This week was really fun! We had a lot of little miracles happen, and lots of other fun things too!
Tuesday 8/1/24
We got to do our first service project! (At least my first service project haha). We helped a sweet elderly couple in one of our wards, the Davises, take down their Christmas decorations which was super fun. They were so kind and fed us lunch too, and being even more generous, Sister Davis let my companions and I each pick one of the little decorative houses she collects, to keep! It’s like those houses in the miniature Christmas scene sets, she has collected SO many of them! And Brother Davis made some scenery for them, like snow maintains out of Styrofoam. It was so amazing seeing all the sets she had collected, I chose the valentines house she had because I thought it was super cute…I didn’t take a picture of it though since I left my phone in the kitchen and we were all the way up in the attic, but it’s super adorable!
After finishing up the service project, we had our first 8 year old lesson. So we’ve been having lessons with members who have a child turning 8 this year, and teaching the lessons we would teach to friends, to them to help them prepare for baptism! We’ve been starting with the restoration. The boy we taught understood most up it and is a super smart kid! One of the questions he asked was if Adam and Eve had belly buttons. It’s a funny question but a valid one I think haha. At the end though he understood that Jesus Christ plays and essential role in everything.
That’s all the major stuff that happened on Tuesday.
Wednesday 10/1/24
There wasn’t too much that went on, we did a lot of stop bys and finding for most of the day, and then later at night we had a lesson with one of the newer members. The Nielsens, Sister Nielsen is the new member and her husband brother Nielsen was already a member. So they’ve had good discussions among themselves and are getting on the topic of the 12 tribes! And I think that’s so cool because sister Nielsen hasn’t gotten her Patriarchal blessing yet, so I think it will be great for her to learn more about the roles of each tribe.
Thursday 11/1/24
Again we had a lot of finding and stop bys. There was this one stop by we went to and her house looked like it was straight out of pride and prejudice! It was so cool, the lady was so polite and let us in, she even gave us a tour of her home and it was like walking into a time capsule from the 1800s. It was so fun and definitely the biggest highlight of the day.
Friday 12/1/24
We had a lesson with our Friend Fina! We taught her more in depth about why the priesthood is so so important in Jesus Christ’s church, and the things the priesthood allows specific people who have it, to perform different actions. Then later we had a lesson with our Friend Tom and also had a really good discussion about the priesthood and the word convert and kind of what it means to be converting to Christ. Not much else happened though because it was a day of weekly planning and that takes hours.
Saturday 13/1/24
We had exchanges today so me and Sister Cochrane went with our roommate Sister Huch and had some lessons and stop by in the area she serves in. We also had a lot of miracles that happened too. We invited one of the returning members we were visiting, to come back to church and she just starts laughing at us…But then she tells us and experience she recently had where she read somewhere in acts (I don’t remember the exact verse) and how she thought she should go back to church AND how she invited a man that she’s interested in to come with her! It was so wonderful because we didn’t know that when we were inviting her. There was a lot more little miracles and it was just a good day overall.
Sunday 14/1/24
Our Friend Tom came to church again! And he had a good time, he says he really likes when the youth speak, and to hear their testimonies. We also had a lot if 8 year old lesson today too (by a lot I mean like 3 haha). So we went to each of those after church. The first lesson we went to, the girl was a bit shy with answering but her older brother was super engaged and answered a lot, we mainly focused on why the priesthood is so important and what it allows certain people to do.
The next 8yro lesson we had the girl knew a lot and participated really well when we asked her questions, her dad has also been reading the Book of Mormon with her in Tagalog which is super cool! He had served in the Philippines and kept it up.
The last lesson we had, the boy knew what we were talking about but just needed help remembering. so the lesson was a good refresher for him and the family.
The lessons we’re teaching are going really well! The parents love when we come teach their kids, and I think it really helps the kids learn why baptism is so important and more on what the gospel truly and fully is.
Monday 15/1/24
Pday again! Haha this Pday was pretty fun, we had a sisters Pday so we got with the sisters in our zone and went to to olive garden for lunch, then did some shopping since another sister and I wanted to get some new dresses since on Friday this week Elder Soares is coming and speaking to everyone in both Georgia Atlanta and the North mission, I’m super excited about it! After shopping we went to the church and played pickle ball and just talked to family, it was really fun.
With all the 8yro lesson we had this week, it’s helped me realize how important it is for everyone to know the gospel, not just the friends we teach, but also those already in the church. I feel that a lot of times those who were born and raised in the church don’t really understand a lot of what it means till they’re older. Not because they can’t comprehend it till they’re older, but rather because they aren’t always taught the details. There’s often times a stigma that they should already know because they are growing up in the church and hear things everyday, but if you aren’t actively teaching children what it means and entails to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, they aren’t going to know till they either find out way later for themselves, or someone else says something that resonates with them in their older years. I think that’s also why a lot of teenagers tend to fall away from the Church, because their faith wasn’t fully their own but rather borrowed from their parents/guardian. If you can teach your children what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ all throughout their life, to let them ask the questions they have and point them to resources that’ll help answer those questions rather than brushing them off; helping them develope their own curiosity to learn more; then they’ll grow their own faith so once it comes time for them to stop relying on family or friends faith, they can stand on their own because they have built a foundation in Christ, instead of crumbling away because they never got the chance to build up that foundation for themselves.
The main reason I’ve seen for people going inactive is because of the “culture” of the church, in the sense that they don’t feel welcomed because their belief isn’t strong enough, or they don’t fit the standard that the PEOPLE have set and assumed everyone to follow, “if you don’t look Mormon, you’re not Mormon”. And simply that is not true and never will be because it’s not something that God told us. He told us ways to become better and closer to him. If his church was meant for perfect humans, none if us would even be able to look in the direction of it, let alone set foot inside.
Now of course not all members have these self made standards they assume on other people, and that’s so good, Christ taught us charity and love. The theme we focus on is Love Share Invite, and there should never be a standard to any of these, Christ doesn’t just love certain people that fit the “standard”, because there is no standard. He condescended bellow ALL things so the each of us could have someone who knows perfectly how we feel, and that is the greatest gift we could ever get. Yet it can still be so hard to accept that gift when those around us make us feel we don’t deserve it.
So I would exhort you all to love those that come to church, be compassionate towards them, make them feel welcomed and safe. The church is for all those who want to be closer to Christ and in order for that to happen, the people have to try their best to love as Christ would. I know this won’t be too difficult of a task for you all because you are all amazing and so loving. Keep spreading your light of Christ.
Mosiah 23:7
“But he said unto them: Behold, is it not expedient that we should have a king; for thus saith the Lord: Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one man shall not think himself above another; therefore I say unto you it is not expedient that ye should have a king.”
Instead of me putting photos in the email, here’s a link to my Google photos so you all can see pictures I add in there. I try to add one everyday!
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