Greetings from my little corner of Zion. Where the sun shines, and there are thunderstorms like every other day. Where you will always be wet either from rain or sweat, and where 9 investigators come to church on Sunday. YAY!
Let's start with Vicky. I just want you to guess where she is at in the Book of Mormon. Ok, you'll never guess. Alma 7. What?!? She read 200 pages in just 9 days. Who does that? We saw her on Saturday, and we spent 2 hours just answering all of her questions from her reading. The she said, "I just really feel like I should go with you girls to church tomorrow. I like my church, but I don't agree with everything they teach. But I feel the spirit so strongly when you are here, and I crave it." So she came to church! We sat with her through all 3 meetings and she was taking notes. We actually taught part of the lesson in Relief Society, and I felt strongly impressed to share how we met Vicky and how important she was to us. So after we sat down she gave us both big hugs and said, "I have been so blessed by having you in my life." After church we just sat for an hour answering all her questions. She has the best questions! Her questions are music to a missionary's ears. She wanted to know all about the temple and she wants to go there! Goodness, I love this woman.
Then Kathryn's family. We gave her 4 kids each their own Book of Mormon and started reading it with their family. One day we stopped by their house without an appointment, but all 4 kids ran out of the house to meet us, with the Book of Mormon in hand. I love it. They make us feel so special. We always get hugs, they tell us how much they love us, and always ask how many days until their baptism. I'm the luckiest sister missionary. :)
I know Pioneer Day is coming up in a month or so, but this week I had an interesting insight. When the Lord asked the pioneers to travel out west, He could have made their journey so easy. He could have kept all the storms away, dry up the rivers, kill all the wolves and drive away all the Indians. But He didn't. Why? Because if they didn't have hardships, they wouldn't appreciate the miracles, and Salt Lake wouldn't be as sweet of a reward once they got there. Alma 36:20-21 is probably the best description of this. We will have joy as exquisite as our pains.
The same goes for missionary work. If we had a million Vicky's to teach, we wouldn't appreciate the miracle that she herself is. The fact that we found her on a very hot sweaty day where everyone else on her street rejected us adds to the joy we had when we found her. We are given thorns with the roses so that the roses are even more beautiful.
I know I've had experiences with this concept in real life as well. We know Adam and Eve chose to eat of the forbidden fruit to have knowledge of good AND evil. We can't know good without evil, we can't know joy without pain. The contrast builds our appreciation for the good.
I love you all so much! You don't have to read 200 pages, but I challenge you to read 1 chapter of the Book of Mormon each day this week. And I promise you will have an amazing week.
Sister Laser
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| Roasting marshmallows in Georgia! Notice the chicken coop in the background |
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