We taught the Stith family yesterday, and I am not even sure I could adequately describe how much I love them!!! We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ yesterday and during the lesson they told us that they had actually already quit coffee for a week (and we haven't even taught them the Word of Wisdom yet)! This is coming from the man who made coffee out of a sock when he was in the Marines because he was so desperate to get his coffee and now a week later with no coffee pot on their counter, they both said that it wasn't even that hard!!! "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27) They originally thought we were crazy for not drinking coffee too. Our 2nd meeting with them they told us they looked up things about us online (always a scary moment for a missionary) and they asked if we really didn't drink coffee, and now they don't either :) This definitely strengthened my testimony that God is truly preparing people everywhere! There are those who are just waiting for the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to come into their lives! (Oh, and just a side note, they were stoked when they found out they could serve a mission as senior couple, and even more excited when they learned they could come out with us!)
When we taught Yali this week, she told us that she had an epiphany. You honestly never know what you are going to get with Yali :) She told us that after Jesus Christ, there was no Prophet on the earth, not until Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and was called to be a prophet! We definitely taught her that, but it is not until she pondered it herself and studied it out herself that she was able to realize the truth of the matter for herself. That is something that I have definitnely seen as I have served the Lord. I have been told Gospel truths my whole life, but a lot of them didn't make sense or "click" I guess you could say until my mission. "But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right." (D&C 9:8)
We taught Jozalyn, Reahlyn and Ethan Bryce about the Temple because they had some concerns about their family situation. They desperately desired their family to be together forever but felt sad that it didn't look promising for them. We talked about what the temples are for. They viewed the temple as more of a limiting thing, limiting their family from being together forever, when in reality it is the exact opposite. In civil marriage vows, they say "until death do you part" but in the temple we are promised "time and all eternity." What a special promise we are enabled to have through God's temples!
We have been trying a new way of counting new investigators. Instead of counting them as a new right after we set the return appointment, we are waiting until the return appointment happens, to ensure that they truly are a new investigator. It has been so wonderful to see how we are exactly where God needs us though. We have met around 3 new people this week that all said we were a sign from God that they were waiting for.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about one of the greatest tools Satan uses to prevent us from doing the things that are the most important. We have seen out here in the field that if Satan can't get us to do anything bad, he will prevent us from doing good. Allowing us to think, "oh, I am too tired to study the scriptures" and then justifying it with"I won't get anything out of it anyway." Or "I don't have time for church on Sunday, I have to many other things I have to do." In our case it's "I'd love to meet with you, but I am just so busy, I don't have any time to." I don't doubt the validity of all of these statements, life is SUPER busy! But, it is a matter of what our priorities are. We all know the motto "good, better, best" and we can fill our time with all of these good things, but we should stop and ask ourselves if they are the BEST things we could be doing. Have we done our daily scripture study and filled our Spirit? Have we been to church and partaken of the sacrament to renew our covenants and our commitment to Christ? Have we fervently prayed to our Father in Heaven showing our gratitude and seeking His will for us in our lives? Have we taken a moment to serve another person, to lift another one of God's children who may be in need? Our mission president said something I thought was very profound. He said, "The enemy of the best, is the good."
Serving with a Smile,
Sister Bradley
P.S. This guy sitting next to me at the computers just called my name and said "sister Bradley, I have a picture of an authentic angel, can I show you??" He is so excited he is almost shaking, he is urgently trying to pull it up on Facebook. He told me that his brother took it and he thinks it is the angel Gabriel. He had to go to his car to get the picture for me, but he said I could keep it, and he encouraged me to show everyone I met. He also said that at least 4 Fathers from his church said that it was authentic. I simply told him that we definitely believe angels can minister to us today. He also told me he got in a car accident a while ago and has memory issues now, and is struggling with dementia.
Pictures!
1. Mishawaka Riverwalk
2. We found a cool road
3. I know I am pretty cheesy
No comments:
Post a Comment