Meeting Elder David A. Bednard...

Dear Family,

    So on Tuesday Elder David A. Bednard came to our MTC and spoke to all 18 of us elders. It was open forum so we asked whatever questions we wanted too. I wrote in my journal almost everything that I can recall of the whole situation and remember what questions were asked and who said them. Before he came, the leaders told us to prepare for him and so I did my fasting. I fasted for 24 hours before he came. I fasted to be prepared. I was the only person who fasted. Our district talked about it but they all backed out I guess. But I wanted to make it something very special to me.

    At the end he invoked a blessing on us. Elder Bednard said "I invoke a blessing on you that you will learn to be agents now in our lives and throughout eternity. He described what it meant to be acting as an agent. What he meant by agents is for example when Peter the Apostle saw Jesus walking on water, he didn't sit and analyze if he could do it rather he acted as an agent and jumped out of the boat and tried to walk on water. When Nephi was tied up against a tree by his wicked brothers he said he think Nephi didn't just say give me strength and broke the bonds of the rope and poof and it was broken. But no he acted for himself as an agent and asked for strength more strength if he have not prayed. But Elder Bednard thinks Nephi really had to struggle and wrestle with the rope to get out of it and break free.

    We watched a video Devotional in 2009 on Sunday 2 days before Elder Bednard came where he talked about this a little more in the Devotional at the Provo, MTC in 2009 he said "I have been getting a lot of questions concerning how do I know if it is of the spirit or if it is just me. He said" I'm going to give you an answer that might surprise you. STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT! If you're a good boy, honoring your covenants, keeping the commandments and pressing forward! Then everything is of the spirit. He said the worse thing you can do is sit down and analyze. We have to learn to be agents and do what Nephi did in 1st Nephi 3 which was "I will go and do." He then gave an experience where he skipped a stake conference meeting with a father he saw in the congregation to watch their boys play in the championship basketball game in this tournament right before stake conference started. The father was thrilled to go watch his son! Elder Bednard still didn't know if he did was right and his wife said "David you would do anything to go see a ball game." And he never was sure what he did was right till 6 months later when the father's son died and the father told him the tragic accident of his son and said at the hospital to President Bednard was "thank you for letting me experience my son's basketball game because I would of never other wise would have seen him in a game like that. He gave another story as acting as an agent with Elder Packer. That was a really good one too but that story is little bit too long for me to type. Anyways the best part of the whole meeting was at the end when we could shake his hand. When I was shaking his hand. I quickly asked him 3 questions that I really wanted to know because I never got called on when I was raising my hand because I wasn't fast enough. It was about 30 seconds all these questions were asked and answered.

But I asked Elder Bednard " Can I bear that Jesus is the Christ as strongly as you can?" ( I asked that cause when he stepped in the room. I didn't even know he walked in till I felt something telling me to look up. He has very spiritual presence.) He replied "You don't have to be an apostle to do what I do. You can. Then I asked "Did you know that you would be an apostle? Or were you just surprised? He replied "No man could have known this. And I was [surprised]. Then lastly I asked how does it feel to be a special witness of Jesus Christ? He replied "It feels awesome!" When he said that he was smiling from ear to ear. If felt the spirit so strongly. That was the most important question I felt I had to ask him and it was a few words but to me through the spirit he could not have said anymore.

    I really badly want to share a devotional I watched 2 Sundays ago that Jeffrey R. Holland said but I am out of time. It makes me wanna cry just thinking about what Jeffrey R. Holland said about Jesus and the apostle Peter it is deeply touching but I will share with you next time if I remember.

Yo se que Dios nos ama y queramos vivir con Él

Yo se que actuando un agente podemos ser guia por Su mano

Yo amo mi Salvador y Su sacrifica para mi

Estoy agracedo que puedo pedir por el ama puro de Cristo y Él respuestaré mi deseo

Elder Cudd

P.S. I'm reading Jesus The Christ by the way. I'm glued to that book