As the title suggests, we made homemade ties this week. We sacrificed some old ties that we found in the other Elders' apartment for parts. The inside felt piece made it a lot easier. We basically just threw the fabric over it, ironed it into the right shape, and sewed it. Let me tell you, it took a long time on pday to do it. It was pretty intense, but the ties turned out fantastic. We've gotten so many compliments on them as well. Each of us 4 Elders in the district bought 2 yards of our own fabric and we all made 1 tie from each person's fabric. It was cool to experiment and get more skilled. I went from a mediocre job to actually sewing two pieces of fabric together to make the kind of pattern I wanted. (On the white one, I oriented the blue and purple flowers as I wanted it, so it didn't look like it was a grid of the flowers. I didn't have enough fabric to cut an entire tie diagonally, so I cut two smaller pieces and sewed them. All manufactured ties are two-pieced, but it was harder to do.) Luckily, we had Martin Luther King Jr. day, and the libraries were closed. So, we had extra time to sit around sewing and ironing.
We had a cool experience with a recent convert. A different member from New York City brought their friend from Boston to church on Sunday while they were visiting. Throughout the meetings, the new convert sat next to him and became his friend. He was awesome, and even set up an appointment for the potential investigator to come to dinner with us this week.
President Hinckley said, "Let us, every one, resolve within ourselves to arise to a new opportunity, a new sense of responsibility, a new shouldering of obligation to assist our Father in Heaven in His glorious work of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of His sons and daughters throughout the earth."
At the First Presidency broadcast this Tuesday, President Eyring said, "The growth in the number of members and their spread across nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples are visible miracles, but the greater miracle—and the one which will accelerate—is the growth in faith in Jesus Christ. This is a great time in the history of the Church. And yes, the best is still to come."
I know this is true, and that member missionary work is a powerful way to bring the joy of the Gospel more fully into our lives. We don't even have to do grand gestures, let us simply live the Gospel unashamed.
Love,
Elder Rogers
Love,
Elder Rogers
