So this week was packed full of some really great things!
Tuesday night we got back from a night full of some really great lessons that were really truely led by the spirit. We taught the Restoration twice and neither one was very simillar to each other. The blessings of Preach My Gospel and really not knowing what to do accept rely on the spirit. And we got home that night to a phone with like 6 voicemails. Which doesn't normally happen. So we started calling people back and 3 of them were Ward Mission Leaders over English wards, or members, who were calling because they had met a hispanic person, introduced the gospel to them, invited them to listen to the missionaries on a specific date and time AND had a fellowship already planned out for us. It was amazing. One ended up being for the other sisters, and one of them wasn't home for the lesson, but the other one was so excited to hear our message. We went with a sister who had served a mission in Chile and still spoke spanish, and she was friends with the family already. It was a really good lesson all about the Restoration and how God still speaks to the earth today.
On Friday...no I think it was Saturday we went to the Martin Harris Pageant. I remember going to the Hill Cumorah pageant a few times and so I was really excited. We got there and the spirit was there so strongly testifying of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. Our job as missionaries was to make friends with some members of the cast and then go and testify and exhort and share and teach and all kinds of good stuff to whoever was going to listen. It was so cool! I went with a 15 year old and a 9 year old. And with every person I would share my testimony of the Book of Mormon, and then ask one of them to share an experience theyve had by being in the show that has strengthened their testimony, and then we asked the people to share their testimony of the book of Mormon with someone before they went home that night. It was awesome. Side note, I don't think I've ever been so excited to talk to random strangers before in my life.
After the show there was a cast member that found us saying that there was a lady who wanted a spanish book of Mormon. We went and talked to her and she said that she had felt a remarkable thing during the show and that she felt that it must be true! And so we testified to her and answered some of her questions and then got her address to give to the missionaries in her area.
For the teatro we had to drive a whole 45 minutes away from Logan!! and let me tell you, I thought Logan was small and quiet. But just 45 minutes away there is literally nothing. It was a blessing though because we got to see some amazing stars.
Sunday we were going around reminding people about Church when I got a call from the Ward pianist, and I got asked to play the piano in sacrament meeting. I was also asked to be one of the speakers. And to play the piano in primary. It was a busy Sunday haha. But I thought I would be nervous to speak in Sacrament meeting in Spanish, but I actually loved it. It was so cool to sit on the stand and look out on the ward and see that I've really come to be friends with many, if not all, of the members here. And it's not a little ward! What also added to the greatness was Anelisa and Brother Fergus came to surprise me! I was playing prelude and then I hear "Hermana Ogden" and I look and there is Anelisa!! I was in shock haha. It was really weird because the same thing happened to Hermana Ferguson the first or second week on my mission when she was close to her 6 month mark. It's amazing how time flies.
So this is the Lord's work. I have come to the point where I couldn't deny that if I wanted to. He knows exactly what He want's to be done. I get frustrated sometimes when things don't go the way I want them to. But in the Lord's eyes, everything is part of His plan. How? Because the Atonement literally covers every single misstep or wrong turn so when we give everything over to Him everything goes according to His perfect plan.
On Sunday I spoke about Families. I think I've learned so much about God's plan for families being here in Montevista. Mostly that God's happiness is eternal. And it comes from His eternal family. The happiness that we can feel inside of our own families is the closest we can come to feeling what True happiness is. I love President Uchtdorf's quote "There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny."
This is what I love about the Temple. The Temple is a place where Mortality touches Eternity and I can feel how important this life is, but also how great the things to come will be.
That quote is from a talk I've been thinking about a lot lately, called, "Grateful in Any Circumstance". How gratitude is not something that should be influenced by mood or circumstance, but by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There have been some hard days this week where nobody has been home, or it's been raining, or people don't keep their commitments, or ...the list goes on, yknow? But those things do not have to influence our gratitude towards our Heavenly Father. They don't have to cause us to be angry or frustrated or downtrodden or discouraged. This type of gratitude comes from relying on the Savior and feeling His power and love with Faith. Gratitude is the beginning of all other Christlike attributes. And as we try to act as the Savior would act we can feel His power in our lives.
"When thou risest in the morning, let they heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day" and "He who recieveth ALL THINGS with thankfulness shall be made glorious"
In the Temple I learned a little bit what it means to be grateful without being grateful for things, but its something that you have to feel instead of learn. So I invite all of you to pray and seek for the answer, what is it to be grateful without being grateful for something. I believe this is the key to living our covenants and finding the joy that we are promised as we follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I know He lives and that He is there for you. Without fail, He's got you covered.
have a good week everyone,
my love and prayers,
mle
Tuesday night we got back from a night full of some really great lessons that were really truely led by the spirit. We taught the Restoration twice and neither one was very simillar to each other. The blessings of Preach My Gospel and really not knowing what to do accept rely on the spirit. And we got home that night to a phone with like 6 voicemails. Which doesn't normally happen. So we started calling people back and 3 of them were Ward Mission Leaders over English wards, or members, who were calling because they had met a hispanic person, introduced the gospel to them, invited them to listen to the missionaries on a specific date and time AND had a fellowship already planned out for us. It was amazing. One ended up being for the other sisters, and one of them wasn't home for the lesson, but the other one was so excited to hear our message. We went with a sister who had served a mission in Chile and still spoke spanish, and she was friends with the family already. It was a really good lesson all about the Restoration and how God still speaks to the earth today.
On Friday...no I think it was Saturday we went to the Martin Harris Pageant. I remember going to the Hill Cumorah pageant a few times and so I was really excited. We got there and the spirit was there so strongly testifying of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. Our job as missionaries was to make friends with some members of the cast and then go and testify and exhort and share and teach and all kinds of good stuff to whoever was going to listen. It was so cool! I went with a 15 year old and a 9 year old. And with every person I would share my testimony of the Book of Mormon, and then ask one of them to share an experience theyve had by being in the show that has strengthened their testimony, and then we asked the people to share their testimony of the book of Mormon with someone before they went home that night. It was awesome. Side note, I don't think I've ever been so excited to talk to random strangers before in my life.
After the show there was a cast member that found us saying that there was a lady who wanted a spanish book of Mormon. We went and talked to her and she said that she had felt a remarkable thing during the show and that she felt that it must be true! And so we testified to her and answered some of her questions and then got her address to give to the missionaries in her area.
For the teatro we had to drive a whole 45 minutes away from Logan!! and let me tell you, I thought Logan was small and quiet. But just 45 minutes away there is literally nothing. It was a blessing though because we got to see some amazing stars.
Sunday we were going around reminding people about Church when I got a call from the Ward pianist, and I got asked to play the piano in sacrament meeting. I was also asked to be one of the speakers. And to play the piano in primary. It was a busy Sunday haha. But I thought I would be nervous to speak in Sacrament meeting in Spanish, but I actually loved it. It was so cool to sit on the stand and look out on the ward and see that I've really come to be friends with many, if not all, of the members here. And it's not a little ward! What also added to the greatness was Anelisa and Brother Fergus came to surprise me! I was playing prelude and then I hear "Hermana Ogden" and I look and there is Anelisa!! I was in shock haha. It was really weird because the same thing happened to Hermana Ferguson the first or second week on my mission when she was close to her 6 month mark. It's amazing how time flies.
So this is the Lord's work. I have come to the point where I couldn't deny that if I wanted to. He knows exactly what He want's to be done. I get frustrated sometimes when things don't go the way I want them to. But in the Lord's eyes, everything is part of His plan. How? Because the Atonement literally covers every single misstep or wrong turn so when we give everything over to Him everything goes according to His perfect plan.
On Sunday I spoke about Families. I think I've learned so much about God's plan for families being here in Montevista. Mostly that God's happiness is eternal. And it comes from His eternal family. The happiness that we can feel inside of our own families is the closest we can come to feeling what True happiness is. I love President Uchtdorf's quote "There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny."
This is what I love about the Temple. The Temple is a place where Mortality touches Eternity and I can feel how important this life is, but also how great the things to come will be.
That quote is from a talk I've been thinking about a lot lately, called, "Grateful in Any Circumstance". How gratitude is not something that should be influenced by mood or circumstance, but by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There have been some hard days this week where nobody has been home, or it's been raining, or people don't keep their commitments, or ...the list goes on, yknow? But those things do not have to influence our gratitude towards our Heavenly Father. They don't have to cause us to be angry or frustrated or downtrodden or discouraged. This type of gratitude comes from relying on the Savior and feeling His power and love with Faith. Gratitude is the beginning of all other Christlike attributes. And as we try to act as the Savior would act we can feel His power in our lives.
"When thou risest in the morning, let they heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day" and "He who recieveth ALL THINGS with thankfulness shall be made glorious"
In the Temple I learned a little bit what it means to be grateful without being grateful for things, but its something that you have to feel instead of learn. So I invite all of you to pray and seek for the answer, what is it to be grateful without being grateful for something. I believe this is the key to living our covenants and finding the joy that we are promised as we follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I know He lives and that He is there for you. Without fail, He's got you covered.
have a good week everyone,
my love and prayers,
mle