Tuesday, November 13, 2012

OU Sooners beat the OSU Cowboys!

Hey all!
I have officially been transferred to Stillwater Oklahoma!! It is really weird being back in a family ward and not working with the students. I have been in Norman for the last 5 1/2 months. I am excited to be with Sister Nelson here in Stillwater. I love being companions with her! We were companions for 4 months in Norman and now we get to be companions for another six weeks. That is nearly 6 months of being companions with her! We joke around that I have been following her around my entire mission. I came to Oklahoma and we were in the same district. Then she left for Norman and I followed her there six weeks later. She came to Stillwater and now I'm with her again after six weeks. Its pretty funny. :) 

I also have another companion, Sister Obena. She is from Kiribati. She is the sweetest person ever! I am so excited to be companions with her. I absolutely love being in a trio too! I was in a trio in the MTC and I've been in a trio for almost the last six months! Its great! Sister Obena received her patriarchal blessing yesterday, so it was really special to be able to be there for that. The patriarch (who is also a senior missionary in our mission) called Sister Nelson and I substitute parents and we got to share our thoughts about patriarchal blessings. :)

I have really enjoyed Stillwater so far. It is a lot different than Norman though. Stillwater and Norman are both college towns and are actually have rival football teams. Sister Nelson and I are both OU (Norman) fans though. The ward members tease that I had to be sent up here to Stillwater to repent and become an OSU fan. haha! 

It has been crazy busy! We have some great people we are teaching and one lady should be getting baptized on Saturday. She is an amazing lady and I can't even tell you how much I love her! She is so excited about getting baptized and learning about the gospel.

We have been working with a less active member in the Elder's ward. We are helping her to stop smoking. She had her last cigarette on Tuesday and she has been smoke free since then. She even came to church and her nonmember friend came with her. :) They both loved church and she said she was thinking about coming back to church! yayay! Anyway, I love this woman. She is so kind hearted and has faced a lot of opposition in her life but, she has a desire to do the right thing.

I found a couple scriptures I really love and I wanted to share. First is John 13:8. This is the story of when Jesus washed the apostle's feet. "Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." I loved this scripture when I read it. I had to read it and reread it. It is so vital that we let the Savior's Atonement wash us and make us clean so we can be with Him and our Heavenly Father again. Not only so we can be with them after this life, but also so we can have the companionship of the Holy Ghost in this life. So how do we let Christ's atonement cleanse us? Well, we have heard how to do it before. It is by the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. 

We must have faith in Jesus Christ in order to repent of our sins (Enos 1:6-8). After we repent, or change for the better, we have a desire to more fully follow Jesus Christ. We follow Jesus Christ by making and keeping covenants or promises with our Heavenly Father. The first covenant we make is through baptism. Along with baptism comes the baptism by fire or receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We must have this gift. The Holy Ghost is a purifier and a sanctified (Helaman 3:35) and without him we cannot be prepared to meet our Heavenly Father again. The Holy Ghost gives us the strength and the power to endure to the end. This is what is called the Doctrine of Christ and it is the way we gain full access to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. :D

I also found a scripture in Jeremiah 4:14 the other day. "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" We shared this scripture with one of our investigators who has some things he needs to get rid of in his life in order to be baptized. He set a date to get rid of those things by Saturday, so we are happy for him. :)

We are all excited for the transfer and for all the new missionaries coming out soon. Change is a' comin' and I'm excited to be a part of it! I love being a missionary! I am so happy that I can continue to do missionary work after my mission and that I can teach my own family to do missionary work! I am so excited! haha! 

We were listening to a CD in the car called "The Missionary Next Door" by Diana Holscher. (I probably butchered the spelling on the last name.) I would HIGHLY recommend you find that and listen to it. It talks mostly about being a member missionary. Seriously, the members are so VITAL in the success of the work we do as missionaries. I never realized how important you are in the work of the Lord. We CANNOT do this without you! The Lord needs, we need you, to invite your friends and family who are not currently enjoying the blessings of the gospel to learn how they can enjoy those blessings. This is not a sales pitch. Be loving and kind and share the gospel because you want people to feel the love of their Heavenly Father. :D I heard something yesterday that I want to end with. "I am an ordinary person striving for an extraordinary eternity!"
I invite you to pray for opportunities to share the gospel with those you love. At a time when giving and loving is so prevalent, why don't we share with others the greatest gift we have been given? I promise if you are willing to act on what God tells you to do, you will recognize those people who are ready and just waiting for what you have to share. You will find so much happiness in sharing the gospel with others. Don't be afraid of opening your mouth. :) (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36, 33:8)

Thank You for all of your support! I love you SO MUCH and am so grateful for all you are doing to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those around you! That is probably the best Christmas present for me, to know those I love are anxiously engaged in a good cause. :)

Love, Sister Record

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