It is amazing how some of the days feel like forever, but when the end of the week comes along, I constantly ask myself, "Where did the time go?!" Sister Dana and I had a pretty successful week where we made some wonderful plans, but no matter where we thought we should be, we always ended up elsewhere.
We went over to Sister Mills’ a couple of times this last week (she is less-active but a great member missionary). She hasn’t been to church in a long time, but she always has people over at her house that she shares the gospel with. When we were over there, we gave her 6 Book of Mormons and ended up committing her to come to the last session of General Conference on Sunday. That is a huge step for her, and we are so excited for her!
Her grandson, Ben, has decided to take things slower than we really wanted. It is really sad because he had such a desire to learn and his daughters really want to come to church, but he is just too tired from work. We have talked to his grandmother who committed to incorporate him in her studies and get him to commit to start learning again.
We were also able to meet with Robbie this week! It has been really rough to meet with him, but when the day came, he texted us and said that he had someone else for us to meet that wanted to learn; it was his girlfriend. It was awesome to be able to meet with her and teach them both the Restoration. The spirit was so strong in the lesson! We committed them to come to church, but unfortunately neither one of them came. We have been talking to them about commitment and covenants, but I think that is something that we are going to have to go over again because we don’t think that they understand the culture of this church versus other churches. I know that all things will work out according to the Lord's will! I just know that it is hard to give up what I want and my timing for His timing! Haha
Oh! Something that was really funny! Our neighbors got married this weekend! The last time we talked to them about marriage they said that they were waiting until 2047, and then all of a sudden, they chose to get married Friday. They came home last month and showed us their wedding rings and the ceremony, and we got to talk to them all about that. It was funny but so great to see their excitement! They are that much closer to baptism now!!! ;) And they don’t even know it! :)
We also had the opportunity to teach Ake-lee and Treyvon. I am pretty sure that I wrote about this last week, but we were able to commit them to baptism for October 18th! We are so excited for them, and we know that they are going to be great assets to the ward. Unfortunately, they come from a pretty rough home life. They spend most of the days at school, and when they go home, they go straight to a member’s house because they don’t like being at their house. It is amazing to see how wonderful these children are and to see their desire to draw closer to their Savior despite their home conditions.
A family that we have been seeing weekly is the Price family. Sis. Price is a wonderful woman who adopted 2 children that had fetal alcohol syndrome. They are a wonderful family, and we have been able to do a Bible study with them every week and help them. We also share a spiritual message with Sister Price every week to help her in any way that we can. I love this family so much, and I don’t know what I would do or where I would be without them in my life.
We were able to have our lesson with Jason's daughter Isabella, and it went great! It is going to be very different teaching her as we are not strictly talking about God. We are helping her with self-confidence and also deciding to make good decisions because that is something that she wants to do. As we teach her, we incorporate the importance of God and other things that will ultimately bring her and her family to church. Since none of them really have any knowledge or background of religion, it is going to be a slow process!
Last night we had a wonderful dinner with the Rivers’ in our ward, and they invited a friend over who we were able to teach and get to know on a more personal level. It was super great! Bro. Rivers did most of the teaching, and that is how it should be because we missionaries leave all the time whereas the members are constant. I am so grateful for the lesson last night and the spirit that was felt!
Well, I am sorry for how scattered this email is but there is a lot of commotion going on around me, and I want to quickly send this because they are restarting all the computers and I don’t want this to be lost so my testimony will come shortly! LOVE YOU!!!!
It was such a wonderful experience to go to the Relief Society Broadcast and hear from some of the General Auxiliary Leaders and President Uchtdorf and hear what all they had to say. I love the spirit that is felt as out appointed leaders talk to us and help us draw closer to our Savior.
The one thing that really stood out to me is the fact that we were given the answer to how to have a rich life!
1) Happiness
2) Joy
3) Love
4) Service
I have really been thinking a lot of about these 4 points and how they make up a rich life. This is how I broke it up!
Point #1: We are truly happy when we are keeping the covenants that we make with the Lord and striving to do what He has commanded us to do. If we are constantly working on coming closer to the Lord, we are able make further promises with Him. In turn, He will bless us with the things that we need.
Point #2: To find true Joy, I always refer to thing that my mother taught me- Jesus, Others, Yourself. As we follow this system and put Christ and others before ourselves, we will be able to "find our best selves" like President Uchtdorf said.
Point #3: Love is charity... Charity is the pure love of Christ. As we look to Christ's teaching and the way that He lived, we can find how to truly love all those around us: our brothers and sisters.
Point #4: "When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God." I think this scripture explains this point so perfectly. As we turn to the Lord for help and guidance, we will know how to serve all of those around us!
I am so grateful for General Conference that is coming up this weekend. I am so grateful for the
opportunity that we have to invite everyone to hear from the prophet and apostles and other appointed leaders. I am so grateful to be out here and testify of the Savior and The Book of Mormon. I love you all so much, and I love my job!
-- Sister Gale
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