Hey y'all! :)
Sister Funk and I had the coolest revelation of sorts during studies
this week. We were studying for a few of our investigators who are of the
eternal variety... they just don't have the desire to change. They are content
with where they are. And so we got into a discussion of how the
gospel is all about change, and how Satan wants to keep us as far from the
gospel so he makes us feel like we're "happy where we are". He
gives us a feeling of contentment, so we don't feel the desire to
change, become better, and move closer to Christ. Therefore: contention
(being content) is of the devil. Case closed.
This week has been pretty great. Full of challenges, but what
better opportunity to avoid being content in our circumstances, right? We
had a few days where everything that we had planned for fell through, and we
biked all the way across the area as fast as our legs would take us only to
find that the person we had an appointment with wasn't there. But we
talked to people in the area - hopefully some seeds were planted.
Sister Funk had been feeling some pain in her mouth for the past
week or so, so we went to the dentist this week (luckily the Bishop in this
ward is a dentist) and found out that she needed a root canal... :/ Not
exactly the good news that we were hoping for. So we went back the next
day and had one of them done, and now she's as good as new. And we saw
our investigator Chris at the pharmacy when we went to pick up her prescription
- he told us later that the LAST place he had expected the missionaries
to show up was at his work. Luckily he's cool and doesn't think we're
stalking him or anything. ;)
We had an AWESOME lesson with Honorio and Jennifer this week.
Honorio is one of our "eternal" investigators, and so we planned
this awesome lesson to help him be able to set a baptismal date about covenants
and how they draw us closer to our Heavenly Father, and how sometimes it seems
like God's commandments tie us down but it is really His commandments that make
us free, and how it is Satan that wants to "free" us from God's
commandments but really bind us down with the "chains of hell" in the
end. We had a LONG discussion with him, and it could have gotten really
heated but thankfully the Spirit was there, SO strong, no one could deny it.
Jennifer testified to Honorio about the importance of covenants and kept
telling him that he needs to act - try the experiment as Alma says. And
in the end we were able to set a baptismal date! We're shooting for the
end of the month, and he said he's not ready yet but he'll work towards that
date. :) We are SO excited for him, and we're working on getting
him to be as excited for it as we are. ;) He'll get there. :)
We had a great Zone Meeting this past Friday. President
Mortensen is starting to make the changes that he feels are inspired for the
mission - mostly he's focusing on exact obedience and accountability. And
I can see how the changes are making our mission as a whole better. Great
things are happening in the Texas Houston Mission! President Mortensen is
working on organizing a Mission President's Fireside - something that their
home mission (in California) had done regularly - basically a fireside where
members are strongly encouraged to bring their non member friends, and we as
the missionaries get all of our investigators to come and there is tons of
music and testimonies from recent converts and the Spirit is so strong and
everyone walks away converted. Something like that, anyway. ;) And
Cypress Stake gets to be the trial run - exciting! It will happen towards
the end of September, so we're working to prepare for that.
Awesome miracle experience for the week: We were tracting on
Sunday after lunch and we ran into a guy named Taylor. He came outside to
talk to us, and we ended up having a 45 minute discussion with him in which we
taught the Restoration in response to his questions. He was SO
open-minded, and very willing to ask us his questions and listen to our answers
without getting offended. And he had read and understood the bible and
was quoting or paraphrasing parts of it throughout our whole discussion.
His main question at the end was "why do we need the Book of
Mormon?" so we explained that it was another testament of Jesus Christ and
that it, with the Bible, contains the fullness of the gospel and so on.
And then he asked... ah, I can't remember the exact question... something
along the lines of "If I were seeking this out, what would you as
missionaries tell me to do? Because I feel like I have the truth
already." And honestly, I surprised myself with the answer I gave -
normally I would have directed him to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know
if it is true, and I did that, but in a bolder way. And I think the fact
that we were talking in a somewhat hypothetical situation (because he had used
the word "if") gave me a little more courage... I've been out for
more than a year and I'm still working on being bold with my testifying.
Anyway, I told him, "I would tell you that you don't have the whole
truth yet, and the truth that you are missing is found in the Book of Mormon.
I would invite you to read it with an open mind, seeking to know the
truth, and then ask God if it is His word." We read Moroni 10:4-5,
and he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and said he would do as directed.
He is awesome, and someday he'll be baptized. Someday soon,
hopefully. :) Unfortunately he's leaving to join the Marines in the near
future, so I don't know if we'll be able to see him again... :( But even
if we don't - it was definitely a seed that we planted in fertile ground!
That's all for the week - I hope y'all have a great one! Don't
let Satan make you content - always be willing to change for the better!
Sister Ririe
3 Nephi 11:29
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