To start off, we had 2 exchanges, which means I wasn't even with my companion for 48 hours, and we had a Mission Leadership Council which means we were in Indy, or driving there, for more than 24 hours. Also, we got permission to drive with the Elders because we have like 0 miles this month and they have a mini-van (I know, weird right, missionaries driving a red mini-van, I thought that was a mom car haha) so around 7 of those 24 hours were spent in a smelly boy van haha great stuff, the things we do to save miles.
Anyway, first off in Plymouth we were able to contact some referrals from someone back home in Nevada. Wait what? Okay, so flash back to before my mission, I am sitting in my dermatologist's office getting everything figured out for my mission and my dermatologist is a member of the church. He asked where I was going and I told him Indiana and he was like "huh" so he leaves for a little while and then comes back into the office and says, "Well, I have your first two referrals!" and I was like "Great!" Except at that point, I was really confused and didn't really know what a referral was :) anyway, the referral was for Plymouth, Indiana which I happened not to serve in, but to go on an exchange in :) We were able to call them, and sadly one of them wasn't interested, but the other didn't answer so there is potential there still! I also, attempted to speak Spanish on this exchange to ask this family if we could send the Spanish missionaries, and by some miracle we were somewhat communicate enough for them to tell us they had a church and weren't interested, but hey, that was pretty cool!
On my second exchange, I stayed in Mishawaka and we had a super cool experience while finding before dinner. We saw this man sitting in a camping chair outside his house and decided we'd go talk to him. We told him who we were and what we did and he was very kind but very clear that he wasn't interested, but knowing how persistent we are, we pressed forward and kept him talking. :) We found out he doesn't like organized religion, and his wife drags him every week to the Methodist church. We asked him what he thought the purpose of life was and he told us the COOLEST thing. He said (and I am paraphrasing), "Well, you see, I was in the army when I was younger and I got injured, so I had to sit in a bed for x amount of time, and I took up reading the Bible. I read it 7 times all the way through, and this is what I got out of it. We existed before, and there were lots of spirits. Lucifer was there and wanted to be exalted above God, and a lot of spirits chose to follow him, you see we had free will in Heaven if some people chose him, and the other spirits that didn't choose Lucifer, varied in their devotion to God. So, we were sent here to this earth as a test to see if we will follow God or not."
Woah.
I was floored because that is literally what we believe! It is so cool what the Spirit can teach to earnest pursuers of knowledge!
We excitedly told him that we actually believe that very thing and asked if we could come back another time and talk with him more about it. He told us no, because he likes to pursue knowledge on his own. So, we asked if we could give him something, and he being a nice guy said sure. I pulled a Book of Mormon out of my bag, we explained what it was and promised him that if he read it sincerely he would come to know Jesus Christ even more. He took the book and said, "You know what Sister Bradley, I am going to read this book cover to cover, I promise you that, and when I am done, I am going to call you. I've actually always wanted to read a Book of Mormon."
Wow, there is nothing better than being an instrument in the Lord's hands.
We had a prompting to try by Jackie's house (I know it has been a while since I talked about her) and we hadn't really been able to get in contact for a couple weeks. We start driving down her street and THERE SHE WAS just rollin' down the sidewalk in her wheelchair! Caught her!! haha so we pull up and start talking to her and she said we could come back in the afternoon! Yay! So many blessings!
Last little thought, this week I have really been trying to study the attributes of Jesus Christ and I was able to do a self evaluation and see all the places I have to improve. I feel that as we are closer to the Spirit, we are more humble, and it is more easy to see where we lack and can improve. I have learned (among many other things) the power there is in truly loving those around you. I was struck a while ago as I was reading in Alma 20 where Ammon stops King Lamoni's father from killing both himself and King Lamoni, and how this was done out of pure Christlike love.
"26 And when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release thy brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more—
27 And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee. For the king was greatly astonished at the words which he had spoken, and also at the words which had been spoken by his son Lamoni, therefore he was desirous to learn them."
When King Lamoni's father saw the great love that Ammon had for his son that he literally tried to kill just minutes before, his heart was softened. Later, he and all his kingdom was converted and it all started from this Christlike love that Ammon had for his son. Now, extreme examples like this will not (hopefully) happen in our lives, but I think the Lord was very clear in His purpose for including this in the Book of Mormon. Pure Christlike love changes people. As we become like the Savior and show this love to others, our life is changed, those around us change, and that can cascade on in an infinite amount of ways. I have found this to be so true as I have served the Lord. There is only one way to do His work, and that is His way, the Christlike way.
I love you all!
Serving with a Smile,
Sister Bradley
Pictures!!
Corn.
More corn.
Sister Alapa and I in Indy
No comments:
Post a Comment