gave Him power over physical death, ⁶  and 

(3) He was apparently the only one sufficiently humble and willing in the premortal council to before

ordained to that service. ^7 "

ALSO

“In a manner to us in comprehensible and inexplicable, 

He bore the weight of the sins of the whole world; not only of Adam, but of his posterity;

and in doing that, opened the kingdom of heaven, not only to all believers and all who obeyed the law of God, but to more than one-half of the human family who die before they come to years of maturity, 

as well as to [those] who… [die] without [the] law.” ^28 "

Gethsemane

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In golden youth when seems the earth
A Summer-land of singing mirth,
When souls are glad and hearts are light,
And not a shadow lurks in sight,
We do not know it, but there lies
Somewhere veiled under evening skies
A garden which we all must see --
The garden of Gethsemane.

With joyous steps we go our ways,
Love lends a halo to our days;
Light sorrows sail like clouds afar,
We laugh and say how strong we are.
We hurry on; and hurrying, go
Close to the border-land of woe,
That waits for you, and waits for me --
For ever waits Gethsemane.

Down shadowy lanes, across strange streams,
Bridged over by our broken dreams;
Behind the misty caps of years,
Beyond the great salt fount of tears,
The garden lies. Strive as you may,
You cannot miss it in your way.
All paths that have been, or shall be,
Pass somewhere through Gethsemane.

All those who journey, soon or late,
Must pass within the garden's gate;
Must kneel alone in darkness there,
And battle with some fierce despair.
God pity those who cannot say,
Not mine but thine, who only pray,
Let this cup pass, and cannot see
The purpose in Gethsemane.

and from The Infinite Atonement...

For those few moments in the eternal spectrum called mortality the Savior yielded to the mortal plight; he submitted to the inhumanity of man; his body longed for sleep; he hungered; he felt the pains of sickness.  He was in all respects subject to every mortal failing experienced by the human family.  Not once did he raise the shield of godhood in order to soften the blows.  Not once did he don the bulletproof vest of divinity.  That he also had godly powers did not make his suffering any less excruciating, any less poignant, or any less real.  To the contrary, it is for this very reason that his suffering was more, not less, than his mortal counterparts could experience.  He took upon him infinite suffering, but chose to defend with only mortal faculties, with but one exception - his godhood was summoned to hold off unconsciousness and death that would otherwise overpower a mere mortal when he reached his threshold of pain.  For the Savior, however, there would be no such relief.  His divinity would be called upon, not to immunize him from pain, but to enlarge the receptacle that would hold it.  He simply brought a larger cup to hold the bitter drink.

Elder Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, 119

I invite you to tune into the General Broadcast of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints annual conference coming up this Sat Oct 4th and Sun Oct 5th streaming online (link attached) or on the BYU channel.  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/prepare-for?cid=HPFR100314460&lang=eng 

Anyways that is all and I will stop rambling, hope this week goes great for you, Thank you for all you do and I appreciate everything you do for me. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you!!

So, that is all for the week, not to much else to add, it had been slow one. 

With Much Love and Appreciation,

Elder Amric Sobczak

-- 

"Fourth Floor Last Door"

Elder Amric Zane Sobczak

California, Carlsbad, USA

January 2013-June 2013

California, Irvine, USA

July 2013-December 2014