Silverdale: "God is in Charge"

Dear Family,

Happy Fall! I cannot believe it is upon us. The leaves up in Washington gently fade from green to evergreen... ha, ha no we really do get some color change, but not much. This week went super fast. I can't even remember all that happened.

I have started a new study this week on the life of Jesus Christ. I was looking through the "Harmony of the Gospels" in the Bible Dictionary (in the new edition of the scriptures it is found on its own in the back). And so I am reading the 4 Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, along with Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. I have yet to fully get through that giant text. I am actually really excited about it, I have felt like I need to learn more about my Savior, and I feel like this will help. I am looking forward more to each personal study now. I do it after reading something from Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon.

We had Stake Conference this weekend which was great. Brother Green, our Ward Mission Leader spoke Saturday night and shared all of these cool stories of missionary work and the Book of Mormon. On Sunday our stake president, President Gillespie, who is the head engineer at the shipyard, gave a great talk. He started by talking about how he came to be an engineer (piqued my interest) and how everything has an order and how things happen in a certain way of cause and effect. He related it to the gospel by explaining how "God is in charge" and there are "coincidences" in our lives when paths cross with a friend who changes our life or we change theirs. "If we are faithful," he said, "we will recognize miracles." It is true and I have seen many miracles on my mission, which I think about often. One night this week before I went to bed, as I was starting my prayer, my mind started to remember all of the powerful spiritual experiences I have had in my life. All of them have a direct tie to my decision to serve a mission. It is life-changing, as it affected me before my mission, during, and the time that will be after I return home. Truly, God is in charge and He has a plan for each of His children.

Sisters, Elders at a baptismal service

So many people we have met this week are struggling. Elder Mosbrucker and I keep noticing the different challenges people go through. Even people who are already struggling, they keep having more put on them. I don't have time to tell all the stories, but there has been family emergencies, hospital trips, and even deaths. An example is after we had a good visit with Ginger and her family this week, they texted us this morning to say that a family member passed away yesterday of a sudden heart attack. Of course we can all keep them in our prayers. It is hard to answer when people ask us why these things happen, but perhaps it is the same statement, "God is in charge." Elder Mosbrucker's favorite scripture is Mosiah 4:11, which teaches us to remember the goodness of God, those of us who "have tasted of his love." And that we must "humble [ourselves] even in the depths of humility." Even when we are struggling, when we feel humbled, that's when we need to humble ourselves and stand sure in the faith of the great promises God has in store. I love the people here and want to help them understand God's plan.

This week we are excited to be able to go again to "Zion's Camp" which is in Belfair. Our mission got to go there last summer, it was really fun and beautiful. We'll be there this Friday. I'll tell you more about it next week. Keep up the good work family! I love you,

Elder Webber

Scripture: Matthew 16:15-19 (Peter promised the sealing keys)