Wednesday, January 25, 2017

God's Love and Less-actives

It's Monday!

Hello, all!  Greetings from Paris, Kentucky!  I hope you all are doing well!  So many wonderful things have happened this week. We were so busy ripping Satanic lips off that we didn't take one picture!  I know! I will repent and change!

Monday:  We had a great lesson with F, a recent convert and his girlfriend, C, a recent convert. They met in the ward. He seems so lost with the weight of the world on his shoulders. We are praying that they will be able to find the stability they need. 

Tuesday: We tracted Brian Station, a mobile home park, and met a really sweet woman named D. Wow, was she prepared! She has a faith in Jesus Christ and had a lot of great questions about life after death. She is very humble and seems to be looking for answers.  Since she speaks English, we referred her to Elders Simons and Sherwood, the English missionaries here. We ate dinner with the D family and had a neat lesson using the youth theme video, "Ask." 

Wednesday: We had interviews for this transfer with President in Lexington and received a training on Christlike attributes. Sister Groesbeck gave a really neat training on charity. In Moroni 7:46-47, if we replace the word 'charity' with 'the Atonement,' it reads "46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not [the Atonement], ye are nothing, for [the Atonement] never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto [the Atonement], which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail-- 
47 But [the Atonement] is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." ❤️ 

Thursday: Holy cow! What a day! We had an appointment with a less-active, but she was sick. As we were looking at our schedule, we saw a guy working for the city walking by our car. He turned out to be an inactive who hasn't been to church for about 30 years! He was so cool and agreed to have us over in a few weeks. Hot dog! Then as we were looking for a potential, we TWEd Christian. He said he'd talked to missionaries before and that he was actually a member. We asked him his last name, and he turned out to be a less-active family we had on our schedule to find! WHAAAT! We were able to talk to him and his mom, but she said they were busy until November. We're hoping to see them more and help them back to church. 

Friday: Oh man, we had an awesome lesson tonight!  T and her mother live in Winchester which is about 25 minutes from here. T has been reading in the Book of Mormon. Her mom can't read so she's been listening. We read 3 Nephi 11 together.  They seemed to really enjoy it. They didn't commit to baptism because they were thought it was really fast, but we assured them that they can be ready by February 25th. We feel strongly that they will receive the answers they're looking for and be ready!

Saturday: We had a good lesson with A. She's not a member like a lot of people think, but her husband is. She was close to getting baptized 18 years ago. We shared about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and she asked really good questions! She asked questions about the next life and what we believe. For her, it's hard to change religions since she's been raised with so many traditions and the culture. She said we are welcome to teach her daughters. We are really praying to bring this family to baptism! 

Sunday: I translated again today! Go, me! Man, translating is so tough! Sundays as an Hermana are definitely different than Sundays back home. We taught a lot of lessons today. We get to teach M, a recent convert, during Sunday School. Well, it's mostly Hermana Starling teaching and me reading because my Spanish isn't there yet. We had another lesson this week with F and C. We read from Enos and talked about the importance and gift of repentance. Our last lesson of the night before turning into pumpkins was with H, a less-active. He's a way cool guy. We felt strongly that we needed to teach about God's love for him. We read from Elder Holland's talk, "Like a Broken Vessel." He says "Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. As President Monson said to the Relief Society sisters so movingly last Saturday evening: “That love never changes. … It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there.” Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart. Faithfully pursue the time-tested devotional practices that bring the Spirit of the Lord into your life. Seek the counsel of those who hold keys for your spiritual well-being. Ask for and cherish priesthood blessings. Take the sacrament every week, and hold fast to the perfecting promises of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Believe in miracles. I have seen so many of them come when every other indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead."  I LOVE the words of President Monson and Elder Holland. Many people in this world struggle because they don't know who they are. Many of us are burdened by the trials of life that we lose the feeling of Heavenly Father's arms wrapped around us. 

My invitation to you all this week is to go to your Heavenly Father in prayer and ask Him how He sees you, then ask Him how you should see yourself. I promise that as you do this, you will know that you are a child of Someone who loves you infinitely. 

Press forward, 
 💕 Hermana Boyson

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