Hey everybody!
Sorry I didn't write yesterday. It was
quite an interesting day we had yesterday. So the reason I didn't write yesterday
was that Sister Christensen got really sick on Sunday. So we stayed
home with her yesterday to let her rest. I started to get a little
restless being in the house all day... so I started to play with
playdough and made this for Sister
Christensen. She liked it. :)
We taught a girl named [Name withheld]
on Sunday. She is roommates with one of the recent converts and both
of them are from China. It was a very powerful lesson. First thing
she asked before we even started was if Sister Christensen was
feeling okay. [Name withheld] could tell she wasn't feeling well.
[Name withheld] doesn't really believe in God, but wants to know for
herself if He is really there. We taught her about how God is our
loving Heavenly Father and that he wants to hear from us. We taught
her how to pray and what to pray for. We invited her to pray at the
end of the lesson. She was a little nervous about praying, but she
did. She read the format of prayer in the Restoration pamphlet and
prayed out loud for the first time in her life. It was incredible!
She gave such a great prayer. Sister Christensen was just starting to
get sick and [Name withheld] prayed that Sister Christensen would
feel better soon. After the prayer [Name withheld] was all smiles
and gave Sister Christensen and then all of us a big hug. :D
At Zone Conference a couple weeks ago
Sister Taylor talked to the Sisters about how its really easy for us
to look too casual in our dress. She asked us to please wear a nice
jacket or blazer to Sunday meetings and other church related
meetings. We need to look a little more professional at those kinds
of things. On Sunday morning I was getting ready for church and was
thinking to myself that on Monday I need to go get a jacket to wear
to Sunday meetings like Sister Taylor had mentioned at Zone
Conference. I had looked for a jacket the previous P-day when we
were shopping, but couldn't find one. As I was getting ready I said
a quick prayer that I would be able to find a jacket on Monday and
that I wouldn't have to spend a lot of money on it. Immediately after
the prayer I think I mentioned out loud to my companions that on
Monday we needed to go to the store so I could find a jacket. Sister
Christensen told me there was an extra jacket in the closet. I tried
it on and it fit perfectly. An answer to prayers? I think so. :)
On Tuesday (May 29) The whole mission
was under a tornado watch, but nothing really happened. We did have
some pretty sweet lightening and thunderstorms. I took a video clip
of it (from inside the house). It was just constant flashes of
lightening and a lot of thunder! It made me so HAPPY!! I will miss
the thunderstorms when I come home... in over a year. haha! It is
crazy to think Friday is my four month mark! August will be my 6
month mark. Jason hits his year mark in July. Oh man how time just
flies by!
On Wednesday (May 30) I came across
this from David O McKay. He is talking about how he visited a
sculptor's yard in Florence Italy once. He says, "Scattered
about were unbroken, irregular pieces of granite from which a
sculptor was preparing to cut out a vision which he saw in his
mind... If you had stood in that yard, and a man had placed in your
hands a chisel and a hammer, would you have dared to take one of the
shapeless blocks of stone and carve a human image our of it? You
could not do it. Or if someone had placed before you a canvas and
given you paints and put in your hands a brush, would you have
undertaken to paint on that canvas the picture of an ideal soul? You
probably would have said to the first, 'I'm not a sculptor' and to
the second, 'I am not a painter. I cannot do it.'
Nevertheless, each of us is carving a
soul this very minute- our own. Is it going to be a deformed one, or
is it going to be something admirable and beautiful? Your's is the
responsibility. Nobody else carves it for you. Parents may guide, and
teachers may help with suggestions, but each young man and young
woman has the responsibility to carve his own character." I
said it before and I'll say it again, I love that the Gospel of Jesus
Christ challenges us to become something. The purpose of the Gospel
is to "make bad men good and good men better." -David O
McKay
On Friday (June 1) we were sitting on a
bench on campus reading out loud from Moroni 7 since our investigator
would be calling us that evening to talk about what he had read. We
were reading these verses:
12 Wherefore, all
things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of
the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against
him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that
which is evil continually.
13 But behold,
that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually;
wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to
love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
14 Wherefore, take
heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to
be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.
I looked up and couldn't help but
laugh. There was nobody outside, just us. However, right across the
street from where we were sitting were all these fraternities and
sororities. I just couldn't help but laugh and interrupt whoever was
reading to tell them. :)
I have felt my love for people and for
missionary work grow even bigger this week. I love the peace and
direction that the Gospel brings. The love I feel from my Savior as I
am out here serving in Oklahoma has been incredible. I know I've
shared this scripture before, but I love it. "...I the Lord
build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord
have spoken it, and I will do it." -Ezekiel 36:36 Sometimes we
feel like we're torn down in life. We feel like we have given
everything we have to give. As we turn our burdens over to the Savior
He is able to build us up into something better and stronger than
before. I know without a sliver of doubt that God lives and loves
each and everyone of us. I know Christ is our Savior and that by
relying on His mercy, merits and grace (2
Nephi 2:8) we can become the men and women God wants us to be. I
know that not only does Christ's Atonement cleanse us from sin, but
it strengthens us and enables us to do things we wouldn't be able to
do on our own. If I didn't know this before my mission, I certainly
know it now. :) If it were not for Christ's strengthening and
enabling power (AKA Grace) I would not be serving a mission right
now. I would not be the person I am today. I love my Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ more than words can express. I am so grateful that my
Heavenly Father loves me enough to give me trials so that I can
become a better servant of His.
I love y'all very very much! :D Have a
great week!
Love, Sister Record
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