New Beginnings!

11/18/13

 Hey Y'all!

This week I got a new companion, Sister Tenny! She's been out for about a year and she's from Washington (the state). It's been so much fun! Seriously, she's the best. We are on FIRE! We naturally teach well together and we are taking the Green Hills area and turning it upside down :)

So we haven't met with Matthew again yet (he only is available on weekends and he was out of town this weekend), but keep praying that as he reads the Book of Mormon, he will come to know that it is true!

Maria Stranahan not only came to church this Sunday, but her husband got a calling and she brought her parents! Super exciting! For those of you who don't know, she is our investigator that has a date this December! Her husband was less active, but has started coming back. They are awesome. We've had really good experiences with them.

So on Saturday we had an early morning meeting with our Ward Mission Leader. We were leaving and we were driving by a doughnut shop, for some reason doughnuts sounded really good, so we stopped and grabbed a few. On our way out, a man said to us, "Excuse me? I've never seen sisters before who weren't in habits before" (a habit is the nun outfit. We get mistaken for nuns SO much). Then we got to tell him that we were actually missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We had a great conversation with him and gave him a Book of Mormon and got his info. So, later that day:

We were at the Library doing Facebook, and we were walking out and someone said to us "Oh, are you sisters?" Of course we were excited to say, "Yes! We are!" before we could really have a conversation with her, she hurried off, but before she walked out the door, she said "Well you look just a like! That's so fun!"

She had meant biological sisters! Ok, maybe it's not that funny, but we were laughing so hard when we realized what she had meant. There are a lot of different types of "sisters."

Last night we got to go to the stake mission prep class! It was super fun to get to know the youth and demonstrate some different teaching techniques. It kinda helped me look back to two months ago when I was attending mission prep and still aquiring those skills! It's so awesome when you realize that if you put your whole heart into the work, you can progress so quickly! When the youth would ask me how long I had been out, I told them to guess! All of them guessed at least 6 months, and many of them said a year. It was cool to share with them that I was actually brand new, and that you don't have to know what you are doing to be able to share a powerful testimony- you just have to have the courage and be confident in the message.

Anyway, we've had a great week! Not much else to report, but I found this great scripture while reading today, well... it's more of an analogy.

The Book of Mormon teaches us how to take action against temptation:

So at this point of the Book of Mormon, the Gidianton robbers are about to attack the faithful followers of Christ. In 3 Nephi chapter 3, the leader of the Gidianton robbers, Giddianhi, writes the leader of the "good guys," Lachoneus. In his letter, he offers to spare their lives if they join them. He congratualtes them for their hard work and tries to persuade them to give up. This is what I like to call "The Devil's Proposal"

Do we sometimes allow the devil to talk us into surrendering? Do we let him talk us into the small mistakes that we make?

I love how Lachoneus "did not hearken to the epistle of Giddianhi, but he did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the robbers should come down against them." (v. 12)

Then he does three things to help protect his city against the robbers:

1st- 13."Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place"

When we face temptation, we need to gather together for strenght. Tell you family or friends some of the things you are struggling with and how you are trying to change. There is strength in numbers!

2nd- 14. "And he caused that fortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night."

Build the fortifications of scripture study and prayer. Never let your guard down, day or night. Always be prepared. Make your decisions a head of time and be ready to react accordingly.

3rd- 15. "Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will nowise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers."

We HAVE to repent of our mistakes, or we can't have to full influence of the spirit in our lives. When you repent and try to do your best, you will have so many more blessings and things will become so much more clear. You receive more direct answers to questions and the spirit will guide you. You can't expect to be protected if you aren't doing your part :)

There are always things that we can work on, and there are always small mistakes that we justify making. If we take these three steps to make sure that we don't get talked into making them anymore, I know that we will be so much happier! That is what this life is all about right? It's not about the pleasurable things or the instant gratification, it's about taking this precious time to further the Lord's work in everything that we do and doing the things that are hard for us, like improving ourselves daily, to become what he needs us to become in this life.

Cause that's what it's all about right? This life is about growing. So I'm learning that you have to be proactive about making sure that you are taking advantage of this time to grow!

Love you all! Hope you are doing well! Have a great week!