Email #5!
This week was kinda crazy. It felt like it went so slowly, yet so quickly at the same time! But before I go about my week, how have you all been? I hope you’ve been well and had some fun things happen!
Tuesday 16/1/24
We were on exchanges, so I was with one of our roommates, Sister Morris. We had a ton of finding put in, that was pretty much all we did, we met a couple people and made a new friend too! Jerry is his name and he’s our first friend in Milton which is huge! The members were really excited when we told them, we’re just hoping we can get back in with him and hopefully have his wife join us as well.
Wednesday 17/1/24
We had a few lessons today! The first one was with Fina, we taught her about the Book of Mormon and helped her get the introduction video up since she can’t read. We asked her why she believes our church is the true church, and she said it’s because she feels God there. She went on to tell us that she didn’t like the churches in Africa because they were all about the money, and they would “throw” the Holy spirit into you…She was NOT a fan of that and expressed it very clearly to us, it was funny, because she demonstrated it for us but before she did she looked up and said “God, forgive me” then started laughing and shaking her head as she proceeded to demonstrate how the pastor would throw the spirit into you.
After Finas lesson, we had a member lesson that went super well, and then we were supposed to have another potential friend, but they had something come up again. We decided to stop teaching them because they aren’t very interested in actually having us over.
Thursday 18/1/24
We had another lesson with a brand new friend Atul, he’s Hindu so we mainly talked about who God is to us, who we believe him to be, and how he has a plan and purpose for each of us. I know I’ve said this before but it truly is so amazing seeing other beliefs and how they find peace and joy in what they believe in.
Then we had a lesson with Jerry! And it was amazing. Seeing the Atonement click for him after we explained it was beautiful, it helped him realize and see things from his life fall into place, as he was explaining some events he went through, we could tell that the Atonement of Jesus Christ was something that resonated strongly with him. Seeing it happen in real time was fascinating, God truly is good.
Afterward, we had a lesson with our Friend Kim and talked with her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, we had a really wonderful discussion and invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was true, in the next lesson we have we’ll follow up to see how she’s doing.
Friday 19/1/24
We got to listen to Elder Ulisses Soares speak!! It was amazing, and something I’ve been looking forward to from the beginning in the field. We took a group picture with all of the Georgia Atlanta North Mission, Elder Soares, and the brethren of the Seventy that were with him, then we got to shake each of their hands as we filed into the chapel to listen to them speak. I have so many notes that I wrote down, but a few things that stuck out to me was when he stated,
“Joy is powerful, a gift for the faithful. When we can feel the Atonement in our lives we can have joy. Jesus Christ is joy.”
Then he listed some things about joy;
1. Feeling Joy increases our desire to share the gospel with others
2. Joy is a principle of power
3. Having Joy is a choice!
4. We can feel true joy by focusing our mission on Jesus Christ.
Another profound statement he made was, “Can you imagine God not being Joyful?”. I’ll let you all ponder your own thoughts about these things, I know they are so powerful and so important.
After Elder Soares we had a lesson with our Friend Tom, it went really well and we actually invited him to read the baptismal interview questions since he’s progressing so well and he was actually curious to look at them! He’s doing amazing!
Saturday 20/1/24
We had weekly planning so the morning was really slow, but later in the afternoon we had a lesson with Fina again and talked about prayer. She shared a beautiful story about how God had answered her prayers when she was living in Sierra Leone during the civil war that was going on there years back. She said she was praying all the time to God to protect the children she was taking care of, I don’t remember how many she said she was looking after, but they were her siblings children, she was caring for them because her siblings passed away. And she told us that not a single one was lost and that helped her faith and testimony in God grow significantly. She has so many amazing moments with God.
We just did some stop bys afterwards.
Sunday 21/1/24
We had church and in the Sunday schools they’re going over the come follow me lessons. Have you all been keeping up with the come follow me? If not you should be! It’ll really help you understand the Book of Mormon better.
Then we had some lessons that went pretty well, over all it was a pretty short day.
Monday 22/1/24
Pday! Haha we went and helped one of the Hermanas pack since she’s going home soon, and surprisingly that didn’t take very long at all. Then we did some thrifting with the Elders in our district and after just went to the church and talked with family. The majority of the day was full of driving…but it was good nonetheless.
So much has happened in the month that I’ve been here, it went so fast too. I’m learning so much yet I still have so much to learn. I’ve had so many ups and actually quite a bit of downs as well, but I know that as I continue to focus on Christ in the work I’m doing for Heavenly Father, I know things will become happier and I’ll grow even more, because that is something Heavenly Father has promised me.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Look for something that joyful each day, and do come follow me!
Doctrine and Covenants 11:13
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;”
See you next week!
Sister Baron
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