The ward has finally stepped up their game and started fellowshipping the Stith family! This week they had 3 dinners with different families in our ward!! We told them they are almost getting fed as much as us! :) We are so grateful the ward is starting to love them as much as we do!!! At one family's home we taught the commandments of prayer and scripture study to the Stiths and Aiden Stith said the cutest thing! He said "when I read my scriptures, I feel like God is standing next to me." Aiden is 10 years old, and I thought it was so sweet how even at that young of an age, he could feel the power that comes into our lives as we read the word of God.
We had a cool experience this week as we went finding. These two ladies were sitting outside of this house so we decided to start talking to them, they both immediately told us not to waste our time because they weren't interested. We asked if we could serve them in anyway, one lady named Stefanie told us that she had some kittens she was trying to find a home for and asked if we wanted to see them. We excitedly told her yes and she brought out two little kittens! This gave us more time to talk to her and get to know her. She told us that she met with missionaries before 20 years ago, but wasn't interested in what they had to say because she had her own beliefs, she told us they kept trying to get her to read a book (the Book of Mormon) but she wouldn't. We told her more about the Book of Mormon and after explaining it she wanted one and was excited to read it!!! This experience gave me hope for people who I have taught on my mission but weren't ready to accept the doctrines. Who knows, maybe in 20 years a missionary will run into them :)
Also, we had another funny tracting experience. We knocked on this door (remember you never know who is going to answer the door) and this old man answered the door. He smiled at us while he said, "CONGRATULATIONS!" We were pretty surprised and taken back #1 because you never know if they are being genuine or sarcastic and #2 he said "congratulations" like we had just won the lottery or graduated college or something haha all we were doing was trying to help him increase his faith in Christ. Anyway, with surprise on our faces, he proceeded to say, " I have never met another religion as faithful as you in evangelizing and spreading God's word." So, this man was Roman Catholic and very comfortable in his religion, but he appreciated what we do and told us if we were in the neighborhood and ever needed anything that we could stop by. Like I said, you never know what's going to happen :)
Lastly, I have been studying the principle of faith quite a bit lately and I have developed such a great appreciation for it. Sometimes I feel that we think we know enough about the "basics", but I have learned quite the opposite on my mission. I feel that as I have studied the "basics" my testimony has deepened and matured much more than when I have studied the appendages to Christ's doctrine. I have learned that having faith and then a confirming witness of the Spirit means so much more than having proof. Yesterday in sacrament meeting, there was a talk on the word of wisdom and on the Book of Mormon, both talks were great, but both speakers relied on tangible proof or evidence to back up what they were saying. Don't understand me wrong, it is really nice when scientific evidence backs up what we believe and I used to be really excited about evidence, but the Holy Ghost's witness is way more powerful to me than anything else. When the Spirit bears witness of a principle, it is ingrained upon your soul, so much so that when " the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo" and why will the adversary have no power over you? "because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Hel 5:12) Jesus Christ is our foundation and is the only sure foundation that we can build on to bring us peace and joy in this life. He alone is the "author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2).
“The gift of the Holy Ghost comes after one repents and becomes worthy. … The Holy Ghost bears witness of the truth and impresses upon the soul the reality of God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ so deeply that no earthly power or authority can separate him from that knowledge.” (Preach My Gospel)
Serving with a Smile,
Sister Bradley
Pictures!
1 & 2: Sister Soloa'i had her 18 month mark this week and one of the people she worked with in her last area came to take us to dinner to celebrate! Left to right: Soloa'i, Ashley, Me :)
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