Elder Yates: The Temple along with a Homeless Ragemonster

This week went by so fast, it was ridiculous! I am already approaching my 14 month aniversary! Holy moly artichokey well, last Monday my whole District and I went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science! That place is super bomb and we didn't even get to see all of it... So, the senior missionaries in my District have a pass there and can get us in for free! So we are going to go again today. Hahaha

Throughout the week, there were many miracles that had shown themselves and many other experiences as well...

The greatest miracle this week was that of visiting the Temple after almost 10 months of not being able to go. I love the Temple! The blessings inside are so incredible and I just absolutely love the spirit that is even just on the Temple grounds. As we drove onto those holy grounds, the Spirit was so strong! And of course, as we proceeded into the actual Temple, the Spirit just got stronger!

The funniest, wankiest, and most uncomfortable experience of the week was this last Saturday night. We had ridden the MetroRail into Midtown and had just finished a lesson. We made sure to leave with enough time to get home ON TIME. That didn't happen. Instead a flippin huge rainstorm attacked us from out of the blue! The MetroRails wouldn't go to where we needed them, so we had to wait next to the Dynamo stadium for about an hour. While we were waiting, there was this homeless man who looked harmless and was asking for any spare change. We told him we didn't have any on us, which truthfully... We didn't. Anyways, we went to talk to him for a few minutes. I got a phone call from the Zone Leaders, while Elder Gilleland and Fisher got yelled at by this guy. He kept telling about how Jesus was black, Islam is the truth, the Quran is the word of God, etc., etc... I have never used the Christlike attribute ot patience more in my life than at this moment. We had to listen to this guy for about 45 minutes yell at the top of his lungs... Ugh, 3rd ward. Haha

Back to the spiritual stuff! ;)

I have come to love and appreciate Science as I have been out here on my mission. As I have without a doubt that we did NOT evolve from monkeys, God does indeed work in mysterious ways. Yet, He still works within the laws of science.

As we walked around, we were taken from the prehistoric dinosaurs to the new-age energy exhibits. Both of them fascinated me and made me want to learn more. Which is part of the reason why we are going back! Lol, but I love being able to know the "why" behind things and how they work. Knowing this "why" helps me understand the need for it.

God has always been there for me, and has always been there for you! Now if I could pose a question to all y'all... WHY do YOU need Him there?

If we are going to strengthen our relationship with God, WHY do we even try? WHY do we continue going to church every Sunday, read our scriptures everyday, or prayer multiple times a day? WHY do you do these things?

I can tell you my why! I go to church every Sunday because I get to renew the covenants that I had made with my Heavenly Father. I read my scriptures everyday because I know that it is one way God speaks to us. And I pray multiple times a day because I know that when I pray, I feel so much better and receive so many answers because of it.

Now, why do I (Elder Yates) need God? Because of almost an infinite number of reasons. But I can name a few...

-Without Him, we would have no clue where to go in life.

-Without Him, we wouldn't have any spiritual guidance to guide us in our decisions.

-Without Him, you or I would still be intelligences without form and wouldn't even have a body.

Brothers and Sisters, I know my why. I know why I am on a mission. I know in what ways I need my Heavenly Father. So, my invitation to y'all is to pray about why do you personally need Heavenly Father in your life. I can promise in our Savior's name that as you do this, you will have the Holy Spirit testify to your hearts and mind of your why.

I love all of you! As I always will!

-Elder J.T.Yates