Building

May 11, 2015

My most hopeful goal for this week is that I can feel the Holy Ghost every day. There is nothing quite like feeling the Holy Ghost telling me I've done a good job today, to feel satisfied with the work I did. 

We went to the Cheesecake Factory today. It's a restaurant. At first, I thought it was just a bakery for cheesecake, but it's a restaurant! With cheesecake for dessert. I had a slice of cherry cheesecake....I'm feeling it now. Probably shouldn't have eaten it...oh,well. That's what repentance is for, right?  It's a good thing it's a prominent part of our lives.

 

This week, President Riggs had us read Nehemiah chapters 1-6, about Nehemiah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Then, he analyzed with us how we can apply that to our mission. Nehemiah was bold in telling the king that he was sad because the king had destroyed Jerusalem and asking leave to rebuild it. Then he was bold in telling the people of Jerusalem that they were a reproach, but there was something they could do to fix it-rebuild the wall! But since it was so big, they needed everybody to work "from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared", like missionaries work all day-and they all worked on different sections of the wall-like areas in a mission. And because they all worked so hard, all together, at their assigned areas, they got the wall rebuilt in 52 days....when President Riggs did this with us, he only had 53 days left in his mission, so we're building a wall! Which is strange, because you'd think that missionaries are to break down walls, but we're building a wall! We're building by being bold. Using scriptures boldly in our lessons, boldly inviting, making our prayers mighty, becoming bold like Nehemiah! It's going to be awesome! "The people [have] a mind to work."

And so, I'm going back to build! 

Many meetings

4 May 2015

My companions and I are good! We laugh together a lot. Mostly, we just laugh at silly things we do and my little emotional explosions. It helps me though, because when I express my anger and then they laugh, it helps me realize that I don't really need to be angry, and that I can laugh at my shortcomings, too.

Things have been very busy this week. Every single day, almost, had a meeting of some sort. Tuesday was Sister's Conference. We did an activity of expressing, on paper, the blessings and gifts we received in our patriarchal blessings in the form of "I will become" or "I have been blessed with." It was a good exercise.

Wednesday was district meeting, where we talked about revelation through church attendance and how we can help our investigators understand the importance of going to church.

Thursday was Zone Conference. Something I really liked was President's analogy of the Atonement to a Subway gift card- Someone had to earn the money and buy him that gift card. But, it has terms and conditions. In order to use that gift card, he has to go to a Subway, place an order(chicken chipotle on flatbread is the best, he says), then hand the gift card to the cashier. Likewise with the Atonement. Christ worked and bought us redemption at the cost of his own life. But, there are terms and conditions to using the Atonement. We have to come into Him, confess and forsake our sins, and follow His commandments. But the best part about this Redemption Card is that it never runs out. I really liked that. Also, he shared with us the date interview questions he would have with his daughter's dates. Before the date, he would take the young man aside and then start with, "Would you like to say the opening prayer or do you want me to do it?" Then, if the young man didn't ask for the Spirit to be with them on the date, President Riggs would say, "I noticed you didn't ask for the Spirit to be with you on the date. Is there a reason for that?" Then he'd remind them that he was once a young man too and say, "What are you plans for the date?" "If that falls through, what are your back-up plans?" Then he'd ask, "What are you going to do to make sure you are never alone with my daughter?" Then finally, "Where will you be going?" and "What time will you be getting back?" I think it's a great idea! I'm going to ask my husband to do it with our daughters. :)

Friday was weekly planning, not really a meeting, but it kind of is, when all of the missionaries of a companionship or tripanionship get together and we plan what we'll be doing next week. It helps us be productive, and when we're productive, we're happy.

Saturday was the adult session of stake conference. We were taught a lot about how ward councils help in the conversion process. It was really neat to see how people are benefitted from that.

Sunday was the general session of Stake Conference. We were taught about how to minister with kindness, and if necessary, use words. Then, in the evening, we went to a fireside, and 3 of our 4 recent converts spoke! We were all so proud of them! It was also great to see some people that I haven't seen in awhile.

But, along with the meetings, President Riggs asked us to fast over the weekend for more passion and boldness. Yesterday, as we were about to go break our fast, a car pulled up and the man in the passenger's side said, "Hey, sisters, can I talk to you a bit about Jesus?" We said, "Sure." So he talked to us about how, because Christ died on the cross for us, we're saved and we don't need to do anything else. While my companions talked with the man, I stood quietly by the car. Then, as the talk turned to the Book of Mormon, the thought came to me that we had been fasting for more passion and boldness, and this was an opportunity to express that. So I walked up to the car just as he was saying, "I can't take the Book of Mormon because if I take it, I'm showing God that what He has given me is not enough." I said, "Ever thought that the Book of Mormon is God's way of saying, 'yes, your offering is acceptable and I want to give you more'?" He still didn't take it, but the men in the back did. I'll probably never see those men again, but that's all the more reason to be bold now, right? We only have one shot at a strong first impression, so we better make it good. :)

Something funny that happened this week was that one of our recent converts was smelling his shoe (he's an 8-year-old), and his mom said, "Stop it! If you keep smelling your shoe, the bad bacteria will go into your brain and you will stop being smart!" the way she said it in her El Salvadoranian accent made it very funny. :)

Forsythia Hedge-the yellow made me happy!

Cherry Blossoms!

April 20th, 2015

This week, we went to the visitor's center with a returning member and his mom. We wanted to watch "Meet the Mormons," but it was too late to start it, so we watched the "Treasure in Heaven, the John Tanner Story" instead. It was really weird watching it in English....we wanted to watch it in Spanish, but they didn't have it, so we watched it in English (he speaks fluent English, so it's ok) and there's a quote at the beginning of the movie that I had never seen before! It said, "Consecration is the only surrender in which there is also victory." By Neal A. Maxwell. I'm still pondering about what it means, but so far, I found out the word "Surrender," if you go back to it's old English meanings, literally means "giving back above or beyond, to hand over to cause to be." I thought that was interesting. So, by consecrating ourselves, we are giving back to the Lord above and beyond what we normally give, and we're handing over whatever it is we have to cause to be and to become something better. But, this surrender is a victory because God blesses us and gives back to us what we need. (See also the Mormon Message "the Refiner's Fire", last line spoken). So, consecration is the only surrender where we give up ourselves and everything we have to the Lord and the Lord gives everything we need back to us! It's a win-win! But, I also thought it was interesting that the movie said John Tanner gave an equivalent of $250 million to the church. Wow. That's a lot.

Other than that, life has been a blur of activity! We decided we get more done as a trio. But it's been good. Hna. Tate drives the car, I drive the GPS, and Hna. Pettit drives the phone! It all works out! And then, when you're in a crowd of people, you can talk to everybody! It's great! They've helped me to laugh at my mistakes and get better with being social and Spanish-just about everything, really.

We almost have a date for the wedding for our investigator and we're going to help her with the shopping on Thursday. My companions are excited to go shopping. I'm not, but that's ok. I'll come along to support them, anyway. :)

Cherry Blossom pictures: