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

Let Christ Be that Friend...

I learned the powerful effects of using the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can be made clean yesterday while at a painting project. So I went to go clean the paint bin and brushes, I forgot however to notice that we were using an Oil based paint, so when the paint hit the sink (and my hands) it was there to stay. I scrubbed and soaked and clean for probably a good 30-40 minutes, making sure to not let any one see the disaster that had been done. But then, when someone came to help, another person gave the appropriate tools to clean (Goo be Gone) within minutes and following the proper process the sink was back and shining brighter than before the paint had spilled on it. The lesson: sometimes, even doing all we can to get clean is not good enough, we must ask for help, use the proper tools and proper process, and then continue working just as hard to get clean. Then we must do all we can to stay clean. Let Christ be that friend who helps you become clean and shows you the way to become "white as wool" (Isaiah 1:18)

Atonement better understood thru study and service

September 22....

Oh man what a fun and crazy week....

On Saturday we showed up to help this member family pack up their double wide and help them to get on their way to Idaho. Well, it was us and the sisters and the moms sons who is not a member or just not active??? Anyways, after we got the boxes packed, well lets just say they used really big boxes, then packed them so that they weren't full, thus when we stacked stuff on top of them, no support, and they crushed and the wall of boxes fell over! So that was fun had to re stack the stuff. My companion cannot lift anything, so it was the son and myself lifting everything for 6.5 hours which was really fun, got a good work out in. 

(this is not the real carpet -
borrowed from a carpet cleaning site! thus the date is misleading!!!)

During the move we were loading out their master bedroom, and the dad was like everything  goes except the rug, the rug stays. We were like okay sounds good, he then says "Someone died in this house 2 years before we moved in so we keep the rug there. We started laughing because we all thought it was a joke. Nope it wasn't, he said that there is a giant brown stain on the carpet and a 93 year old man died there, and then said "I will leave the rest up to your imagination", so that was crazy. They just did double sided gorilla tape on the under side of the carpet instead of replacing the carpet. SO hopefully that is not a selling mishap ... hahaha!

To answer your question mom, yes there will be "Classes" in the celestial kingdom, no one really talks about it. It will not create contention however because people will be in a place where they are most comfortable. If there is contention then that is the state that they are in (Meaning a state of Hell. This happens when you know what you did that prevented you from being with God). So the people that we should aim to be are the Exalted beings, being with God in a family unit for eternity organizing worlds. We do not create matter for that cannot be created, we simply organize the matter that is already there. Hope that makes sense.   Deep Doctrine!  This is one reason we all need to study the scriptures diligently and read Good Books for better enlightenment and understanding.  Remember;  Doctrine Understood Changes Behavior!

Fun for you parents to go to FloridaI am sure Pops will do great in his seminar class on his way to achieving an MIA designation. 

Mom I am sure you had a blast with your babygrands and children in Utah.  

Not to much else to report on. Still in the finding process, I feel like that has been my whole mission, finding people, not to much investigator teaching. I am pretty sure in my setting apart President Bartlett blessed me with the ability to be happy.... oh wait nope that is in my PB blessing telling me to avoid discouragement, that is true and I must because trust me if I didn't have that direction then this mission experience would suck because I have every right to be discouraged :(  

Anyways, there is not to much else to report on from the week, a couple of quotes I leave you with from  my atonement study:

• "The Son gained the title of Father because those that accept Him are adopted into the church of the Firstborn (Christs' church - he is the Firstborn of the Father), and thus by adoption He becomes the spiritual Father of those who accept Him." Harold B Lee 

• "The Fall of Man" CES Summer School Lecture June 23rd 1954 Same talk later quote "She (Eve) feared no evil, for she knew it not." Think about that one.

• "Sadness, heartache, and disappointment are events in life. It is not intended that they be the substance of life." Richard G Scott "The Atonement Can Secure Your Peace and Happiness" Ensign Nov. 2006

• "How we treat our family members, our neighbors, business associates, and all we meet will reveal if we have taken His name upon us and do always remember Him. How we conduct our lives, all we do and all we say, reflects on how we remember Him."   "May all who profess to be Christians, all who know and testify of Jesus, come unto Him and follow His teachings and example, being one as Heavenly Father and Jesus are one in purpose, to unite ourselves, to lift and strengthen each other, and take upon us one another's burdens as our Savior has taken our burdens upon Him..." Robert D Hales "In Remembrance of Jesus Ensign Nov. 1997

• Speaking on the sacrament "Do we see it as our passover, remembrance of our safety and deliverance and redemption...? This is the real purpose of the meeting. And everything that is said or sung or prayed in those services should be consistent with the grandeur of this sacred ordinance...the...passing of the sacrament is preceded by a hymn which all of us should sing...Sacramental hymns are more like prayers anyway - and everyone can give a voice to a prayer...Pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn't love you." Jeffrey R Holland "This Do In Remembrance if Me." Ensign Nov. 1995 (The whole talk is amazing you should just read the whole thing)

This weeks challenge from my atonement book -

"Arrive to church 10 minutes before church and contemplate the meaning of the sacrament. As you look at the sacrament table, remember that it represents the body of Christ. Imagine that you have come to a memorial service for the Savior. Sing the hymns from your heart as you unite with your brothers and sisters to honor Him. Worship, don't just attend the meeting. Reflect on how His atonement has affected you during the week. Keep your mind focused on the Savior and His atoning sacrifice as you partake of the bread and water and through the rest of the meeting."

I am inviting you and whoever else reads this to take this challenge to heart and really GO AND DO IT!  
Well I'm out. Love you all thanks for your support and prayers I am grateful.

--

"Fourth Floor Last Door"

Elder Amric Zane Sobczak

California, Carlsbad, USA

January 2013-June 2013

California, Irvine, USA

July 2013-December 2014

Missionary Work and the Atonement

A testimony of a missionary and the Atonement

Another week down, things are plugging along with only two weeks left in the transfer things are starting to fly by. We reset our baptismal date with our investigator and that was reset for June 15th. So that is really cool. Hopefully that all works out and gets together. Other than that, no groundbreaking information from the area.

This last week I had amazing study on the Atonement and how it can be applied in a temporal sense just as much as it can be in the spiritual sense. It was amazing. One of those experiences where I wasn't writing or taking notes, it was like I was in a third person experience watching myself write things down. 

It started with the Question "How can the Atonement be applied in a temporal sense?" 

• This led to the definitions of Atone and the suffix -ment. Atone: At one, in agreement. -Ment: Result of action or process (Advancement).
• The inspired definition for Atonement revealed to me "Being reconciled in agreement with the result of an action or process." 
• Dictionary: (Theo) The reconciliation of God and men thus brought about by Jesus Christ. 
• So, we are at the point where the Atonement allows us to be saved but only saved according to (In conformity with) the actions or things we did here on this life.
• Wickedness never was happiness. Corruption cannot bring about incorruption.
•  This led to reading Article of 2 which led to Article of 3 and that is where the magic happened. 
• Break it down: Through Atonement we will be saved (promise from our Heavenly Father).
• How are we saved? 
• Obedience to laws and ordinances of the Gospel. (This is why we need to make covenants. They are a result of the process of being obedient to laws and ordinances.) 

• Remember President Monson at conference? He taught - "The toughest test in this life is obedience." 

• Ordinance meaning "A custom or practice established by long usage". 
• Ordinance comes from ME ordinance which comes from (<) OFr: ordenance < MED Lat: Ordinantia < Lat: Ordinare, to ordain < ordo, ORDER.
• Ordinances provide ORDER. 

1. Think of it, every ordinance that we perform in this life is built off of each other. 
2. We cannot repent if we do not have faith. 
3. We cannot be baptized if we do not repent.
4. We cannot receive the gift of the Holy Ghost if we are not Baptized.
5.  We can not endure to the end (Priesthood, Temple, and marriage in temple) if we do not have gift of the Holy Ghost. 
6. And if we are not OBEDIENT to those ORDINANCES and LAWS we cannot be saved through the Atonement, God cannot save a man in ignorance.

Joseph Smith said "When a man works by Faith (1st Principle of the Gospel) he works by mental exertion and not by physical force." Step one connecting Faith in Jesus Christ to temporal, Mental Exertion. We must exert force in our mind to find out what we must do. This leads to reptence. In the Greek Bible "Repentance" is used as "Mettanuao" (Met-ta-new-ay-o). When you translate that back into English it means "A CHANGE of heart and mind." So there you go, Repentance is change. When we mentally exert ourselves we gain a knowledge of what we need to change in our lives to become more like Christ. What happens when we Change? We must evaluate ourselves. Thats the temporal application to the spiritual principle of Baptism.  We hold ourselves accountable by physically performing the action that we have come to the knowledge of through mental exertion and the change is solidified. To continue to mentally exert, change and hold ourselves accountable, we must be inspired (Or have the gift of the Holy Ghost) to continue to gain what we must do. When we Do that we internalize it and it becomes a part of us. We endure to the end.  "Salvation in not east we must work at it.  How can we bear testimony of the atonement if we have never known anything of it." - Holland  We come to a knowledge of everything we need to do to stay worthy in the site of God(Priesthood, Temple, Temple Marriage). THE GOSPEL IS PERFECT. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6FKiNVbw3Y  missionaries and investigators have to pay a token of that price to know the atonement.

Pants before I tailored them

I don't know how much sense this made but to me through the Spirit it made absolute sense. This Gospel can be applied in Business,  School, work, family.  If this Gospel wasn't perfect in every aspect that would make Heavenly Father not perfect which would make him cease to be God. Its all there.

Pants after I tailored them!

Okay, so that is it for now. We had Zone Conference yesterday Got to see Elder Armstrong so that was good. President Cook told him that "I was more impressive than Elder Armstrong when he was out this long."  thats nice to hear!

Sheets bite the dust

The work is going great. I have to end this shortly because like always my companion is super strict on the 1/2 hour rule and I wont have time to email president if I dont hurry.

Sheets I mended with my sweat shirts

I love you all so much.  I havent figured out what we are doing on Sunday (Mother's Day - I can call Home) yet so just be signed into Skype/Facetime all day. My companion has been lazy and hasnt put any effort into figuring anything out for us, since he is going home 10 days after Mothers Day :)  Wish we could all go for Pizza!!! 

Anyways,

Pizza is perfect!

Love you all so much. hope everything is going great and that all is well. 

keep it classy and true to the faith. 

Love you so much :)

"Fourth Floor Last Door"

"That's What's Up"

Elder Amric Zane Sobczak

California, Carlsbad, USA

January 2013-January 2015