This week was very interesting. Sister Hosea is awesome! She comes up with all these "finding" ideas that I never would have thought of myself! We've been visiting members so we can both get to know them better. It's fun to meet new people and see what their interests are. That's what I love about the mission. You always have the opportunity to make new friends. I always try to keep that in mind when we go out contacting. This week, we also went around to meet less active members. They either weren't home or weren't interested. But whoever was at the house, we still introduced ourselves as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We taught Francis, a convert who basically teaches himself. I've learned to ask questions to investigators (and members) that will get them to actually be part of the conversation, and they basically teach themselves. That's the way it should be - people should investigate and learn all they can to find out things for themselves. We had a lesson with Stella this week. She's very open to the gospel. She prays every day to Heavenly Father. He is everything to her. But she believes that all churches are of God, and that she's already been baptized by the right authority. We decided it was time for her to meet the Elders or Sisters who are serving in her area so when the time comes, she can go to a family Ward. She's adorable and I will miss seeing her.
Sometimes in the mission, we missionaries feel vulnerable in different ways. For some, they may be homesick, for others it may be temptation. For me, it's being afraid of the dark. I feel vulnerable and would have trouble sleeping at night. But, when I say my personal prayers, I ask Heavenly Father to protect me while I'm sleeping, that I will have pleasant dreams, and that I'll feel safe. It helps a lot. Sometimes I'll think of the song: "A Child's Prayer", or "Come, Come, Ye Saints". Those songs really bring me peace, and the first one makes me think of my Sister. :) I remember singing this with her in sacrament meeting when I was a little girl.
"Heavenly Father, are you really there,
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?
Some say that Heaven is far away,
But I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father, I remember now,
Something that Jesus told Disciples long ago,
Suffer the children to come to me,
Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee."
I also remember that Satan is afraid of my Mama. I remember one time when I was a little girl, that I was awake one night, afraid that monster Satan was going to get me. My mom came and comforted me. She said: "Satan can't get you, you know why?" "Why?" I asked. "Because HE'S afraid of ME!" Mom said. I didn't doubt that at the time, and I've remembered it ever since.
On Friday, during Zone Sports, we were playing basketball. I'm not an athlete, but I still play with my Zone to have fun and be part of the group, even if I do stand there, not knowing what to do. As we were playing... I honestly don't know how it happened. All I know is that it was an accident. I got hit square in the face. It hurt... I was crying tears of pain AND embarrassment. I felt dizzy and my head was hurting a little. But, those poor Elders... Whenever we play sports and an Elder gets hit, the others just laugh and shake it off. When a Sister (like me) gets hit, it's like the end of the world, or the Second Coming is here! I'll keep playing sports of course, but I'll just be a little more careful. It's how we learn and grow. Let's just hope the Elders will let me play ;)
We made vision boards! Yay! In our vision boards, we put things on like what we want to accomplish in the future. Besides goals for baptisms and obeying with exactness, we also want to meet our eternal companions and have a family. Vision boards are a great way to keep our goals in focus.
The next day, we went to a baptism in Sister Hosea's old area. They gave us food... like... A lot of food. I couldn't eat much, because there was gluten in most of it. But I took it anyways to show appreciation. At first I had wondered why I was in the English Program, and not the Spanish or Polynesian Program. Now I understand. Heavenly Father knows what I have. On the mission, I learned for myself that I couldn't eat gluten. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways.
Yesterday after church, we went to visit some members we haven't seen around in awhile. At one house, we learned the member had moved away, but when the person who lived there answered the door, she snapped at us, saying she had a "No Soliciting" sign on the door, and that there was no reason to wake her up. We were sorry we disturbed her sleep. We explained that we were missionaries and we were looking for the previous owner. She said she didn't know who that was. She told us she wasn't interested and to never come back and wake her up.
I felt sad for her and I learned a valuable lesson here. Some people don't see the blessings until they are ready to accept the Gospel, like Stella. But it made me think, if the Savior knocked on your door while you were sleeping, would you be grumpy at him for waking you, or would you let him in and listen to what he has to say? Stella was asleep when we first visited her, and she was so thankful that we came to see her. The other lady wasn't quite ready yet.
But we should always be ready for the Savior, because he's always ready for us. He's there to listen, to help, to teach, and most especially to love us, and we should be ever ready to receive him.
- Always, Sister Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment