Dear Friends and Family!
Just got back from one of the best Temple sessions I have ever attended! I wish that I could explain why, but that wouldn't be ok haha. Just know that this work truly is a revelatory work as I have said before- I really felt the spirit and really was inspired and received some very needed answers to my prayers. I have been working very hard on a sanctification process that we have been doing in our zone. We have really been focusing on the fact that the work of the Lord truly is being hastened, and that if we don't continue to sanctify ourselves, we are not going to be able to be used by the Lord. Part of this process has been going through our mission lives and picking out a few things that we need to either stop doing, or start doing! I was actually pretty discouraged when I first prayed about what I need to stop doing, and made the list- it was HUGE!!! I knew that it was going to be a long list, but I had no idea about all the things that I need to stop or give up to really be able to be prepared for the Lord to take over! I have made the decision that I was going to take half of the list, and take the next three months to work on, and then after that take the last three months of my mission to work on the second half. I have been working on this list for the past two weeks or so, and let me tell you, I have never been happier! I have seen so many blessings and so many miracles in my own personal life that you can't even imagine! The scripture that says "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise!" That is sooo true! I'm not saying that I was doing anything to make me unworthy or bad, but I have a few things that I need to fix to make me more prepared for the work of the Lord! It honestly has been fun to really have to dig down and work to change the things that I need to change. Through it, my studies have gotten better, my prayers have gotten so much more heart felt, and my all around spirituality has just gone through the roof! I am so blessed to be able to say that the Lord knows me and that he loves me! We have been
working on this as an entire zone, and we have seen so many blessings that we had been needing for quite some time. The Lord knows us individually and is willing to help us and bless us, but we need to do the things that he needs us to do first. I am so excited about all of the new missionaries that are coming into the field, because as we went to the new missionary training, there are some really powerful missionaries that have entered the field. Most of the most impressive ones, are the sisters! They blew me away with their testimonies and their desires! I told President after the meeting that we sure are blessed to be able to be getting all the sisters that we are. By September of this year, we are going to have over half our missionaries be sisters! Which is going to make over half our elders be either District leaders or Zone leaders! It is so amazing to be watching all of these changes be happening! I am super blessed to be one of the leaders, who get to train the new missionaries that come in! We are seeing such improvements in our mission, that you couldn't even imagine the difference in the spirit that you can feel! I am so excited for Ryker and all of those young men who have made the choice to serve! They will never regret the decision to serve. We always tell our youth out here this. "You will never regret serving a mission, but you may regret not serving!" That is something that I can bear testimony of! I have never regretted serving, but let me tell you I really would have regretted if I hadn't come back out! This mission is the one that has changed me through and through!!! I LOVE missionary work! I loved serving in the Philippines, but this mission is the one that has really helped me to raise my vision. It's probably just because I have served here longer and I understand most things that are said to me, but I have matured in ways that I can't even tell you! I am getting closer and closer to the man I want to be every day! I still have a long way to go, but I finally feel like I am getting closer.
Our investigators are really starting to do well. We had four at church this past S
unday and that was amazing! We found two new investigators, and one of them is really solid. She says that she has been searching for the true church for years and that she just wants to be able to feel the spirit at church. She said that she isn't sure if what she felt at church was the spirit, but that she hasn't felt what she felt there before. She will come to find very soon that that really is the spirit! We are so excited for her. She is going to go far! Her name is Lourdes. Haha I think I
spelled that right! She is an older lady that lives with her daughter who works like 24/7, and so she feels very alone. Our church is really going to be good for her. She has already made some really good friends, and is doing very well. We are very sad to say that Johanna is not going to be getting baptized anytime soon. Her parents will not allow her to. They are born again Christians, and are very die hard with it. They were actually pretty upset when they found out that she wanted to get baptized. They gave her the permission to meet with us, because they thought that she would realize how wrong we were, and then just back away. So that fell through. Her mom is now living in the states with her, and so we are hoping that maybe we will be able to meet with her and her mom and be able to help her mom see why Johanna wants to be baptized. Who knows, maybe this will be a blessing in the end, and we will be able to convert both her and her mom! We have been really praying and fasting for them and so we shall see what happens. We haven't seen either of them for about a week and a half now, so its been kinda tough. Please keep them in your prayers!
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