Sunday (yesterday) was a really great day. When we were
planning in the morning, Sister Bell said that we should set a goal of 4
investigators. At first, I thought that would probably be a little too high or
unreachable. But, with God, we can do all things. Although, I don't know if
I've ever found 4 investigators in one day on my mission. But, I felt like it
was possible, and so we committed to that goal.
In church, there was a returned sister missionary who bore
her testimony of how when we have faith to miracles, we should just think of
them as if they have already happened and have confidence before the Lord in
our commitment to a goal or to a miracle, according to his will...of course.
(that's another thing I have been learning about...God's will).
Anyways, during language study, I was doing my normal thing
and reading out loud from the Book of Mormon and such. But, I felt prompted
that I should do something else. So, halfway through the page I stopped and
began looking up phrases that I could use on the phone while talking to people.
Then I wrote some of them down and decided to practice. So, I was calling
formers for a while, and either they weren't answering, or they weren't
interested in meeting. Just as I felt like quitting, I called one more person,
and he set a return appointment.
My faith increased. We were in the last 30 minutes of our
night, running from complex to complex, calling all of the people on the call
boxes, and a couple answered and we made a return appointment for tonight with
them. So that was 3 out of 4. Then, we had about 15 minutes left before we
needed to drive home. We ran over to the neighboring complex and started
knocking. No one was answering. But, in the last 5 minutes, a girl answered.
She's from Ukraine..probably YSA age. She agreed to a return appointment as
well and took a Book of Mormon. President! God directed us to 4 new
investigators yesterday. It was so incredible! I love this work, and I know
that inspired goals are always attainable, according to God's will.
A poem that I read this week that I love:
"The tumult and the shouting dies.
The captains and the kings depart.
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet.
Lest we forget. Lest we forget."
As I was reading this alongside Helaman 5 this week, I was
thinking about the importance of remembering.
"Lord surely
should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in
their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. And he hath power given unto
him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance;
therefore he hath sent his angels (all of us!!) to declare the tidings of the
conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto
the salvation of their souls. My sons, remember, remember that it is upon the
rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation;
that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the
whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it
shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless
wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a
foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
When we remember who Jesus Christ is...for us personally,
and for all other people, we aren't redeemed IN our sins. We are literally redeemed
FROM them. They are actually gone. Forgotten. In the moment when we realize
this, we feel that feeling of God's love, and his ultimate sacrifice for us. A
power comes into our lives, and we feel alive in Christ. We look up and live.
But, then life continues on, and that feeling slips from our minds as we get
caught up in all of the other aspects of life. We make more mistakes, we aren't
perfect. But, each and every time we remember what Christ has done for us, it
makes us want to be a better person. And, over time, we realize that wishing to
be better won't actually help us to be better. It's through the enabling power
of Christ that we actually do begin to gradually become like Him. We cannot
fall. We actually CANNOT fall if we are yoked with Christ. It doesn't say
"if the devil will send forth his mighty winds," it says
"when." but IF we build on the foundation of Christ, we CANNOT fall
when the might winds are buffeting us, and knocking down everyone around us.
Sorry for the novel of an email. There is so much more that
I could write, if time permitted. But, I will spare you that today. I love and
miss each and every one of you! Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Cectpa Jenne"
No pictures this week :(
Hopefully there will be some next week!!
