TREAT YO SELF

Sometimes you just gotta treat yo self. 

This week we started off with a party.

Then we chilled at the Sky Bar. 

Then Elder Asay and I had to go our separate ways. 

It was sad.

But then we partied again at the mission home.

And reunited with some old friends. 

Then I met my new comp. Without prior communication we wore the matching ties we bought on our exchange we did together 10 months ago.

Then we partied some more at English class.

Then we saw the sunrise.

It has been a good week. My new comp Elder Allred is super fun. We talk a lot. Its going to be a fun and fast transfer.

These past couple weeks we have been working with active members a lot. We decided that we can't really do much without the help of our branch so we are trying to enlist them on to our train to salvation. We will all shovel coal into the furnace together. Its been cool to really get to know the members in our branch and hear their stories.

When we go over to members houses we usually share a lesson about the restoration and Joseph Smith. They all know it by heart already but it is always good to review and share the first vision again. I always try to make it so I'm the one who gets to recite the vision because I love doing it. We talk about the restoration and the church and then we ask the member "what blessings have you received from the restoration and the restored church?" Everyone always goes off about all the good changes that have happened in their lives since they have joined the church. New views on life, broken addictions, fixed families and marriages. So many good things come from the gospel.
Then we invite them to work with us by asking,
"Do you know of anyone else that would like to receive blessings like you?"

We have had a decent amount of success actually. We received 3 referrals in the first week we tried this. Now we are teaching a new family because of it. I know that this work is for every member. We all need to help out and care about others. As we open up and share the gospel we are inviting others to be happy.
Sharing the gospel is one huge fulfillment to the commandment
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself".

Go invite a friend to learn with the missionaries!

Love you all. Thanks for the birthday jokes!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Osborne

Hello Everybody

Sometimes you just gotta treat yo self. https://www.dropbox.com/s/w91r8hgpjquof6k/IMG_0984.JPG?dl=0

This week we started off with a party: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r6c4d6qt7vpve9u/IMG_0941.JPG?dl=0

Then we chilled at the Sky Bar: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk4mmo41ztvix8q/IMG_0951.JPG?dl=0

Then Elder Asay and I had to go our separate ways: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wgyxluvl4fptye7/IMG_0955.JPG?dl=0

It was sad https://www.dropbox.com/s/vf13uamjkyf01e8/IMG_0957.JPG?dl=0

But then we partied again at the mission home https://www.dropbox.com/s/30qdla9471sxb12/IMG_0959.JPG?dl=0

And reunited with some old friends https://www.dropbox.com/s/4tut5au9dcy97sb/IMG_0960.JPG?dl=0

Then met my new comp. Without prior communication we wore the matching ties we bought on our exchange we did together 10 months ago. https://www.dropbox.com/s/4tut5au9dcy97sb/IMG_0960.JPG?dl=0

Then we partied some more at English class https://www.dropbox.com/s/0p360pqq85fh9fw/IMG_0976.JPG?dl=0

Then we saw the sunrise https://www.dropbox.com/s/tsodzegf4r6u8vk/IMG_0980.JPG?dl=0

It has been a good week. My new comp Elder Allred is super fun. We talk a lot. Its going to be a fun and fast transfer.

These past couple weeks we have been working with active members a lot. We decided that we can't really do much without the help of our branch so we are trying to enlist them on to our train to salvation. We will all shovel coal into the furnace together. Its been cool to really get to know the members in our branch and hear their stories.

When we go over to members houses we usually share a lesson about the restoration and Joseph Smith. They all know it by heart already but it is always good to review and share the first vision again. I always try to make it so I'm the one who gets to recite the vision because I love doing it. We talk about the restoration and the church and then we ask the member "what blessings have you received from the restoration and the restored church?" Everyone always goes off about all the good changes that have happened in their lives since they have joined the church. New views on life, broken addictions, fixed families and marriages. So many good things come from the gospel. Then we invite them to work with us by asking "Do you know of anyone else that would like to receive blessings like you?"

We have had a decent amount of success actually. We received 3 referrals in the first week we tried this. Now we are teaching a new family because of it. I know that this work is for every member. We all need to help out and care about others. As we open up and share the gospel we are inviting others to be happy. Sharing the gospel is one huge fulfillment to the commandment "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself".

Go invite a friend to learn with the missionaries!

Love you all. Thanks for the birthday jokes!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Osborne

BALD

hello i cut all my hair off. it was annoying. https://www.dropbox.com/s/0jyrru6gx7pm2vn/IMG_0898.JPG?dl=0

Our AC broke. Good thing we have a trillion fans. https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cwuzoeurf3lq5r/IMG_0894.JPG?dl=0

We met a cool old guy who really didnt want to learn about Jesus at all but he really wanted to give us some coconuts. Of course we accepted. Who turns down a coconut? https://youtu.be/o6rxBserIGI

There is a rebellion happening. https://www.dropbox.com/s/993lidfbd5cdbw9/IMG_0877.JPG?dl=0

Just Kidding. It just Angelina Jolie shooting a movie about the Khmer Rouge.

This week we got to watch a big training video by some Apostles and people on the missionary committee. It was awesome. My favorite part of it was when Elder Bednar taught a lesson about the Holy Ghost to a classroom of 20 missionaries. He talked about our role in teaching people vs. the role of the Holy Ghost. As a missionary and as a teacher our role is to bring the message of the gospel "unto" the heart of the learner. We cannot force our message into anyone or force them to follow Christ. All we can do is teach them to bring it "unto" their heart and them invite them to "act" in order for them to allow the Holy Ghost to bring the gospel "into" their hearts. Pretty complicated huh.

We cannot force anyone to follow us. Gods gift of moral agency cannot be taken away. We can only teach and then invite people to test out our message. If they test it out with an honest heart then the Holy Ghost will confirm to them that the gospel is true. 

I want to tell all of you that the Book of Mormon is true. It testifies of Christ and shows us the way to follow Him. Every time I read the Book of Mormon I feel the Holy Ghost testify to me that it is true. I know it is true. I want to invite all of you to test out this teaching. Try reading the Book of Mormon and see if it is not true.

How many Bishops does it take to change a light bulb? 

Just one, but the light bulb really has to want to change.

We have been teaching some people and inviting them to act recently. One cool new investigators that we have right now is a guy named Chai. He and his son started learning 2 weeks ago. Teaching them is super weird because they live in a hotel on the 4th floor so its suuuuper quiet every time we go over. A nice change to the usual hectic lessons on the side of road next to a busy market. Chai was shy to pray the first time we met him but then the second time we went over he gave the coolest most sincere prayer ever asking to know if what we taught him was actually true. We just gave him a Book of Mormon this week so hopefully he will get his answer soon and commit to repent and be baptized. 

Life is good. We are all just trying to be perfect. But we're not. But we're trying so its all good. One day we'll get there. Keep trying.

Love,

Elder Osborne

P.S. Shout out to Grandma Juanita for emailing me! Keep it fresh Grams!

I love Cambodian bus rides

I don't have a lot of time. We are going to Phnom Penh in a couple of minutes.

So this is my video https://youtu.be/gq3XvrtR-eI

We had a couple of pairs of extra glasses laying around our house so I put them in my backpack. A lady that we visited said she couldn't see very well so I gave her a pair of glasses and they worked! https://www.dropbox.com/s/ir5s8akrbh65hg8/IMG_0852.JPG?dl=0

Go Broncos! https://www.dropbox.com/s/fqqt89aiv819t6h/IMG_0856.JPG?dl=0

We took a taxi 3 hours to Siem Reap to do some interviews. I got the best seat: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xr9pkwsfy8g2a13/IMG_0863.JPG?dl=0

This week has been really good. We've had a lot of disappointments but we are holding on to a lot of shining lights in our area at the moment.

I heard a quote in a BYU devo recently that said something like "When we focus on the good in a situation we find the energy to fix the things that are bad."

This is true! Be optimistic. You will have more energy to fix what's wrong. 

Yesterday was Chinese New Year so nobody came to church. We aren't even in China. But, our cool recent converts came so it was totally worth it! I got to pass the sacrament with a young man I taught. How cool!

I love this work. I love my mission.

Love,

Elder Osborne