Thursday, September 12, 2013

Oh dear! I am so incredibly blessed to be serving as a missionary in the Utah St. George mission. I am been spoiled way more than I deserve. It's true God blesses you as you serve him with exact obedience. 

We had a lot of appointments cancel on us this week but our back up plans just happened to be more successful. We ended up heading to Fredonia earlier Monday night than we planned and decided to map out the area. We went to contact a referral and the house didn't even exist so we went to a house that had a similar house number, it didn't end up to be who we were looking for but they let us in their home. As we were talking to them we found out who they were and the Spirit reminded me something about them. They are a less-active family that hasn't let in any home teachers or visiting teachers in for years. They let us in and talked to us for about 20 minutes, it was truly a miracle that God blessed us with. 

We did a service project for a lady in Fredonia early in the morning, we pulled weeds once again. I am really good at pulling weeds, oddly enough I find it so satisfying when I get a good root. We then headed to a neighborhood to map out the area, we drove around drew all of the houses and corresponding house numbers. The first house we went to was a less-active woman in her forties who haven't been to church since she was 14. She has been praying a lot and thinking about coming back. She has a new baby and wants to be sealed in the temple for all time and eternity. She wants her husband to start going to church so that he may be able to join someday. She knows that he joins that they will be happier and will be able to go to the temple. We set up an appointment for the upcoming week so we can talk to her husband about temples and the blessings that come a long with it. She has a remarkable story that I will share with you when it isn't over the internet. She has come a long way! We had a leadership meeting with all ward council members, Elder Leavitt (Area Seventy Representative) and our mission president and wife. It was cool to hear the emphasize on missionary work among the ward council. 

Once again Wednesday morning we decided to go mapping again. It took us 2 hours to get half of the neighborhood but it is lookin' good. Oh neat! So, the fourth house we went to there was a box from the UPS that said "Julie Rogers" on it. I was like, "she is my favorite painter. She doesn't live here, maybe this person ordered one of her paintings." Then this woman answers the door and addresses herself as "Sister Rogers", I was like "wait a minute, like Julie Rogers" and she said yes... I was like NOOOO! You are my favorite painter, she was humbled and invited us in. Her home is like an art gallery with hundreds of paintings.. I was so in awe, I just stared at all of them. Find out that she is a returned sister missionary, she served in the Idaho Boise mission. She is even ore of my idol. She offered to give us a print of any of her paintings. I was already in heaven. She was showing us all of her paintings then we stopped at one of Esther from the Bible. I started to cry, I was so touched and I was instantly in love. I knew that that painting was meant for me. Esther has such an incredible meaning to me. I can't even explain it, I love it. 

We had a ward party that evening and had a ball. One of our less-active kids we are teaching brought a friend to meet us. That friend came to his lesson the next day and we will be seeing him tonight. 

I'm running out of time so I would love to talk about Friday and Sunday.

Friday morning was hectic, we couldn't get a hold of the other sisters to tell them that we want to meet at the entrance of Cane Beds road, we just hoped that they got our mission and left early in the morning. We had to get gas, then I see a silver, boxy vehicle in front of us. I was panicked and started to speed to catch up. Sure enough it was the other sisters, we tried calling, texting and honking! We tried everything to get their attention, our turn off was approaching quickly and they just drove right past it.... We eventually met up, but it was stressful. We had our zone training meeting on how to help people understand the importance of keeping the entire Sabbath day holy and not just attend church. Afterwards, we headed to lunch at CAPRIOTTIS! I got addicted ever since my first bite of July 2012. I ordered a twelve inch Bobbie and swallowed it in three minutes. The Bobbie consists of turkey, stuffing (my favorite), cranberry sauce and mayo. If you know me, you know I despise cranberry sauce and mayo. But it was I would describe Heaven in a sandwich. We then had our weekly planning then split off of the evening. My companion spent the evening in the visitor's center and I went out with Sister Potter and Lim into their area. I learned SO much from them, and grew to love them infinitely. They are so cute. We contacted people and call them unto repentance. It was fun. It was neat to watch how other missionaries are and make friends. It's hard to make friends when you live in the boonies.... We had to go to bed early because we had to wake up at four the next morning.

We woke up at four and I was full on energy, I was ready to conquer the day. We headed to the bus and had a very, very fast four hour bus ride to Salina. We arrived and I was anxious beyond belief. When Elder David A Bednar walked in the room, I was so overwhelmed with the spirit, joy and peace. I was so happy. Our three hour meeting wasn't what I expected, it was way neat. I thought it would be like General Conference where he talks to us and we just listen with joy in our heart. In preparation for this conference he asked us to read three of his talks, 'Converted unto the Lord', 'Ask in Faith' and 'Seek Learning by Faith'. He started out making us feel comfortable, then he asked us questions about what did we learn. I "jumped out of the boat", and explained to him what I learned. I told Elder David A Bednar... an apostle... what I learned from him... My heart was exploding out of my chest, I definitely conquered my fear, jumped out of my comfort zone and spoke from my heart. After we experience what we learn he asked us a question pertaining to what he did learn. It was so cool. Then towards the end we were able to ask HIM questions. Then him, his wife, Elder Clayton and his wife bore their testimonies and answered our questions. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. Afterwards we all got to shake their hands and hug their wifes. My tummy is hurting from happiness just reliving the memories. 

Yesterday my companion and I spoke about 'feasting' upon the words of Christ. We were given that topic because the brother who assigned us knew I loved food. It's no secret here in the Kaibab area. Goodness, I wish I had enough time to tell you all about my wonderful week. But I am out of time, so I would like to leave you with my testimony.

I know that God lives. I know that He knows me, loves me and cares for me. I know that Jesus is the Christ, my Redeemer and Savior. I know that the Atonement was made possible through him that I may be enabled and strengthen. I know that the Atonement is real and it has infinite and eternal power. I know that repentance is real, that is a glorious gift given to us from a loving Father in Heaven. I know that the strength I have and the courage I have is from God and if it wasn't for him I would be able to accomplish all that I do. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God who has been called to lead and guide the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter-days. I know that this gospel is true, I know that with all my heart. 

Sister Roth





No comments:

Post a Comment