Thursday, February 27, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Feeling the spirit work through you
Hello friends and family!
This last week was a great one. I have learned a lot about humility and allowing the spirit to work through you. There were a couple of days (Thursday and Friday) that I specifically felt I was literally just a tool, and that it was the spirit that was directing every thought, word, and move that I made. We just had lesson after lesson. When our original plan didn't work out, we were guided somewhere else where we were able to teach and testify and share a message from our Savior Jesus Christ. We had some powerful lessons with investigators and returning members (less actives).
The investigators we are teaching most right now are [a man and his wife] and [a young adult man]. I love [this couple]. They are wonderful people with big hearts and a desire to do what's right and follow Jesus Christ. We've met with them 3 times in the last week and they came to sacrament meeting yesterday! It was such a happy feeling to see them walk up to the church building, and even greater when one of our recent converts walked right up to them, gave them both big hugs, and opened her arm towards the opened door exclaiming, "Welcome to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Where everyone is welcome!" She then walked them inside and up to the second row in the chapel to sit with her. She even told some other members to go say hi to them! Ah, talk about feeling so happy and blessed to witness such a wonderful sight....that is how it is supposed to be. :) We visited them after church and they said they enjoyed the service. We will be meeting with them again this week so hopefully we can help them to continue to progress and fully understand the fullness of the gospel. There is still work to be done and lessons to be learned, but they are doing the things they need to do, so at the right time I believe they will accept the fullness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
[The young adult man we are teaching] is actually the son of [that recent convert sister], and he is about our age. When Sister Benjamin and her previous companion were teaching [his mom], he would go into the other room. Slowly over time he has stayed, payed attention, participated in lessons, and now we are teaching him. At the end of our lesson with him yesterday he said that it was all his mother's plan - that she set it up. We laughed and told him that she hadn't set anything up and he said, "yes she set this up, she prayed...." I totally believe that :) I have such strong belief in the prayers of a family member for another - especially the prayers of a parent for a child. It reminds me of the story of Alma and his son, Alma the younger. My favorite part of Alma the younger's conversion story is when the angel says to him, "Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father..." I know that there is power in prayer, and I believe that there is a special power that comes when a parent prays for their child.
[The lesson with this man] was one of those lessons on Thursday where the spirit just flowed and suddenly I was asking him that as he felt that the things we taught him were true, would he follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. He sat for a minute and pondered. Then he said, "yes...yes I would. It makes sense that if you want to follow Christ, you would do what he did." The spirit was strong. We haven't set a date with him yet, but on Sunday we finally were able to get him to commit to coming to institute for 2 weeks and then come to church. He has had a fear of coming to church because of a past experience and because he says he doesn't want to disappoint the Lord by coming once and then not going back. But he's decided he will :) He is making progress and is reading from the Book of Mormon and the Restoration pamphlet we've given him. It's awesome :)
We've also had success in getting in contact with some returning members. Some don't have interest in us teaching them or in coming back, but we have found one couple that we absolutely love. . . . I love the [this couple]! (awesome side note: [this brother] looks like Iron man. He just has a little more silver hair (: It took me a while to figure out who he reminded me of, but that's who it is! Iron man.) It took us a couple weeks to get a time where both of our schedules lined up, but we met with the two of them for the first time on the evening of my birthday and talked with them for about an hour and a half. They haven't been to church in a long time, but they still have their testimonies and their faith. We met with them again on Friday and they said they would come to church on Sunday...and they did! Sadly they only stayed for sacrament meeting, but they came! We will be seeing them again this week and I'm excited. They are awesome people! :)
We really have been so blessed here. Yesterday there were 5 investigators in church and at least 3 returning members. The whole time I've been here we've had 0-1 investigators in church, and 0-1 returning members. Yesterday was a boom. I know there are many things that go into that happening, but I do believe that the Lord blessed us because we have become more ready to handle new people. What I mean by that is the ward members and the missionaries have come more together and are caring more and more about the members we do have and taking action to strengthen them. This ward has improved so much, even before I got here. We are spiritually "digging up heaps of earth round about" and putting up "works of timbers" and causing "towers to be erected" in preparing the Shreveport ward to be a stronghold, as talked about in Alma 50:1-6. The Lord won't help us to find new people if we won't take care of those we already have. It is the same with His word - the Lord won't give us more if we won't treasure up what we've already been given. That is a principle I have been learning. We have a responsibility to take care of what we already have. The Lord likely won't bless us with new people to bring into the gospel if we aren't already taking care of those around us who are. Please do your home and visiting teaching. Reach out in love and strengthen the area you are in. Fulfill your calling and accept the opportunities given to you to serve. As we do that I know we will be blessed to find others who are searching for the truth and "know not where to find it." (Doc. & Cov. 123:12)
This is the Lord's work and I know that as we focus on Him, we will feel the spirit work through us and we will find ourselves being blessed to witness the fruits of His work in those around us, and in ourselves. I love you all! May THE force be with you!
This last week was a great one. I have learned a lot about humility and allowing the spirit to work through you. There were a couple of days (Thursday and Friday) that I specifically felt I was literally just a tool, and that it was the spirit that was directing every thought, word, and move that I made. We just had lesson after lesson. When our original plan didn't work out, we were guided somewhere else where we were able to teach and testify and share a message from our Savior Jesus Christ. We had some powerful lessons with investigators and returning members (less actives).
The investigators we are teaching most right now are [a man and his wife] and [a young adult man]. I love [this couple]. They are wonderful people with big hearts and a desire to do what's right and follow Jesus Christ. We've met with them 3 times in the last week and they came to sacrament meeting yesterday! It was such a happy feeling to see them walk up to the church building, and even greater when one of our recent converts walked right up to them, gave them both big hugs, and opened her arm towards the opened door exclaiming, "Welcome to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Where everyone is welcome!" She then walked them inside and up to the second row in the chapel to sit with her. She even told some other members to go say hi to them! Ah, talk about feeling so happy and blessed to witness such a wonderful sight....that is how it is supposed to be. :) We visited them after church and they said they enjoyed the service. We will be meeting with them again this week so hopefully we can help them to continue to progress and fully understand the fullness of the gospel. There is still work to be done and lessons to be learned, but they are doing the things they need to do, so at the right time I believe they will accept the fullness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
[The young adult man we are teaching] is actually the son of [that recent convert sister], and he is about our age. When Sister Benjamin and her previous companion were teaching [his mom], he would go into the other room. Slowly over time he has stayed, payed attention, participated in lessons, and now we are teaching him. At the end of our lesson with him yesterday he said that it was all his mother's plan - that she set it up. We laughed and told him that she hadn't set anything up and he said, "yes she set this up, she prayed...." I totally believe that :) I have such strong belief in the prayers of a family member for another - especially the prayers of a parent for a child. It reminds me of the story of Alma and his son, Alma the younger. My favorite part of Alma the younger's conversion story is when the angel says to him, "Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father..." I know that there is power in prayer, and I believe that there is a special power that comes when a parent prays for their child.
[The lesson with this man] was one of those lessons on Thursday where the spirit just flowed and suddenly I was asking him that as he felt that the things we taught him were true, would he follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. He sat for a minute and pondered. Then he said, "yes...yes I would. It makes sense that if you want to follow Christ, you would do what he did." The spirit was strong. We haven't set a date with him yet, but on Sunday we finally were able to get him to commit to coming to institute for 2 weeks and then come to church. He has had a fear of coming to church because of a past experience and because he says he doesn't want to disappoint the Lord by coming once and then not going back. But he's decided he will :) He is making progress and is reading from the Book of Mormon and the Restoration pamphlet we've given him. It's awesome :)
We've also had success in getting in contact with some returning members. Some don't have interest in us teaching them or in coming back, but we have found one couple that we absolutely love. . . . I love the [this couple]! (awesome side note: [this brother] looks like Iron man. He just has a little more silver hair (: It took me a while to figure out who he reminded me of, but that's who it is! Iron man.) It took us a couple weeks to get a time where both of our schedules lined up, but we met with the two of them for the first time on the evening of my birthday and talked with them for about an hour and a half. They haven't been to church in a long time, but they still have their testimonies and their faith. We met with them again on Friday and they said they would come to church on Sunday...and they did! Sadly they only stayed for sacrament meeting, but they came! We will be seeing them again this week and I'm excited. They are awesome people! :)
We really have been so blessed here. Yesterday there were 5 investigators in church and at least 3 returning members. The whole time I've been here we've had 0-1 investigators in church, and 0-1 returning members. Yesterday was a boom. I know there are many things that go into that happening, but I do believe that the Lord blessed us because we have become more ready to handle new people. What I mean by that is the ward members and the missionaries have come more together and are caring more and more about the members we do have and taking action to strengthen them. This ward has improved so much, even before I got here. We are spiritually "digging up heaps of earth round about" and putting up "works of timbers" and causing "towers to be erected" in preparing the Shreveport ward to be a stronghold, as talked about in Alma 50:1-6. The Lord won't help us to find new people if we won't take care of those we already have. It is the same with His word - the Lord won't give us more if we won't treasure up what we've already been given. That is a principle I have been learning. We have a responsibility to take care of what we already have. The Lord likely won't bless us with new people to bring into the gospel if we aren't already taking care of those around us who are. Please do your home and visiting teaching. Reach out in love and strengthen the area you are in. Fulfill your calling and accept the opportunities given to you to serve. As we do that I know we will be blessed to find others who are searching for the truth and "know not where to find it." (Doc. & Cov. 123:12)
This is the Lord's work and I know that as we focus on Him, we will feel the spirit work through us and we will find ourselves being blessed to witness the fruits of His work in those around us, and in ourselves. I love you all! May THE force be with you!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Happy Valentines Day! :)
This last week was wonderful! Hope you all enjoyed your Valentines Day! We enjoyed it greatly by "heart-attacking" 8 single ladies in our ward. The four of us sisters split up by asking a wonderful sister in the ward to help us out. We even heart-attacked her house by having the other two sisters do it while Sister Benjamin and I were out with her! It was so much fun! :) I hope you all felt loved that day, as that is what is truly important. Romance is good, but really it is a day of love, and we know that the greatest love of all that will not fail is charity. Elder Holland gave a good quote about that in this month's Ensign! You should read it!
We had a good week this week. There were tough times, but there were plenty of good times too. We had zone conference and I learned a lot about humility from the parable of the sower, particularly always searching to do the Lord's will, not yours. A phrase came to mind from that meeting: Being a missionary ends on release day; being a servant lasts for eternity. If we are searching to only be a good (insert your calling here), than we are missing the point, and when we are released we will go back to our old ways. We need to be striving to be good servants of the Lord, and then we will never fall because we will be built on Him.
I don't have a lot of time to write, but I did want to write about one more thing that I learned this morning. As I was writing down my feelings about the Savior's resurrection, I could feel the reality of being able to see Him again. This is what I wrote:
"I am so grateful that He rose from the dead, and I can't wait to see Him again. Watching "The Testaments" movie a little while ago brought it to life for me. I've seen that movie before, but for some reason it seemed so much more real and I could actually picture Christ coming and getting to see Him, embrace Him, and love Him. He is my Savior and my big brother. I'm so grateful He set an example for me to follow. I look up to Him so much and look forward to the day when I will see Him again and get to tell Him how grateful I am for Him.
"I think being on a mission has helped me feel and grasp the reality of Jesus Christ as my brother, and that I will get to see Him again - just like I will get to see my family again. My relationship and appreciation grows for Him as I am away here on Earth, just as my relationships and love for my family and loved ones grows while I am away on a mission. I love my family, and I love my brother, Jesus Christ, and my Father in Heaven."
I know that Jesus Christ is real. He lives and He is waiting for us to come home. I look forward to that day when I will see Him again, just as I look forward to the day that I will see all of you again. Trust the Lord and remember that He loves you. I love you all!
We had a good week this week. There were tough times, but there were plenty of good times too. We had zone conference and I learned a lot about humility from the parable of the sower, particularly always searching to do the Lord's will, not yours. A phrase came to mind from that meeting: Being a missionary ends on release day; being a servant lasts for eternity. If we are searching to only be a good (insert your calling here), than we are missing the point, and when we are released we will go back to our old ways. We need to be striving to be good servants of the Lord, and then we will never fall because we will be built on Him.
I don't have a lot of time to write, but I did want to write about one more thing that I learned this morning. As I was writing down my feelings about the Savior's resurrection, I could feel the reality of being able to see Him again. This is what I wrote:
"I am so grateful that He rose from the dead, and I can't wait to see Him again. Watching "The Testaments" movie a little while ago brought it to life for me. I've seen that movie before, but for some reason it seemed so much more real and I could actually picture Christ coming and getting to see Him, embrace Him, and love Him. He is my Savior and my big brother. I'm so grateful He set an example for me to follow. I look up to Him so much and look forward to the day when I will see Him again and get to tell Him how grateful I am for Him.
"I think being on a mission has helped me feel and grasp the reality of Jesus Christ as my brother, and that I will get to see Him again - just like I will get to see my family again. My relationship and appreciation grows for Him as I am away here on Earth, just as my relationships and love for my family and loved ones grows while I am away on a mission. I love my family, and I love my brother, Jesus Christ, and my Father in Heaven."
I know that Jesus Christ is real. He lives and He is waiting for us to come home. I look forward to that day when I will see Him again, just as I look forward to the day that I will see all of you again. Trust the Lord and remember that He loves you. I love you all!
Monday, February 10, 2014
Blessings and worthy to stand :)
My highlights this week were actually with teaching the youth. I love the youth. They are amazing! And so much fun! Sister Benjamin and I got the privilege and opportunity to teach the 12 and 13 year olds Sunday School class this sunday. We talked about the plan of salvation, particularly who we are (children of God), what happened before we came to Earth, and how our Savior can help us (Alma 7:11-12). They are so smart and have such good hearts. They asked great questions and I loved being with them in their light and purity!
Then Sunday evening Sister Benjamin and I got to teach Mission Prep. That really is a blessing, because the stake president said he just wanted the Zone Leaders and the Shreveport South sisters to do mission prep. I feel so blessed that of all the missionaries in the stake (about 10 companionships) I am in the companionship chosen to help out. I love those youth! We have about 6 that attend each month (not always the same 6). This gospel is amazing and I love learning from the youth and helping them to be strong and realize the power and joy of the gospel. I love to see them grow. They are incredible to me. I think maybe I want to be a teacher when I come home, but we'll see. :)
This last week we had a couple of people decide that they didn't want to meet with us anymore, and two people gave back the Book of Mormon that we had given them (one was the wife of a man we had given it to). However, the two who "dropped" us are stellar people. They are full of light and I know that when the time is right they will accept the restored gospel and be awesome members of the Lord's kingdom. They were very respectful as they told us they didn't want to meet with us anymore, and were still fine if we stopped by or called them on occasion. I know it was a blessing though, because we need to be focusing on those who are ready for the gospel know. If we have gotten them to the point they are ready for, then it is time for us to move on and focus on someone else.
I received a blessing on Thursday from one of the Elders in our district, Elder Joseph. It was partially a blessing for healing (Elder Muhile helped out), but also a long over-due blessing needed just for comfort. I have been blessed to grow up in a home where my dad is a worthy priesthood holder, and we would get a fathers blessing at the beginning of every school year, and when I got to college I had one at the beginning of every semester. I loved those blessings and treasured them with all my heart. I've missed two of those now since I've left, and I've felt that loss. I was so grateful to have Elders who were worthy and willing to fill in where my father couldn't, because I'm on my mission. The blessing was one of great comfort, and I think I needed the blessing as much as the Elders needed to give it. It was a blessing for all of us. In the blessing I was told to continue to search for the elect. I know that they are here, and that the Lord will lead us to them. Saturday was a confirmation of that to me.
Saturday was a hard day. We were nearing the end of our day and we were tired from walking, and 7 of our prior appointments had fallen through, with our back ups mostly being tracting...so we had tracted almost all day. We were tired, our efforts had been spent, and our plans had been tried. Much of us wanted to go in early and just end the day to start anew, but we had one more appointment to try. As it was close to the end of the day, we decided that if that appointment didn't go through we would knock on 10 houses and then be done. We made up our mind before going to the appointment so that we wouldn't hesitate on what to do. We went to visit the lady we had an appointment with and she told us she felt bad, but that she was going to have to reschedule. So we said a prayer with her and then went out to knock our 10 doors. They were some of the best doors we've knocked. We got 2 lessons, 2 return appointments, gave out 1 Book of Mormon. One of those lessons was with a woman who used to be visited by missionaries. It was really neat and ended us on a good note - or so we thought. We then picked up the other sisters to return to our apartment for dinner and decided to go to Dairy Queen to get some ice cream first since all four of us had had a hard day. We ended up talking with the cashier who is a young adult who has been studying different religions since she doesn't agree with some of the baptist traditions she was raised in. Sister Sellers even got to share Joseph Smith's experience with her. It was great! We left her a card and invited her to give us a call when she'd like to talk with us some more.
I know that the Lord is there! He is always there! I also know that as we make our selves worthy, we make ourselves worthwhile. Worthy means of great worth. Worthwhile means worth the time or effort spent. Our choices make us worthy, so our choices make us worth the time and effort spent by the Savior on our behalf. That really hit me this week!
I love you all so much! Pray to your Father Heaven! He hears you!
Then Sunday evening Sister Benjamin and I got to teach Mission Prep. That really is a blessing, because the stake president said he just wanted the Zone Leaders and the Shreveport South sisters to do mission prep. I feel so blessed that of all the missionaries in the stake (about 10 companionships) I am in the companionship chosen to help out. I love those youth! We have about 6 that attend each month (not always the same 6). This gospel is amazing and I love learning from the youth and helping them to be strong and realize the power and joy of the gospel. I love to see them grow. They are incredible to me. I think maybe I want to be a teacher when I come home, but we'll see. :)
This last week we had a couple of people decide that they didn't want to meet with us anymore, and two people gave back the Book of Mormon that we had given them (one was the wife of a man we had given it to). However, the two who "dropped" us are stellar people. They are full of light and I know that when the time is right they will accept the restored gospel and be awesome members of the Lord's kingdom. They were very respectful as they told us they didn't want to meet with us anymore, and were still fine if we stopped by or called them on occasion. I know it was a blessing though, because we need to be focusing on those who are ready for the gospel know. If we have gotten them to the point they are ready for, then it is time for us to move on and focus on someone else.
I received a blessing on Thursday from one of the Elders in our district, Elder Joseph. It was partially a blessing for healing (Elder Muhile helped out), but also a long over-due blessing needed just for comfort. I have been blessed to grow up in a home where my dad is a worthy priesthood holder, and we would get a fathers blessing at the beginning of every school year, and when I got to college I had one at the beginning of every semester. I loved those blessings and treasured them with all my heart. I've missed two of those now since I've left, and I've felt that loss. I was so grateful to have Elders who were worthy and willing to fill in where my father couldn't, because I'm on my mission. The blessing was one of great comfort, and I think I needed the blessing as much as the Elders needed to give it. It was a blessing for all of us. In the blessing I was told to continue to search for the elect. I know that they are here, and that the Lord will lead us to them. Saturday was a confirmation of that to me.
Saturday was a hard day. We were nearing the end of our day and we were tired from walking, and 7 of our prior appointments had fallen through, with our back ups mostly being tracting...so we had tracted almost all day. We were tired, our efforts had been spent, and our plans had been tried. Much of us wanted to go in early and just end the day to start anew, but we had one more appointment to try. As it was close to the end of the day, we decided that if that appointment didn't go through we would knock on 10 houses and then be done. We made up our mind before going to the appointment so that we wouldn't hesitate on what to do. We went to visit the lady we had an appointment with and she told us she felt bad, but that she was going to have to reschedule. So we said a prayer with her and then went out to knock our 10 doors. They were some of the best doors we've knocked. We got 2 lessons, 2 return appointments, gave out 1 Book of Mormon. One of those lessons was with a woman who used to be visited by missionaries. It was really neat and ended us on a good note - or so we thought. We then picked up the other sisters to return to our apartment for dinner and decided to go to Dairy Queen to get some ice cream first since all four of us had had a hard day. We ended up talking with the cashier who is a young adult who has been studying different religions since she doesn't agree with some of the baptist traditions she was raised in. Sister Sellers even got to share Joseph Smith's experience with her. It was great! We left her a card and invited her to give us a call when she'd like to talk with us some more.
I know that the Lord is there! He is always there! I also know that as we make our selves worthy, we make ourselves worthwhile. Worthy means of great worth. Worthwhile means worth the time or effort spent. Our choices make us worthy, so our choices make us worth the time and effort spent by the Savior on our behalf. That really hit me this week!
I love you all so much! Pray to your Father Heaven! He hears you!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Many Blessings :)
This last weekend was a great blessing for me and my apartment! We had the great privilege of seeing President and Sister McDonough three days in a row because we had stake conference Saturday night (adult and youth session) and Sunday morning, a devotional by Elder and Sister Simpson (senior missionary couple) on their experience in serving a mission in China, and interviews on Monday (yesterday). That is also the reason why I am emailing today - because we had interviews yesterday, pushing our preparation day to today. Sorry I forgot to mention that last week.
Our apartment also had the sweet and unique privilege of having President and Sister McDonough over for dinner Sunday night - in OUR apartment! They are on the road a lot with interviewing all of the missionaries every 6 weeks, so they eat out all the time. But to keep the Sabbath day holy they will eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Sundays. Sister Barrow found this out when asking them about it and we decided this would not happen this Sunday. So we invited them over for dinner! We made Hawaiian Haystacks and they were delicious!! (A little shout out to my Mom for making them for so many years so that I knew how to make them! They were great!) President and his wife loved them! President even said, "And to think I was going to have peanut butter and jelly tonight...hm." He loved it, to say the least. When they came I felt like I was having a general authority or the prophet over for dinner - all 4 of us sisters did. We love President and Sister McDonough so much, and it was truly a great blessing for us to have them in our little, humble apartment. I 'll send a picture :)
On an interesting note, I already have 6 mosquito bites....it's only the beginning of February! Something is wrong with that. Oh well, it's all good. They don't bother me too much, and we're doing the work of the Lord, so we're happy! :)
The progression with the people we've been teaching was pretty slow this last week - impart because it was such a crazy week with the transfer schedule changing, and our car being in the shop. However, we got our car yesterday, and we learned a lot this last week! I know that I learned some humility and gratitude, and also had the opportunity to really seek out some inspiration and guidance for our area and the people we are teaching. We have struggled the last few weeks to really get "traction" with the people we are teaching. We teach a good number of lessons, but we don't get too many follow up appointments that go through, and those that do just don't seem to really be progressing very much. I have felt that there was something we needed to change or do that we weren't doing, but I couldn't figure out what. It hit me yesterday during our district meeting. We need to be more focused on preparing people for baptism and inviting them to do so. I'd realized that I had gotten too carried away with trying to figure out what lesson the people needed, or what principle of the gospel was relevant to someone and their situation, that I forgot about why I was teaching them in the first place. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, but the period doesn't go there. As stated in Preach My Gospel, our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, BAPTISM, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Baptism is the gate that all of us need to enter in order to receive all of the blessings that our Heavenly Father has in store for us. So next week I plan on having news of people who have accepted the invitation to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ, by being baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God, and have set a date as a goal to work towards!
Now I want to give you a little list of some miracles and happy moments this last week:
I want to end with my testimony of sharing the gospel. I was able to share that with an active member family in our ward that we are teaching to help them be able to share the gospel with someone(s) that they know. Openning my mouth is not easy for me. If you've known me for a while, you know how true that is. However, I know that it is only as we open our mouths that others can have the opportunity to accept the gospel and receive those same blessings we enjoy each day. I also know that it is only as we share the gospel that it will remain a bright and burning part of our lives. If we do not share it, it become dull and common to us, and we will forget how important, beautiful, and wonderful it is. A story was shared in stake conference about that, and I know it's true. The gospel is so much more important to me now, because I have been sharing it with so many - even when people didn't accept it or value it as I do! But I can't let that stop me from sharing. You can't let that stop you from sharing. We need to share the gospel - we need that experience, just as much as those who we share it with do.
I know that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that as we study it and share it, we will grow a greater understanding and a stronger foundation on Christ. Our armor will be more firm as we go into battle each day, and we will be protected and come out victorious. I love you all so much! Don't keep the faith - share it.
Our apartment also had the sweet and unique privilege of having President and Sister McDonough over for dinner Sunday night - in OUR apartment! They are on the road a lot with interviewing all of the missionaries every 6 weeks, so they eat out all the time. But to keep the Sabbath day holy they will eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Sundays. Sister Barrow found this out when asking them about it and we decided this would not happen this Sunday. So we invited them over for dinner! We made Hawaiian Haystacks and they were delicious!! (A little shout out to my Mom for making them for so many years so that I knew how to make them! They were great!) President and his wife loved them! President even said, "And to think I was going to have peanut butter and jelly tonight...hm." He loved it, to say the least. When they came I felt like I was having a general authority or the prophet over for dinner - all 4 of us sisters did. We love President and Sister McDonough so much, and it was truly a great blessing for us to have them in our little, humble apartment. I 'll send a picture :)
On an interesting note, I already have 6 mosquito bites....it's only the beginning of February! Something is wrong with that. Oh well, it's all good. They don't bother me too much, and we're doing the work of the Lord, so we're happy! :)
The progression with the people we've been teaching was pretty slow this last week - impart because it was such a crazy week with the transfer schedule changing, and our car being in the shop. However, we got our car yesterday, and we learned a lot this last week! I know that I learned some humility and gratitude, and also had the opportunity to really seek out some inspiration and guidance for our area and the people we are teaching. We have struggled the last few weeks to really get "traction" with the people we are teaching. We teach a good number of lessons, but we don't get too many follow up appointments that go through, and those that do just don't seem to really be progressing very much. I have felt that there was something we needed to change or do that we weren't doing, but I couldn't figure out what. It hit me yesterday during our district meeting. We need to be more focused on preparing people for baptism and inviting them to do so. I'd realized that I had gotten too carried away with trying to figure out what lesson the people needed, or what principle of the gospel was relevant to someone and their situation, that I forgot about why I was teaching them in the first place. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, but the period doesn't go there. As stated in Preach My Gospel, our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, BAPTISM, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Baptism is the gate that all of us need to enter in order to receive all of the blessings that our Heavenly Father has in store for us. So next week I plan on having news of people who have accepted the invitation to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ, by being baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God, and have set a date as a goal to work towards!
Now I want to give you a little list of some miracles and happy moments this last week:
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| Sing it! Y---M---C-A! |
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| Sister Valdez and I on transfer day early in the morning! |
- Met a Brother Jones (not a member) while he was doing some construction work and we were walking around. Gave him a mormon.org card and invited him to church! He was happy and said he was looking for a church. Hopefully we will see him again!
- There is a YMCA here. It's a work out building. I didn't know what a YMCA was until I got here, but all of us sisters decided to take a picture in front of it before Sister Valdez got transferred.
- We survived the cold! IT even snowed a little bit here the week before! And it really snowed in Jackson, MS on Tuesday!
- We got the rides we needed from members to get to where we needed to be, and to fellowship a less active woman that we are working with, Sister Johns.
- Our Relief Society president here (sister Haderlie) gave ua a ride at 5:15 in the morning on Thursdy so that we could get to transfer point here in Bossier by 5:45 for Sister Valdez. We have to be there early so that they can all make it to Clinton, MS (3 hour drive one way), switch people who are being transferred, and get back to Bossier, LA by 5pm. We love Sister Haderlie! (Also, Sister Haderlie lives about 15-20 minutes away from our apartment)
- Gave a Book of Mormon to Ms. Johnson on Thursday, and to Charles Freeman on Friday! (Two investigators we're working with)
- We got 2 member-present lessons that I had prayed for! We have been trying so hard to get member-present lessons, and the lessons always fall through. But not today! (Friday)
- No rain today! (Saturday)
- Our ward choir sang Come Thou Fount at Stake Conference It's the same one the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings and my home ward choir has sung! It was beautiful and made me reflect on the great times I've had singing that at home!
- The Simpson's devotional was very inspiring. It made me think of two things. (1) Home really isn't where we grow up here on earth, it's with our Heavenly Father. (2) What a blessing it is to be able to share the gospel. In China they could not share it, even when people asked. They were teachers and would have students ask all the time about what church they go to, or comment on how different they are. Because of the strict laws of the land they could not share the gospel. They have to do the "three days of heaven" trip in order to join the church - go to Korea, be taught, get baptized, come back. Chinese natives cannot meet with those who are in China on visas for church or any church-related function. Even when they saw each other outside of church things, they could not talk about church things with each other. Only Chinese natives could talk with Chinese natives, and even still there are restrictions. Wow...what a blessing that we CAN open our mouths and share.
I want to end with my testimony of sharing the gospel. I was able to share that with an active member family in our ward that we are teaching to help them be able to share the gospel with someone(s) that they know. Openning my mouth is not easy for me. If you've known me for a while, you know how true that is. However, I know that it is only as we open our mouths that others can have the opportunity to accept the gospel and receive those same blessings we enjoy each day. I also know that it is only as we share the gospel that it will remain a bright and burning part of our lives. If we do not share it, it become dull and common to us, and we will forget how important, beautiful, and wonderful it is. A story was shared in stake conference about that, and I know it's true. The gospel is so much more important to me now, because I have been sharing it with so many - even when people didn't accept it or value it as I do! But I can't let that stop me from sharing. You can't let that stop you from sharing. We need to share the gospel - we need that experience, just as much as those who we share it with do.
I know that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that as we study it and share it, we will grow a greater understanding and a stronger foundation on Christ. Our armor will be more firm as we go into battle each day, and we will be protected and come out victorious. I love you all so much! Don't keep the faith - share it.
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