From: Braydon Carter <braydon.carter@missionary.org>
Date: Sun, Jun 9, 2019 at 11:06 PM
Subject: Don't throw a dead cat on the table
Hello Friends and Family.
I have to be completely honest in saying my subject line is a phrase that I didn't hear until my mission. I don't know if any of you know what it means either. But really simple it means don't come to a discussion or a talk about a problem unless you have given some thought to it.
I had first heard this in a Zone Conference and I was just really confused, but through out this week I was able to learn more and more about what it mean't. Here is what I learned this week.
The first thing that I learned is that God is great all the time. And all the times God is good. He wants to bless and love us. In fact His blessings and love are all around us. For me I saw them in the sky as I was riding to go teach a family! So what does this have to do with a dead cat? I'll explain that as well.
So something we do as missionaries a lot is evaluate. We do it everyday with our companions. We talk about what are things we need to focus on. What have we been doing good? How can we be doing better. For Elder Tauteoli and I we have these talks all the time, but it's often over a meal, or a nice treat. This week it was coconut shakes.
As we sit with each other we just get into these deep conversations on what we can do to be better for the Lord. It always turns out to be very spiritual. But as we talk and share Elder Tauteoli always quotes one of the church leaders and says " Therefore what?" We can sit all day long and talk about how we should do this that and the other, but in the end it comes back to why you are doing it and what your plan is.
I really took that principle to life this week. It made me think, man I have all these ideas, and as I do I kind of get lost in what I should do. I know a lot of the time I will fall to my knees and pray and ask God, I'll tell Him that I've been giving it my all, or that I really want to have a good future, then I often end with the question, " what do you want me to do?" Then I reflect for a couple of days, and sometimes just get more stressed that I haven't gotten a distinct answer. But then it hit me. Just like Elder Tauteoli would bring up in our studies, I thing God would also ask us the same question He asked the brother of Jared. " Therefore what?"
God loves us so much and He has given us all agency to do what we want. Now obviously He asks us to be obedient and to follow Him. But He has given us a blank sheet of paper with one of those like 104 boxes of crayons. It up to us on how we draw the picture. We can ask Him what He thinks, and ask Him to help us with inspiration on what to draw next. But He has given us the crayons.
So that lead me to think? What do I want to draw? What plans do I have to bring to God? How can I get His advice and guidance in my life. Well easy. Figure out what you want, and bring it to God. Just like the brother of Jared did. God will bless us as we do. His love and blessing are all around us, how do we want to use them.
I love you all so so much! I love the work so much! I hope you all have a good week.
Love,
Elder Carter
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