Katelyn Elgaaen in Utica New York: June 26, 2017 An Overload of Tender Mercies!

This week almost did not happen! It went way to fast. If I could I would do it all over again (it was that full of miracles)

The first thing that we did was pick up four new investigators!! Most of them are farther away, but they all seem fairly solid. So the next new Sister to come to Hamilton with Sister Armstrong will be well on her way to committing many to draw closer to there savior and be baptized.

The Highlight of the week was Kaiden's BAPTISM!!

Sister Elgaaen, Kaiden, & Sister Armstrong at Kaiden's Baptism

He is just a child, but it was still something that I will hold as a treasure for a long time. The planning was all worth it, everything seemed to just work out better than planned, and lots of people came.

The Last amazing thing was having a potential attend Church to hear me talk! Her neighbor is our branch mission leader. His wife asked me to volunteer to give a talk on Sunday so that she would have a reason to invite Pam White. I did ask, get assigned, and She came!! We asked her about her experience, and she told us that it was like all of the talks were prepared for her :)

The talk that I volunteered to give was on "Finding Christ in Other's"

Finding can be explained in D&C 88:63, "...seek me diligently and ye shall find me..." If we truly desire to have an answer, or come to a conclusion about something, all we need to do is diligently search for it and desire it. Before we can find Christ in others, we have to find it in ourselves first. The best way to find Christ is to learn about Him and work on becoming more like Him. The main three attributes that I think of for Christ are; Faith, Hope, and Charity. Faith is a complete trust or confidence in Heavenly Father, Hope is manifested in optimism an patience towards something, and Charity never fails and is the pure love of Christ. So, after finding Christ in yourself and developing those attributes, you can look for it in others.

The first step for 'finding Christ in other's' is seeing them how Christ would see them. D&C 18:10, "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God." This poem also gives a great example on how Christ views others.

The touch of the Master's Hand

by: Myra Brooks Welch

'Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"

But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.

"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

"And many a man with life out of tune
All battered and bruised with hardship
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.

But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.

We are all not perfect, and thus battered and scared with sins (even if the scars are small and more like scratches- none of us are perfect.) With the Master, we all can be perfected and seen as of value. In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says, "...the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." To truly Find Christ in other's we must recognize there value and look inward. Elder Eyring mentioned in this past general conference, "If you walk with the savior long enough, you will learn to see everyone as a child of God with limitless potential, regardless of what his or her past may have been." If we have diligently searched, come close to the Savior ourselves- then we will easily be able to see Christ in Other's and be better able to help them see it themselves.

I hope that Everyone has a new resolve to draw closer to there Savior this week. I know that He is patiently waiting for us all to turn to Him, so that He can help us see the potential and greatness in others.

I Love serving the Lord and being privileged enough to view people like this all the time!