#1 - Sister Walker and me in the rain
#2 - My district at the temple
#3 - Also, just look at the sky here...the weather is crazy! One minute it's torrential downpour, the next is blue skies. I just don't understand.
Hey Y'all!
It has been a crazy week, and let me tell you - the rain has been
coming down hard! We got several texts throughout the week with flash
flood warnings - luckily there was enough break between each storm that there
wasn't any flooding, at least not that I've heard of. But we've been safe
- thanks to awesome members and the Lord. We have gotten a little wet...
but a little water never hurt anyone, right? ;) There was one storm at
the end of the week and sister Jeppson (we were on exchanges) and I were
walking through the neighborhood to our next appointment and listening to the
loud thunder roll through the sky when all of a sudden we see a flash right
above us and hear the zap and the thunder at the same time - super scary!
I have no doubt that the Lord protected us there - and always.
In spite of the rain, we've been doing the same things we always do
- finding and serving and teaching. :) Wes and Kelly are doing awesome -
we taught them twice this past week. Last night we taught them the Plan
of Salvation, and the spirit was SO strong and I could tell they were feeling it.
Kelly testified of the things she learned as a child, and it was really
powerful. We invited Wes to be baptized, and he has some concerns...
mostly that what we're teaching is very different from what he grew up
believing and he's already been baptized. But we'll keep working with
him, and help him learn the truth for himself. I love teaching them -
they are both so open and friendly. Of course, I love teaching anyone
about the gospel. I just hope that when I teach, the people I'm teaching
realize that we are doing it because we love them and care about them, not just
because it is our job. That is something that Sister Walker and I have
really been focusing on - making sure that people know we care about them, and
that we're not simply "trying to convert them". We ARE trying
to convert them... but it's because we care and we want them to have the
blessings that we know come from living the gospel.
We had kind of a cool experience with that this past week, with a
less active named Martha. We've been visiting with her for a while, and
it's always been the same. We visit, share a message, invite her to
change and come back to church, and leave. But this time, we visited for
a while, and all of a sudden, we were able to get through a wall that she's put
up between herself and the church. She shared her conversion story with
us, and expressed the concerns that she had with coming back to church (her
family is pulled in all sorts of religious directions with her husband's
church, the church her kids like, and the church her husband's parents want
them to attend, and she doesn't want to add another church to the mix.)
After she had finished talking, she said that she didn't know what had
made her share all that, but she also said something I will never forget:
"I don't know exactly what it is about the two of you, but I can tell you
care." I ALWAYS want to be the type of missionary - the type of
person, really - that people can tell that I care about them.
We have an AWESOME finding experience from this past week:
Sister Walker and I were out walking around, contacting people, when we
felt a strong impression to tract a certain street. So we walk to the
street, walk all the way down the street to start at the other end. We
didn't plan it that way... it just happened. And for a good reason:
The first door that we knocked on we got talking to a guy named Joey.
He said that he got a copy of the Book of Mormon a few years ago from
some elders, and that he had read it, and liked it so much that he had been to
visit Temple Square. At this point, I'm astonished, but not completely
"beyond all measure" (in a good way)- that part is coming. ;)
He hasn't taken the missionary lessons yet, but he said he'd be willing
to, so we'll hopefully be visiting with him later this week. We shared
Alma 32:27 on his doorstep and had a good discussion about acting on our faith.
And then we got his info, and left. Here's the best part - we
continued knocking doors on his street, and a few houses later, Joey comes out
with his Book of Mormon in hand (this is the one he got a few years ago - we
hadn't given him another copy) and says "excuse me - could you remind me
again where that passage you read is? I'd like to study it more
later." Yup, astonished beyond all measure, right there. Maybe
I shouldn't be.. after all, our message is amazing and people really should
react in this or similar ways... but unfortunately that doesn't happen very
much. Anyway, he is golden. G-O-L-D-E-N. I'm excited to have
more encounters with him later. :)
We went to the Temple this week - SO exciting! I love the
temple SO much! And the work we do is SO amazing. Also - Sister
Walker and I feel like missionary work is the most stressful thing ever, and
it's only in the temple that we can feel completely at peace. It's
amazing. I'm so happy and so blessed to be able to go as often as I
can.
We also went on exchanges this week - Sister Jeppson came to visit
me here in Memorial Springs, and SO much happened, and I learned a lot from
her, mostly the "go about doing good" part of missionary work.
While we were out walking in the rain (after the lightning part had
passed) we saw a little old Asian lady struggling to pull some wet bags of
grass to the curb. Without hesitation, Sister Jeppson ran over to help
her, and after we finished with that we had a good conversation with her where
we were able to testify of the eternal nature of the family. She said
she'd be willing to hear more, so Sister Walker and I will hopefully be able to
teach her the Plan of Salvation sometime this week.
The Lord really is moving his work forward - there is SO much going
on here in my little Memorial Springs world. I love being a missionary,
and I love this work. Yes, sometimes it's stressful, and sometimes I'm
more exhausted than I ever thought was possible. But it is worth it - I
do know that. The church is true - there's no denying it. I love
y'all so much, and hope you have a fantastic week!
Sister Ririe
1 Corinthians 3:6 -- possibly my new favorite scripture - I love it!
No comments:
Post a Comment