Companion: Sister Melissa Rowley
Hello there!
Right now I'm on Elder Adair's ipad. (Elder and Sister Adair are the Senior couple who live in our apartment complex. We do laundry at their place.) So I'll have to send pictures next week. Sorry this update is going to be kind of short, it's hard to type on an ipad, and the library is closed today.
I've been pondering about the enabling power of the Atonement, and how much the Lord turns us into instruments in his hands when we truly give our whole hearts. I know with all my heart, and with all that I am, that the Savior turns weaknesses into strengths. He succors us in our times of need, and carries us through our lives. I have a personal witness that this is true. I would not be here if it wasn't. I remember before my mission when I would practice teaching the Restoration in family home evening, and struggling to explain it clearly. I'd known about this my whole life, but when called upon to teach it, I felt like my tongue was stuck in my mouth, and my words were rough and rocky. A couple months before leaving for my mission, I received a Father's blessing. I was blessed that in time, I would be able to teach the message of the Restoration with power. That brought great comfort, and truly has come. And is still developing. Yesterday I had a humbling experience that confirmed this to me. We were having dinner with a family in our ward, and doing a "demonstration" of how we would teach the Restoration to some investigators. We told them to pretend that they had never heard this before. It was really neat. The spirit was very strong as Sister Rowley and I followed the spirit in teaching with unity. The most powerful part for me was when I bore testimony of the first vision, and quoted Joseph Smith directly. Before, the younger boys were being kind of silly and asking some of those hard questions that people ask sometimes, but when I started quoting Joseph Smith, everyone was silent. The parents had tears in their eyes and the power we could all feel in that room was undeniable. There was about a 5 second pause after. I will never forget that feeling. Looking back, I can see how that promise given to me is being fulfilled. Not only in myself, but in my companions as well. D&C 121:45 says,
"...let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall they confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from Heaven."
As virtue becomes a part of who we are, our confidence grows, and our understanding of the doctrines of the gospel "distill upon our souls".
I had a great birthday! I've mentioned before that our area is HUGE. We drove a ways out to do some work in a small town. We met a few people, and even stopped a guy on his lawn mower. Sister Rowley and I have been working on being more bold. It was a beautiful day, and the Adair's took us out to get ice cream. We had dinner with the Daniel's, who graciously took a picture of us and sent it.
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| Sister Rowley and Sister Record |
Love,
Sister Record
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