To be honest this week (41) has probably been the worst week I've had as a missionary. 

The abdominal pain continues. The ultrasound didn't show any problems. They're going to have me meet with the GI soon.

Some people who we've been teaching, and were going to get baptized next week, fell of the deep end in a super-massive fiery ball that was visible from space. Long story short: They both got drunk (and maybe high), got in a fight, and hit each other with a baseball bat and broken beer bottles. One is in jail and the other is moving to Washington state. Isn't that just delightful?

I was feeling kinda down and discouraged after that happened but this morning I felt impressed to read Helamen chapters 4-5. In there it has this scripture:

11 "Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them..."

This gave me comfort, because it stated that what happened is not my fault at all. The super sad thing happened because of their unrighteous decisions. 

Let us all learn to destroy the guilt the "I could have done better" thoughts about friends and family who have taken wrong paths. We cannot change the past and people have their agency. All that we can do is change the future. What will you do to make things better? What you do to help them? 

I testify that God loves each and every one of us. I testify that everyone has their ability to chose (no matter how annoying it is sometimes.) 

Something that helped me a lot with what happened was a talk given by Cheryl on Sunday. My entire mission is worth it because of her. She is a light and an example to all of us about conversion and prayer. 

Thank you all for all that you do. Thank you for supporting me! 

oh yeah... HAPPY FREAKING LATE BIRTHDAY MOM AND MARIA! :D I hope you don't get sick!

Honoring God

Elder Decker  

WEEK 40!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO yeah. :)
This past week has been rather eventful.
First off, the Doctor thinks that it's a gallbladder thing after all.
He said "There are two ways to test and see if it's gallbladder. One,
you can avoid fatty foods and see if you start to feel better, or,
two, you can gorge yourself and see if you feel worse." I tried the
second one. It's a gallbladder thing. If you're having gallbladder
problems, don't eat ice cream or drink milk. That's the worst.
ALSO, if you're having gallbladder problems and a recent convert tells
you to chug a bottle of Coke and burp it out, DON'T DO IT. I sent her
a text that said "I hope you know how much pain I'm in right now." I
hate the taste of coke anyway. That was not fun.
BUT, this week was pretty good. quite fantastic actually. We had a
Zone Conference, some sweet lessons, and a cool opportunity to give a
blessing. One of our investigators is having trouble forgiving herself
and feels really bad for some things that she's done. We offered her a
blessing and she accepted. The Spirit in the room was SO strong. I was
giving the blessing and I knew what it was that Heavenly Father wanted
her to hear. This is my favorite part about being a missionary. I love
feeling that God is using me to bless others.
This is a sweet scripture that was shown to me this past week.
Doctrine and Covenants 35:8,13
“For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show
miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my
name.Wherefore, I call upon the weak things of the world, those who
are unlearned and despised, to THRASH the nations by the power of the
Spirit.”
I know that there are miracles in these times. I know that if you will
have faith and will act, miracles will be shown unto you and you will
know it. You just, simply, need faith.
I heard this quote this past week. "God uses the unlikely to
accomplish the impossible." HOW TRUE IS THAT? Heavenly Father used
David against Goliath. He called Samuel as the prophet. Christ called
fisherman to be his Apostles. Joseph Smith, a 14 year old kid with a
3rd grade education, grew up on a little farm in New York in the
1800's was called to Restore Christ's Church on the Earth.
God uses the humble to accomplish his purposes. Are you humble enough
for God to work through you to fulfill his purposes? If you're not,
fix yourself.
I know that if we humble ourselves and give everything to God we will
be blessed with the opportunity to do amazing things.
Honoring God
Elder Decker

So this past week (week 39) has been pretty good. On Thursday I woke
up sick and I've been sick since. The Mission Doctor isn't sure what
it is. I've got an appointment with him tonight to try to figure it
out. It might be a gall bladder thing... Now that Mom said that she
got her's taken out 3 years ago... That'll be fun :D (lies.)
Friday, while I was feeling sick, I though that I had lost my wallet
the day before at Walmart when I went to get some tums and prylosec
the night before. So we went over to Walmart to see if they had it.
They did not have it, but we DID talk to some nice people. Then we
proceeded to go home, where I found my wallet. Heavenly Father wants
us in specific places and times for reasons that we don't know.
If you're having a hard time, you might need to be there so that you
can help somebody else who might be in the future. Do not lose hope,
because Christ will always be there to help you through everything if
you let him.
Honoring God
Elder Decker

Happy another week (number 38!) This week has been fantastic and super
hard at the same time! (funny how that works.)
We've found some new people that are SO ready to hear the gospel it's
incredible.
We've clearly been blessed for our faithful service, diligence, and
obedience. We're ALWAYS busy.
My birthday was last Wednesday and it was AWESOME! :D But it didn't
start out very well. We both woke up feeling pretty sick then we had a
district meeting that made me angry... don't worry about it, I'm
working on love for some people :)
BUT AFTER district meeting we decided to go to Jamba Juice for a
treat. When we got there somebody paid for us! :) Then we started
talking with them over some Jamba and it came out that it was my
birthday! So they invited us to go to Costa Vida with them at no
charge to us! We would have had a dinner that night, but the dinner
canceled and gave us 40 bucks for food instead. SO we got a dinner, 40
bucks, free Jamba, and it doesn't stop there.
We taught a man who hasn't been coming to church and he told us that a
big reason that he hasn't come is that he feels guilty for smoking. SO
we committed him (he committed himself, really) to stop smoking cold
turkey. He gave us all his cigarettes, patches, lighters, EVERYTHING.
Then we gave him a blessing. When that was over he was crying and felt
the Spirit more than he had felt it for a long time. HE WAS PUMPED to
stop smoking.
THEN we had a lesson with the Spanish couple that I talked about last
week and they want to get baptized June 7th.
It was the best day ever. And now I'm old enough to go on a mission! wait...
I want to talk a bit about sacrifice. Since Adam, mankind has been
burning sacrifices under the Mosaic Law. Then Christ came and
completed the Mosaic Law by being the true sacrifice for our sins.
So... are we still supposed to sacrifice things?
YES, but not animals on an alter. We now are meant to sacrifice our
sins. There is nothing worth inhibiting our relationship with God and
if we know the commandments, we need to sacrifice our sins so that we
can truly follow Jesus Christ like he invites us to do. Christ never
said "Think about me a lot and keep doing what you're doing." Christ
said "Follow me", "Take my yoke upon you", and "If ye love me keep my
commandments." These are all actions. We have to change to be
disciples of Jesus Christ and that takes sacrifice.
So my invitation to all of you is to sacrifice something. Pray and ask
Heavenly Father what he wants you to change and HE WILL ANSWER. Then
you must act on what you receive.
I promise that you will receive blessings for your efforts. For
example, you will feel the Spirit SO MUCH as you change to follow
Jesus Christ.
I know that because I have done it several times myself and I would
not give up those experiences for the world.
Honoring God
Elder Decker

Hello one and all and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! :D
I got to see the face and hear the voice of my wonderful family
yesterday, which was fantastic.
My mom's better than your mom.
This past week has been a bit nuts. We had transfers and my new
companion is Elder Taylor from Los Angeles! He's a pretty cool cat. a
new companion always takes some getting used to, and there are always
some annoying things, but that's to be expected, because people are
people, and people are different.
There have been some SICK things going on here in Rexburg! The Work
here presses forward just like anywhere else. (and better) Just
yesterday as I was on Facetime with my family, we got a call with a
golden investigator couple, and the kicker, THEY'RE MEXICAN! :D That
never happens.
So we met them and they're amazing. They asked questions like "What
does it take to be baptized?" The whole time we were chatting with
them we were holding off laughing with joy! Right when we close the
door behind us it was like in The Best Two Years when they start
freaking out in excitement! We yelled and danced a little bit, then we
got in the car and prayed in gratitude. The work is hastening, are YOU
keeping up?
I'd liketo talk a little bit about one of the best chapters EVER. It's
Ether 12 (in the Book of Mormon).
There are 2 specific verses that I'd like to focus on. the first is Ether 12:6

6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I
would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and
not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no
witness until after the trial of your faith.

Many people want a *BOOM* moment when they suddenly know that the
Church is true. This almost never happens. Like... never. It's like
expecting to get buff without ever weightlifting. Then, never thinking
that weightlifting does anything because your body didn't give you the
affects of it before you did it... I'm not sure about anyone else, but
that freaking makes no sense. You have to try it FIRST. You will never
know until you try and try with faith. You have to believe that you
can, and work hard to get buff, but it happens.
I promise that if you put fourth a real effort, you will come to know
that the Church IS true.
Ether 12:12

12 For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no
miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their
faith.

We must have faith or God cannot bless us.
Sometimes I think we ask the wrong questions. Maybe we doubt the truth
because our lives have not been perfect. That makes me think about the
12 apostles after Christ's death. (Acts 5:40-41)

40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and
beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of
Jesus, and let them go.

 41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

The Apostles were... kinda stoked... that they had been beaten... I

suppose that they saw it as an opportunity to feel a little bit of
what Christ felt when he suffered and died for us.
Do we ever mourn in our difficulties and are happy that Christ has
blessed us with the ability to grow? We shouldn't.
The church is true even though hard times are had. I know it.
Honoring God
Elder Decker

It's May, it's May the... awesome... month of May!
I'm going to be 19 on the 14th... the HECK???
So, this week has been FANTASTIC!
Cheryl was baptized on April 30th! The Spirit was SO STRONG. It was
there. I know it and I felt it.
She was then confirmed on Sunday May 4th. The spirit was there and she
stood up with a glow.
I know that this gospel is true, because how could it not be? God set
Cheryl up for us perfectly. There is NO WAY that someone as stubborn
and non-flaky as her could have been baptized 18 days after we met her
if this gospel wasn't true.
The day we got a text about her from a 3rd party without her
permission, we had prayed to find someone, and she had prayed for
direction in her life. THAT CANNOT BE COINCIDENCE.
Today I prayed in my morning prayer that we may find someone and an
hour later we got a call from a bishop about a Spanish couple who had
moved in and expressed interest. THAT CANNOT BE COINCIDENCE.
In August of 2012 I finished the Book of Mormon and decided to pray
about it. When I did, I was filled with joy that i cannot accurately
describe. THAT CANNOT BE COINCIDENCE.
I was sent to the Idaho Pocatello Mission and I have met people who
have affected me in ways that I cannot have gotten any other way. I
also have gotten connections for my future career that I could not
have gotten anywhere else. I never told the person who assigned me
what I wanted to do when I grow up (build temples). THAT CANNOT BE
COINCIDENCE.
To ALL, I know that the church is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a
prophet and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today. I KNOW that the
Book on Mormon is the word of God.
I love all of you and I only desire your joy and happiness. I have no
ill feelings for any of you.
I say this because I love you and I know that Christ lives. I know
that he continues to talk to his people on the Earth. These things
cannot be coincidence.
Just like I know that it's true, I know that you can know it too. I
challenge you to pray and find out for yourself if what I have said is
true. It will change and bless your life and it will be worth
EVERYTHING.
Remember who is talking. This is Tim Decker. That singing, dancing,
music playing, bow tie wearing, party loving, crazy kid who you know.
I am all those things, BUT I STILL KNOW THAT WHAT I HAVE SAID IS TRUE.
Don't doubt, only believe.
Honoring God (which is what Timothy means)
Elder Decker

Another week another blog!
shout out: Grant Waters! good job getting the Symphony Scholarship!
This week has been fanFREAKINGtastic!!!!!
We've still been teaching Cheyrel. She's SO ready. I am quite humbled
to be able to teach her. This has been one of the greatest blessings
that Heavenly Father has given me. honestly. Because of Cheyrel, I
have become closer to the spirit. Her testimony has helped me, I
believe, more than mine has helped her. She has such faith, and her
faith has made her and me whole.
What I'd like to talk about today is what she assigned me to speak on
at her baptism: "One in the Crowd."
We all know the story about the woman in the crowd who had a blood
disease. She touched the hem of Christ's robe and was healed. We all
know the story, but how does it apply to us?
The crowd was full of people, mostly curious people, some Pharisees,
some, maybe, there to mock. None the less, there was a crowd, and then
there was the woman. There was one among the crowd who applied what
Christ taught. She had the faith to be healed.
Do we go about our lives in the crowd? Do we hear Christ speak and
think "Well that's a nice idea," then go on with our lives never
changing ourselves? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to change us.
What Christ did, was, and is means NOTHING concerning you unless you
change.
Remember that there was only ONE in the crowd who truly believed.
Christ is becoming increasingly less popular as the world falls
farther and farther from him and the knowledge of who he truly is.
WILL YOU BE THE ONE? Will you have ears to hear and eyes to see?
I challenge you to be the ONE. I challenge you to be faithful. Act on
what you believe and that's how you will receive blessings.
I testify that to be the one is worth it. There is peace and joy that
comes from it. I know that.

Honoring God
Elder Decker
picture: we went and hiked the menan bute last week (the hill with the R)