Hmm.
I've never been good at not exaggerating. I guess I just rested my case with that statement. But I'll rest it again: I have never been so happy in my entire life.
This week was incredible and I hardly know how to start. Sister Garner and I have been hitting the ground running, and the Lord has blessed us every inch of the way. We have been trying to devote ourselves to the activities that are the "best" use of time. However, sometimes we forget to eat all day and then we have to reevaluate, hahah. But we're both just so excited. There's so much work to do in this area, and the Lord keeps throwing it on our laps!
There are three main things that happened this week that I want to talk about, but that's not even a glimpse of the miracles we saw.
1)
The first was on Tuesday. We had told our investigator Jayme that she and her boyfriend (who's a member of our church) would need to get married before she got baptized if they wanted to continue to live together, and they do, because they've been together for 8 years and they have a daughter together. <--Run-on sentence of the century. So on Tuesday, we went over for our appointment, and they asked us if we could come back later that day. We shifted some plans around to accommodate that, and when we returned, they surprised us and told us they had spent the day ring shopping and getting their marriage license.
Then, on Wednesday, they met with the bishop, and because of extenuating circumstances, we all learned that he planned on marrying them on Sunday! This Sunday! Like, yesterday. So Sister Garner and I had four days to plan a wedding. That was a challenge. Luckily, the ward we serve in is incredible, and they all stepped up and pitched in; especially the relief society. It was such a great display of charity to see people who hardly knew them bring gobs of food and decorations to help set up. Their wedding was very simple, but it was cute. They both wore cowboy boots and their cake was made out of cupcakes. :) Jayme's getting baptized on the 20th! Yay!
2)
The second also happened earlier this week, the Spanish Elders gave us a referral for a girl who had flagged them down and asked them what they were doing and if they could teach her about God. She lived in our area, so they gave us her information and we made her top priority. Her name is Amber, she's barely a year older than me, but she and her boyfriend have 3 kids and have been together for 7 years. She said she had been praying for someone religious to knock on her door and teach her anything about God because she wasn't raised religiously at all, but she has such great faith in Jesus Christ. She said flagging down the Elders was the answer to her prayers (talk about being proactive in receiving answers!)
In our first lesson, we didn't have much time, we barely taught her any restored truths, but we testified of our purpose, and that we wanted to help her gain the relationship with God she was looking for. She was captivated. The spirit was so strong that we said,
"Amber, we want to help you work toward baptism"
"I would love that! I've never been baptized before!"
So the next time we went back, we explained simply the Doctrine of Christ. She knows a lot more than she thinks she does, but we talked about faith and repentance and it answered a lot of her questions. When we started talking about the spirit, and how the spirit talks to us, she said, "Oh, I don't have that."
"How do you feel when we're here?"
"I can't even describe it! I feel warm and happy and peaceful. Honestly, it's the best feeling ever."
"Amber, that's the spirit. And after you're baptized, you can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and those feelings won't leave you."
Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
The next day, we went back (Yes, 3 times in a row) and she had invited her Sister-in-Law, Italia, to join us. Amber said to her,
"These girls are helping me learn about God just like we've always wanted! And I'm getting baptized on July 11th! You should do it with me!"
"Okay!" said Italia.
Then our jaws nearly dropped to the floor.
Amber helped Italia brush up on everything she had learned so far, and then we taught them both the Restoration and they were both captivated. They said they had both always wondered why there were so many churches and that the Restoration really helped them understand that. Amber said,
"you guys could tell me anything and it wouldn't offend me."
"Amber, the church you're about to join is lead by Jesus Christ"
"Woah. I believe you. I'm excited!!!"
Every time we say something that usually makes people hesitant, she just perks up and gets excited.
"Church is 3 hours long"
"I have 3 hours to give to the Lord every week!"
"We believe in a latter-day prophet"
"I felt the spirit when you said that!"
Then she came to church! She brought two of her own children and two of her nieces, (an 8-year-old, two 3-year olds, and a 1-year old.) and she handled them like a champion. It was kind of awkward because we're in the mission president's ward, and he was sitting right behind us while we practically babysat her kids during Sacrament Meeting. But it all worked out; we even caught him making faces at her baby, Julian. :)
She faces the same issue as Jayme and Timothy, living together with kids and unmarried, but during relief society, she leaned over to me and said, "I told my boyfriend that I want to marry him before I get baptized and he agreed! Will you help me?" "Of course!!!"
Miracles.
3)
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about David and Kimiko, a couple who wanted to get baptized at the end of June, but we lost contact with them! He sleeps days and works nights so it's hard to ever catch them. Earlier this week, one of our appointments got rescheduled, and we had Conor with us, and Sister Garner, who is utterly inspired, said "Let's go see David and Kimiko." We agreed that this would kind of be a last-chance opportunity for them so we could focus on those who are truly receptive, so right as we pulled up, David's car pulled into the parking space. "Hey David! Long time no see, can we come talk to you two for a bit?"
"Sure! Come on in!"
We walked inside and sat on the couch for a few minutes until finally David left. We looked around, confused, and then Kimiko walked out of a dark room, rubbing her eyes. She had just woken up, but she came in and plopped down on the couch and we started talking. Her demeanor changed nearly instantly and she started to share some personal insights about why she felt that God didn't listen to her prayers. Her words nearly had me in tears. We tried to explain God's unceasing love for His children, but no one did a better job than Conor. He sat quietly thumbing through the Bible until he found what he was looking for and then he sat in silence.
"Do you have something you want to share?"
"I really do. Everyone always reads John 3:16, it's every Christian's favorite scripture. But no one ever reads John 3:17: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."
Kimiko started to cry. Conor bore his testimony in overcoming sin and weakness. We bore our testimony of the Holy Ghost's role in all of that; that he's the comforter, and that devoting herself to Him will help her remove all feelings of guilt and shame. She confessed that she still really wants to work toward baptism,, so we re-commited her to it, setting a new date. She was thrilled. She even offered a prayer, one of her first prayers in a long time, and it was humble and simple, but perfect.
Then we left, and Conor made the comment,
"Wasn't it interesting to see her countenance change?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when we first got there, she was tired and impatient with her kids, but as we kept talking, she became much more patient and loving, even though her kids were just as rambunctious."
Conor was spot on. This is the most exciting part of missionary work. When you get to see someone change. We see it two ways, we see it gradually over time (watching someone drink and smoke and be mean to really cleaning up physically, emotionally, and spiritually) and we see it immediately, just as Conor described. But either way, it's a testimony to me that drawing nearer to God is the best way to change. It's the only way to truly change for the better. Heavens, I've seen that within myself! Just devoting my time and energy to God had helped me love others, helped me love life, and helped me love myself so much more. Loving God entails keeping His commandments, especially serving others, because that is the source of all happiness. I have been FILLED with His love. I'm full, about to explode. This world is beautiful, the people in it are incredible, and we are all so blessed. Yes, there's some bad in the world, but the miracles and the positive things outweigh the negative ten fold.
This was a theme in church yesterday, even though it was difficult to fully pay attention, it was often said that we all go through phases, no matter what phase of life we're in. But we have to trust that through it all we are improving. Sometimes we trust God more than other times, but no matter how we feel, no matter how far away from Him we feel, the truth never changes, we can always rejoice in our Savior Jesus Christ, even when there's seemingly nothing more to rejoice in.
I know that's true. I know that He lives and that his atonement was infinite, to save us not only from our sins, but from our bad days, our negative thoughts, and our sadness. He is there to succor us and help us understand why we're going through what we're going through.
I love you. Thank you all for the shining lights you are. :)
I know this scripture is well read, but it just rings in my brain every hour of every day,
"Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God...then ye may be perfect in Christ." Moroni 10:32
He's not here to condemn us, but to lead us to perfection. I know that to be true.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Pictures: Anderson's wedding! Jayme, Timothy, and their daughter Hauna. :)
It was another wonderful week.
Are you sick of me saying that? :)
I guess it's really just a matter of perspective. I was looking back on earlier emails from Wichita Falls and recognizing that I used to admit when certain weeks were hard, but now it's just a matter of perspective. We can't afford to get too down in the dumps if something hard happens because it wastes too much time, and it causes us to dwindle in unbelief. If we really trust God, it's hard to assume that anything that happened was an accident. And I've started to see patterns. Anything that we perceive as bad always ends up well in the end. This truly is the Lord's work.
But with all that being said, it really was a marvelous week.
Last week, we met a sweet girl named Shiyun or "Shi" for short (Pronounced "She"). She [or Shi, whichever you prefer] lives in our apartment complex and just moved here from mainland China. She goes to school at the community college across the street and we met her while doing service at the Christmas Connection, a free department store for people with financial needs. I've had very few experiences teaching people who don't believe in God, but Shi was the first person I'd taught, especially in Oklahoma, who didn't have any understanding or knowledge of who God or Jesus Christ were whatsoever.
Sister Garner and I were baffled as we planned for her because the Gospel can either be complex or it can be simple. But teaching her about God, you have to teach her about her purpose in life. And teaching her about Jesus Christ, you have to teach about Adam and Eve, you have to teach about WHY we need a savior, you have to teach about the commandments and their attached blessings. So what seems simple to us becomes complex in no time.
But the most important part of teaching is the spirit. We've come to that conclusion over, and over, and over again. Especially this week.
And as we taught basic truths to Shi in her living room, she tried to find words in her limited vocabulary of how she felt. I thought the words she used were thought-provoking. "I feel warm. Moved. Inspired." That's how the Gospel makes me feel too. We brought Conor with us and he was able to explain the spirit. He was able to explain how it feels to go from kind of feeling the spirit, but not identifying it as such, and knowing that the spirit testifies of truth.
Then we taught Shi how to pray. Shi/e offered up a powerful, peaceful prayer. Her first prayer ever. I tried to hide my tears, but there's something so sweet about hearing someone talk to their Father in Heaven for the first time, especially as resolutely and inquisitively as she did.
We had a lot of wonderful teaching experiences this week, and most of them really forced me to rack my brain. On Tuesday, we taught Vania and Rob and their friend Mike again in their living room. They have so much knowledge about the Bible, that their questions have a tendency to bombard the dynamic. But I've been in situations where it feels like people are trying to defend their faith and disprove ours, Vania's questions aren't that way at all. She sincerely has a desire to learn and know if this is true.
She explained it to us last night, "This has eternal consequences. If what you're teaching me is true, I want to know it, because it's the difference between salvation and damnation, and I want to teach my children the truth!" Then she started to tear up. She has such a desire to know that it's true. But she's struggling to unlearn the things that she's known her whole life as a protestant and replace them with what we're teaching her. So the Godhead, prophets, eternal families, these are all such foreign concepts to her, and the challenge has been to help her set aside knowledge and focus on faith.
Yesterday, Vania came to church, and after church she and her husband and their five kids came over to our Bishop's house, who has six kids, and we all ate dinner and had a lesson in their home. It was noisy, but it was powerful. Our Bishop has a general authority demeanor about him, I guess you could also call that the spirit. ;) And our lesson went all over the place. Their questions are so deep and the vocabulary we use is completely different than that which they are used to, everything from the light of Christ to testimony to grace to et cetera et cetera et cetera...
Finally, it was evident that they need to pray about Joseph Smith. If a person can get a spiritual witness that Joseph Smith was a prophet, everything we teach makes sense. Baptists believe that if you believe that the Bible is the word of God, then you can believe that everything in it is true. This is no different. If we can help someone receive an answer as to whether or not Joseph Smith was called of God to restore His church, then they can't deny that it IS God's church, and that He still loves and speaks to us today.
I love being able to look from the outside at people's lives and see the Lord's hand in their lives. It's a special ability we have as missionaries to recognize God's presence in the lives of others, even when they struggle to recognize it themselves.
I know that this is The Church of Jesus Christ. The church that, if you actually try it out, if you actually live by its standards, you can know that it is true. And there is no other way to know it. Until you see that His Atonement can change you through living advanced and higher commandments, it is hard to recognize that those elevated commandments are from God, given to us for the enhancement of our lives. The Spirit has testified to me too many times that this is His church, that He governs it, and that it teaches the principles of eternal life.
John 6:66-69
66 ¶From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
This is, alongside Peter, my testimony. I believe and am sure that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. And that he still offers us the words of eternal life. When we study them and gain them for ourselves, it is a path to eternal bliss and blessings. I love you all. So much. So much.
Love,
Sister Best
Que pasa, mi familia?!
It feels like the most eternal week of life because we've had so much to do! And, as usual, the weather has been acting up. There have been a couple tornado threats, but nothing too serious. Now we're just constantly under flash flood warnings. It's rained more this month than it ever has in the month of may ever. The ground is incredible saturated, streets are turning into rivers. I've attached a really bizarre picture of a guy kayaking down one of the streets in our boundaries. :)
To follow up on last week's email, once we concluded P-day, we got to go to visit Vania and her husband, Rob! They had put their kids to bed, and when we got there, they had baked cookies and had a stack of bibles/notebooks/Book of Mormon all piled up and ready to discuss. We brought Sister Gillespie, the Bishop's wife, who has a very similar family dynamic (i.e. 4 billion children, husband in the military, Mormon/practically Mormon) and it was a wonderful discussion. She had so many questions! Questions about the trinity, about life after death, about the prophet, about families, about all sorts of things. And there's still something so satisfying about being able to address every single one of people's concerns in one way or another, to the point where they find peace and comfort in what used to be their trials and concerns.
After we left, their kiddos got sick, and the storms hit, so we're going back again tonight. I'll follow up next week. But Vania's best friend from Utah, the one that introduced her to the church, is also moving here to Oklahoma today! So that should be a remarkable help in her search for answers. The Lord is wonderful.
The storms and craziness also kept us from visiting with the other family we met last week, but he's asked us to come back tomorrow, so that we will!
But the miracles don't stop there.
Last Sunday, we had a couple just randomly show up to church, he confessed that he was a member that hadn't been to church in a while, but his wife wasn't a member and had taken all the missionary discussions. Back then, she was undergoing surgery that wouldn't allow her to endure baptism, but now she can, and she wants to! Pray for the Andersons! :)
One more sweet little story. On Thursday, every single appointment we had fell through. Luckily, it wasn't much cause for discouragement because we had planned for some flexibility throughout our day and planned backups for all of our appointments, as we usually do, but even those fell through.
So eventually, we went through the ward roster and started trying to find families we'd never met before. We wound up at a house looking for a family named the Harrys. We, instead, found their brother who said that the diligence of their home teacher had encouraged and inspired him to go back to church for the first time in years.
After we left, we realized we weren't too far from his home teacher's house, so we thought we would stop by to thank him for magnifying his calling so well. When we got there, he told us that he knew where the family we were looking for lived, but that he wasn't sure exactly what house. So his wife showed us on a map the street to look for and told us to pray about it and then tract. "You're likely to find a family even if it's not the family you're looking for."
So we got up and left and as we were getting in the car, their cute little daughter Emeri ran outside. She's about 5 years old, so we ran out to make sure she didn't run into the street and asked her if she wanted to pray with us. She said yes so we knelt on the sidewalk and she said,
"Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for my family. Thank you for the missionaries. Please help them find a family to teach the gospel to. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
It was the simplest, most precious prayer I'd heard, but it was so powerful. We thanked her and drove to the destined street. We both picked three house and decided to knock on the house that overlapped. The woman who opened the door explained that she and her husband had several children and they would all be interested in hearing about what we had to share with them, but that she wanted to wait until they could all be there together. So we plan on going back this week to visit with them.
I know that the Lord answers our prayers. He has answered all the prayers to help us find families to teach, He has answered the prayers of those we teach who are searching for the truth, and I know He answers your prayers. It may not be in the way or in the time that you want, but constant prayer helps us align our will to God's will, ultimately helping us to identify our answers. God knows what's best for us. He knows when someone is ready to receive the Gospel, or when we need to feel His love for us.
I love you guys. I hope you have a terrific week.
Last week, we went to the Science Museum. So here's Sister Garner and myself. :)
Love,
Sister Best
Good Morning, family!
To start, I would like to ask each of you a favor. Would you mind praying with Sister Garner and I that we will be able to find, teach and prepare for baptism 2 new families? That is our goal! We've been fasting and praying for it. Our ward is quite small here in OKC and we have two families moving out during the summer, two families that are a huge asset to our ward, which is always sad, so we've been praying to be able to replace them. :)
We've actually seen a lot of success with this goal, though. On Friday, we were getting ready to visit with a family we've been struggling to sit down with recently. As we were in our car, we prayed mightily to be able to find a family who was prepared, then we knocked on their door, and we heard the Mom whisper to her kids, "tell them we're on our way out or something". Ha. Got it. So we walked back to the car and Sister Garner said, "Let's go check on our Media Referral." Media Referrals are people who have referred themselves on the internet to receive a Book of Mormon or meet with missionaries. If they request a Book of Mormon, the missionaries come with it. ;) That's how Conor was found, so I guess you could say they're usually pretty promising.
So we went to visit her, her name is Vania, and we pulled up to this beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood. It's a part of our area that we don't frequently spend time in unless we're eating dinner at a member's house because we haven't had much success up there in the past. And to be honest, big house are intimidating as a missionary. So we prayed for faith and strength and then we knocked on the door. Her husband opened the door and welcomed us with a smile and invited us in. He was followed by four of the world's most adorable children who ran up to us and started hugging us and showing us all their toys and awards and things. Vania walked in holding a fifth kid and she lit up. She said they had just gotten back from their family walk and then she introduced her kids and started showing us around. We were confused. This looked like a typical Mormon family, their decor was even pretty Pinteresty and they had a sign above their fireplace that said, "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today". I think the confusion showed across our faces because she looked at us and said, "Oh! By the way. We just moved here from Utah from Hill Air Force Base because my husband is in the military and there we made some friends who were LDS and we fell in love with them! They were the sweetest people! And so I wanted to get to know more about your church and have you over for cookies and to hang out with me and my family."
What.
That never happens.
She was just getting ready to put her kids to bed, but she invited as back so we have an appointment with them this evening and we're taking the Bishop's wife. Sister Garner and I are just anxious to go back. This P-day kind of feels like a burden. ;)
This is the second family we've started teaching. The first, we found on Monday. We had had an appointment with a man we met knocking doors named David, but we accidentally went at the wrong time, and then we just never showed up afterwards because we got distracted with something else. But when we went back the next week, he said "Where were you? I waited for you!" We felt so bad! We scheduled another appointment and promised to keep it.
This Monday, we went to their house and he invited us inside where he, David, and his wife/girlfriend Kimiko sat on the couch and listened intently as we taught them about the Book of Mormon and how the Gospel blesses families. They have a couple little kiddos and their faces got brighter and brighter as we talked and as we learned about them and about their experiences. We explained the priesthood and it made so much sense to them, so we extended a commitment to them to be baptized by the priesthood and they accepted! June 20th should be the day!
It was a really good week. We saw a lot of miracles on top of those ones, and it's just an overall blessing to work with Sister Garner. Because working with her doesn't feel like work, it just feels like fun. But we definitely do work. We were talking about how this is the most successful, hardest working, and fun we've been or had on our missions so far. And the nice thing is that it's pretty likely that she'll be my companion until I'm finished. :)
This email is long. Forgive me. I just wanted to share some miracles. I'll leave you with this thought:
God is in the details, so we don't need to be. We don't need to be engulfed in every tiny detail because they all make up one perfect picture. And if we're obedient, God' in control anyway. If we look too closely at the little things, we miss the big picture, and then we spend our time just squinting and getting a headache instead of enjoying the process.
I love you guys. I didn't take many pictures this week because it was hectic, but here was a pretty priceless Oklahoma shot. We have to watch the weather if we're under Tornado watch, which we definitely were on Saturday, and this was a picture that was sent in of a tornado in a city called Elmer. And what the sky looks like on tornado-esque days.
Love You Mucho!
Love,
Sister Best
This week was, once again, so interesting.. There's no other way to describe it.
On Monday, we had P-day and were able to work that evening, then on Tuesday, Elder Corbridge of the quorum of the seventy came and spoke to us, then we were able to do work that evening.
But Wednesday through Saturday, we were on Tornado Watch and we had to be careful not to go too far from our shelter. On Wednesday, about six tornadoes came through Oklahoma. Oklahoma City is pretty central, a little to the West of the center of the state, but that means that whenever tornadoes come up from Texas, they almost always pass right over us. Luckily, they usually barely hit us and hit surrounding cities instead. Which isn't that lucky, it's actually pretty devastating for the cities they hit, but the houses in those cities are much more spread out so there isn't as much damage as there could be in a city like this one.
On Wednesday, we went back and forth from watching the weather to ducking in the storm shelter. From about 3 o'clock to about 11 o'clock at night, we had to make sure we knew what was going on because the sirens kept going off. And the poor weather man, Mike Morgan, was on the screen for about nine hours and his eyes started getting bloodshot, and we all started to get delirious, so at 9:00 when he said, "Listen up, a tiger has escaped from the Tuttle Wild Life Safari" we all just bust up laughing and started making "Tigernado" jokes. The biggest problem we faced was street flooding. We've been on flood watch for days because all the rivers are overflowing from all the rain we've been receiving, which meant Wednesday night we had to stay at a member's house instead of going home. It was disorienting as a missionary and made us feel like.. not missionaries. Especially from the amount of time we were in jeans doing clean up in a devastated little city called Bridge Creek. But the crazy week gave us time to study and reflect on the things that we learned during Mission Tour, which was a lot.
Takeaway:
A good attitude produces good results, and ultimately, we shape our own lives. Everybody has hard things they go through, every single person, but it is the way we choose to respond to it that ultimately determines what kinds of life that we live. If we see that good and choose to remain positive, it will effect the outcome of our entire lives. I loved that because it connected really heavily to something I've had on my mind recently, in order for us to do anything, we have to understand why we do it. I think about a rebelling teenager, if you tell them to do something, they're not likely to be too happy about it, they'll probably do the opposite, just out of spite. But if you explain the why behind it, if you explain the ways it will benefit them or protect them, they will be more apt to do it.
Elder Corbridge once said something along the lines of that we cannot be happy if we do not want to do the things that bring happiness, even if we do those very things.
Our attitude means everything. Because life is tough, and it's always going to be tough. If it weren't, we wouldn't learn anything, but growth comes from choosing to be positive in tough situations.
Elder Corbridge listed 3 things we need in order to have faith:
1) An idea of God's existence
2) A correct knowledge of God's attributes, characterisitcs, and perfections
3) Understanding the the course that you are pursuing is acceptable to God.
Then he stated that most people who struggle with their faith believe in God but don't believe in themselves. I know that's true. I have seen it time and time again. People refuse to fully live the Gospel because they are fearful that they aren't cut out for it, or that they can't do it because they've already strayed too far away from it and they can't get back on their feet. Or that it's too hard to change.
Those people are exactly right and they're exactly wrong.
They're right because they can't do it. Neither can I. Neither can you. None of us are capable of being anywhere near living with our Heavenly Father on our own. But that's why we need to be dependent on our Savior. It's only through Him that we gain anything. It's only through HIM that we CAN be like Him and live to see God and be with Him again.
Which is why they're wrong, the Atonement is for everybody. Being able to access it is as easy as inviting the spirit into your life. It's done by reading the scriptures, praying, and going to church. Every Sunday. Man, I sound like a broken record, but it's because it's SO true! There's no way to reinvent the wheel, there's no way to do it your own way. So be anxiously engaged, not overly anxious and under engaged. ;)
"When we forget about ourselves, there becomes so much more of us to find!" -President Walkenhorst
I love you folks with my whole heart!
Pictures:
Coming home from Tornado clean up.
Sweeping flood water away from our ward mission leader's house.
Playing monopoly in the shelter.
There was a lot of spiritual insight this week that came from 3 main events.
1) Interviews with our mission president
2) Stake Conference with Elder Corbridge
3) Going to a temple sealing with a recent convert and her husband
But first, I want to talk about something that doesn't happen every day in missionary life! Grandma Margaret came to visit me! Hahah, we got permission, don't you fret, but it was so fun to see her. The day she came, it was a torrential downpour, but it didn't make the day less sun-shiney. We had a ball! I'm sure she's told most of you this story by now, but she is an incredible missionary! She tried to pay some guys at Jimmy Johns to go get her key for her, because we locked ourselves outside of the car, but they wouldn't take her money. They went to get the key, came back, and refused to take her money. We put it in a Book of Mormon and told her to give it to the man, and so she said, "These girls are missionaries, and it would make them very happy if you would take this book." He promised he would take it, but not the money, and she told them she would only take the money out if he would promise to read it. He agreed, and then they left.
My favorite part of this interaction was watching her face light up as we walked away. She was so excited to have given out the Book of Mormon, and it reminded me how abnormal it is to share the Gospel. It feels relatively normal for us, but to see her celebrate the mini-success reminded me to look for the joy in spreading this message, no matter how small the interaction may be. I love Grandma, it was such a special treat to see her. And, luckily, it didn't make me too homesick ;) Especially because the next day we had interviews with President Walkenhorst. And he has a knack for helping us get back on track just by being a spiritual motivator. He shared this scripture with me in D&c 43:34, which says, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds." It tied in to something I've had on my mind a lot lately this week which is the law of Consecration. How can we give everything that we have and are to God? It's a lot of work!
But something Elder Corbridge said really stuck with me. He shared a scripture about serving God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. And he said, "In that, there's good news and there's bad news. The bad news is that we have to give Him everything we've got. The good news is that we only have to give Him everything we've got." Then he pointed out how God doens't require anything of us more than we have to offer. He only wants what we're willing to give, until that will expands, and we're willing to give Him more. He also pointed out that life is easier when we do give him more. "Life is hard enough under the BEST of circumstances, without up making it any harder than it needs to be." When we keep God's commandments, and do what we can to surrender all that we are to become all that He wants us to become, we avoid a lot of human drama that accompanies being stubborn. I'm learning that in a very real way. :)
The theme of conference was centered around participating in Family Councils, and there's only so much I could glean out of that as a missionary, but something that really stuck out to me was the ability we have to constantly teach one another using Gospel principles, without really sounding too preachy. When we apply the fundamentals principles and doctrines of the church and the Gospel to every day situations, and when we advise others to do the same, it is possible to solve our worldly problems. that was a powerful lesson to learn. We can serve and teach people who don't share our beliefs just by privately helping them live the Gospel. :)
Being in the temple with the Wilsons was a special experience, indeed. It's always special to see families be sealed to one another. And our lacking frequency of Temple-attendance made it an especially potent spirit that was present. I'm so grateful for the restored truths we have on the Earth that make it possible for us to feel the spirit more abundantly in our day to day lives!
Read this: Proverbs 17:22
I love you guys! Happy Mother's Day! Hopefully I'll get to see some of you via Skype on Sunday. :)
Happy Birthday Christie!
Love,
Sister Best
Pictures: Dinner with Grandma Maggie and Conor and the wonderful people that GM lives with. :)
This week we had the glorious experience of taking four recent converts to the temple, and it was incredible. Our ward has been on fire with missionary work these past couple transfers and I feel so blessed to be a part of it! Being in the temple was a special experience. It always is, but only having the opportunity to go once every six months makes it indescribably stark against the day to day routine. The spirit abounds and exceeds any other fear or worldly emotion. Only peace, joy, and understanding exist. I love the temple. I was struck with the realization that, despite its beautiful interior, it really is plain. It uses simple geometric shapes, most everything is white or neutral, and while there are a few paintings of the savior in each room, the beauty of the temple comes from the pure light and spirit of Christ the radiates in all that transpires there.
Sister Garner and I are doing really well. I love her so much, she is one of the most positive people I have ever met, and she really helps me see a more eternal perspective of things. When there are bumps in our schedule, she's always calms and ties up loose ends by finding the positive in each individual circumstance. I'm grateful for her, she's teaching me a lot.
This week was a smidge discouraging, just because we spent so much time trying to find new investigators in every single way we knew how, and we weren't having any success. At least not in that area, but we did meet a lot of people and at least try to share the Gospel. Sometimes I feel like God's just building our characters. :) Last night, at 7:30 pm, we both felt impressed to go visit a family that we've been trying to get in contact with for months. Sister Hirschi and I found them when we were looking for a less active member named Alicia. The mom's name was also Alicia and she seemed really confused when we asked if Alicia was home because they had just barely moved in a couple of days before. They seemed promising so we kept trying over and over again, when I'm sure normally we would have given up and assumed they weren't interested.
But last night, the Dad, Kyle, and their two kids came outside and set up chairs for us and we taught them the basics. None of them have any religious background, but they said they've been looking for it. They have been craving church for their family. So for the first time on my mission, we were able to teach somebody about God, about Jesus Christ, about Adam and Eve, things they had never heard much about. Seeing their faces transform from inquisitive to ecstatic made my heart melt. As we began talking about our need for a Savior, Alicia came home from work and immediately joined us, so we were able to teach their whole family about what it means to have Faith in Christ, and how we show that Faith. It was amazing. It was the answer to so many prayers to be able to teach such a powerful lesson to a family that is in such dire need of the Gospel. Watching it transform lives always reaffirms our faith of its truth.
One more thing before I take off, I hope everyone I know in my life knows that I am grateful to know them and that I love them. I am constantly reminded that we are a sum total of the experiences we've had, and people have such a large influence on us as a whole. So thanks for being part of my life. :)
I LOVE YOU FOLKS.
Bye!
Sister Best
