Colorado

WE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE THE BOOK OF MORMON

November 18, 2013

This week we had  a different adventure every day! Not really because we tracted most of the week and did a lot of service. We have been volunteering at this rehab place every week. and the best thing is happening! The lady that we help called us one day saying that her husband had taken her kids to church and they had homework so they needed some Books of Mormon! and she wants to go to church too but she has to work every Sunday! but just us being there serving has made the biggest difference in the world.

This week sister Hilton gave an AWESOME training on relying on the Spirit at our district meeting. She came up with this analogy that you can't just "flop" on the Spirit and expect Heavenly Father to do everything for you, but you also can't do everything yourself. She did this demonstration where she needed two companionships, and they were going to pick up their companion- one of them would be a deadweight so it was hard for their companion to pick them up, and the other one would stand up with their companion. HAHAHAHA except one elder picked up his companion fully and didn't even give him a chance to stand up with him, and the other elder flopped around like a literal fish out of water and we couldn't stop laughing. BUT, if you think about it, it is a very true message. We cannot do everything ourselves, but we also cannot expect God to do everything for us. We can't just sit there waiting for an answer, because Heavenly Father trusts us, and if we are close to Him in prayer He will not let us go the wrong way.

WE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE THE BOOK OF MORMON.  Before my mission I don't think I realized how special it is. It is another TESTAMENT of Jesus Christ. We get to learn more about Him. We get to have this record of so many prophet's testimonies, telling us that they have seen our time and tell us how to stay close to Heavenly Father and endure to the end. Christ and Heavenly Father LIVE. Something I really liked that I studied this week was in 3 Nephi. Every time that I read Christ talking it hits me hard. He TRULY was talking to these people in the America's, and it is the most amazing thing in the world if you really think about it. To learn MORE about Christ and His character is one of the greatest blessings that we have. My favorite part is where He is talking with the people and they cried and didn't want Him to leave He had compassion on them and invited ALL the sick and afflicted to come unto Him to be healed and then blessed each of the children. It reminded me of all of the times that I thought I didn't have time to help or serve someone. Or the times I thought it was too hard to be someone's friend or to do something in a calling. Or to even go to a church event. CHRIST ALWAYS HAD TIME. If we really truly were trying to be more Christlike, we'd give all we had to others. There are so many sick and afflicted people around us, and Christ had enough time to speak to them individually before He went back to Heavenly Father. We are all eventually returning to our Heavenly Father, but before we do, we have time. We've been given the time and strength to help every single person in our paths. It is so amazing to be able to look at every person as a child of God, who He wants BACK with Him.

The best day this week was the day we had exchanges. I LOVED THEIR AREA. We went to  visit this lady and teach her for the first time, and she soaked up every word of the restoration. She asked questions and when we answered them it made sense to her, we bore testimony and she LOVED it, and by the end of it she wanted to be baptized so she could finally give all her burdens and sins to Christ! She kept saying how badly she wanted to go to church and be a part of it and bring her granddaughter along. She talked about how when we came in she just felt so "Spirit filled". Then her son walked in when we were talking about baptism and he was like oh yeah I need to do that, and I think hearing this today is God speaking to me saying that I need to do that! I'M SORRY WHAT?  It was the most exciting thing! I have never seen anything like it. Then we got to teach this other family- we just knocked on their door and they let us in and they wanted to go to church and their 4 girls absolutely loved the message. This all happened before noon and it was just the best day of my life. The sister I was with was so great at just talking to everyone. She made it a point to skip over to everyone person she saw  as fast as she could to share the message of HOW MUCH God loves His children. It made me realize that really, EVERYONE deserves to be "skipped after", because Jesus Christ wants every single one of His sheep and wants them to know of the happiness they could have. God wants us all back and He's given us the Book of Mormon to learn even more about Him and His character. We are so blessed to have the Spirit in our lives and to have the Book of Mormon.   Also, every one of you that know missionaries in your area, go up to them and ask for the names of their investigators and pray for them by name every day. It makes the biggest difference in the world because prayer is a powerful thing, and this hastening of the work is real! I've seen it here in my mission and I know that it is. Elder Tom Perry said that it ranks in church history with the first vision and coming forth of the book of Mormon. WE LIVE IN THAT TIME.