Parables...

So this has been a good week! I am sorry the computers are not uploading pictures very well, but I will figure something out! This week was a tougher week, but was still really good! Elder Duca and I have been working hard to grow our area (because the work got split in two) and it's been tough, but we are starting to make some progress!

This week I have two analogies to share with y'all! :)

1. Christ's parable about the seeds: The first falls on the path and gets eaten by birds, the second falls onto rock and is burned, the third is in the weeds, gets smothered and can't grow, the fourth finds good ground and grows. Without trying to be sacreligious, I want to add one more. We were walking down this hill this week and my comp points to this cliff wall, and asks "How do those flowers grow here?" and he was right. There was literally no dirt or anything, just solid rock. But sure enough, these flowers were growing out of the wall. So, like Christ's parable, the ground is like our heart and we need to receive the gospel and grow it into the plant we want. Also, when we are surrounded by "hard" things and are not sure how to move forward, with faith and hard work we can make it. I know that the Lord is always there with us no matter where we are physically or emotionally, and with faith any of us can grow!

2. The other: a few months ago, a member told me about how he is the best jockey on the island. He told me a story about how the gun went off but his horse stayed in the shoots. He still ended up winning the race! The reason he is so good is because when the race starts, he throws the reins over the horse's head and does not use them. At first I thought "Why? You don't have control?" But he went on to explain that the horse runs more naturally when you don't use them, so he runs faster. If you pull on the reins even a little, you pull on the bit and the horse pulls up a little. The spirit is the same! Even when we think we are right and are helping or doing good, sometimes we can hold the Spirit back! We need to do everything in our lives to be worthy of his help and then get out of the way when he tries to do something, or DO what he tells us to do!

That's what I wanted to share with you all this week! :)

Love,

Elder Naylor