Hey family!! I sure love being a
missionary! Even if it is hard and more or less the biggest roller
coaster I've ever been on. haha! Sister Bowles and I have some
exciting things up ourselves to help get the ward members more
involved in missionary work. There are so many ways to do missionary
work. It isn't just talking to somebody about church stuff. You can
invite people to church activities, to church when you are giving a
talk. There are SO MANY THINGS! :D Something I have learned while on
a mission is that the full-time missionaries need the help of the
members in finding people to teach. This work WILL NOT go forward as
fast as it needs to without the members and the full-time
missionaries working together in unity.
Dad, maybe for FHE y'all can have a
lesson based from the finding chapter of preach my gospel, with an
emphasis on the importance of members. There is such joy that comes
from sharing the gospel. People may or may not accept the gospel, but
you don't know until you share it with them. :D
This week has been great! We had six
less active people at church yesterday!!!! It filled Sister Bowles
and I with joy! I have learned that working with the less active
people is just as important as working with the investigators, and
active members of the church. Our purpose as missionaries is to build
peoples faith.
We have been working with two less
active Sisters and they are on their way back to
the temple! I can't describe how happy Sister Bowles and I were
when we heard this news. They are wonderful Sisters!
Working with less active members has
also taught me how
important visiting teaching is! I now understand how important it
is. One of these Sisters had a great visit with her visiting teacher
and us and the next Sunday came back to church after 5 years of not
going and now is in the process of getting her temple recommend. :D
During that visit Sister Bowles and I hardly said a word. Her
visiting teacher really did the talking. She spoke by the Spirit and
really connected with this sister. She was bold with her, but full of
love and kindness. I have such a testimony of visiting teaching and I
will not ever take it for granted ever again. I love you very much
mom! I'm so thankful for all the prayers you say in my behalf. I am
so grateful for the emails you send to me each week. :D I love to
read them. I just wish I had more time to write more. So much happens
during the week, its hard to keep track of everything. Have a great
week! I sure love you!
Dad: Are you serving in the Village
Ward with Bishop Huff?
I sure am! Bishop Huff is awesome!
Dad: So do you meet at the chapel on
5020
NW 63rd ST?
Yes
Dad: What are some of the street
names you have tracted on and the major street numbers from this
week? Yes, I would like to google earth stalk you again. For example
if you tracted by the chapel, you might say tracted on 5000 NW 63rd
street. This does not give away the location of investigators or
anything, but lets me see the area.
We've tracted on Andover
Court and in apartment complexes just east of us. It's hard for
me to remember where I've tracted. We haven't spend more than 2 or 3
hours a day tracting on a particular road. We ride our bikes to and
from places a lot and stop and talk to people on our way to wherever
we're going (like appointments or the library).
I am hesitant to tell you this, but it
is a neat experience. I just don't want you to worry. I do want you
to know I am being protected. The south part of our area is pretty
ghetto. Everything from about 15th street down to Reno (end of our
area) is a place we don't go if its dark. And we don't do much
tracting down in that area.
The other day we had to go to 4th
street. It was around 4 in the afternoon. As we drove down there to
check on a referral, Sister Bowles and I felt very uneasy. We did
contact the referral and they were not interested so we went to check
on a less active in the area. As we pulled up to the house we both
sat there. Sister Bowles said she just felt sick to her stomach about
going to see the less active right now. I was also feeling
uncomfortable and uneasy with the idea. So we left. As soon as we
were out of the area we both felt like we could breath easy again. I
know the Spirit was guiding us and protecting us. So like I said,
please don't worry about me, but I did want to share that with
everybody.
Also, the church is actually out of our
area. Our area from
east to west is May Avenue to Western Avenue. Our North to South
Boundry is Coffee Creek to Reno avenue, more or less. :)
Eric: What did you not expect this
week?
Eric, Something I didn't expect this
week was to learn how important it is for members of the church to do
missionary work. The missionaries have A LOT more success in finding
and baptizing people when members of the church share the gospel with
their friends and family and then invite them to have the
missionaries teach them than if missionaries were to knock on a
person's door. I also learned how important it is to really love
others, even if they seem different. Not everybody chooses the right,
but we still need to show them the same love that Jesus does.
Mom: Is there anything you need us
to send to you or that you are missing?
Are you sending back my microSD card?
Also, if you are going to Jenni's wedding, could you take a picture
of them coming out of the temple. I would love to see a picture. :D
Also, another towel would be nice. Tell Chris he can respond to my
letter in an email if he wants.
Love, Sister Record
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