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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