Buenos días friends and family! I hope you all have had a stupendous week!
So many crazy things this week I'm just gonna tell you about all of them so hopefully this makes sense.
Sandra, our awesome new investigator with a baptismal date, we found her a ride to church which is dang near impossible sometimes, but actually lined up a ride for her and her 3 kids, and then we went to confirm this week and make sure she was planning in coming still, and her work schedule just changed for the summer and now she has to work on Sundays. Nooooo, we are so upset. Right as she starts making progress, the adversary is trying to pull her away, but we're saying lots of prayers and trying to help her figure something out.
The weather in Minnesota is insane. On Saturday it got up to 109 degrees, plus humidity, so it was real hot. And biking in that weather is not very fun. Then yesterday we had a freak rainstorm and a tornado warning, at 9 in the morning it was still dark outside. And it's just really super hot and we're always sweaty and gross, but it's good because we're super happy and sweaty so everything balances out.
Shout out goes to Hermana Estella from our ward this week. Last week in Relief Society Hermana Vilorio gave a lesson on the importance of Visiting teaching because it doesn't happen in our ward...like ever. And so this week Hermana Estella called us and said "Hermanas! I want to go visit less actives with you! Let me know when you have appointments and I'll pick you up" And we were able to do it two days and member lessons are so much better than when it's just us because they understand why they aren't coming to church a little bit better than we can, and they also have the confidence to call people out a little more on why they aren't coming to church. And unlimited miles. All in all, member missionary work is really important.
A not so fun moment is week keep running into Seventh Day Adventists who want to argue with us about whether the Sabbath Day is on Saturday or Sunday, and won't let us talk about anything else and it's kind of scary and really sad. We got into one lesson, and it was really hard, they had written a whole list of scriptures in the Bible that say that Saturday is the Sabbath day. And when they got to the end we tried to read a couple of scriptures with them, and they told us we just didn't understand the context of the scriptures. Then at the end, they asked us "So what are you going to do when you find out your religion isn't true" And that was a really interesting moment for me, because I just testified of the gospel and the Book of Mormon that was the most powerful testimony I feel I have ever given, because in spite of everything, and all the things they were throwing at us, I still knew and the Spirit could still be there. Being a missionary is incredible.
Jonathan and Gina's baby is sick and they've been in the hospital a lot this week so we haven't gotten the chance to meet with them yet. The baby is ok, he just needs a little time to recover. And we are able to stop by after church yesterday when they didn't come and talk to them for a little bit. And Jonathan said "So can you come back for a lesson tomorrow?" then at the end he said "Can you we say a prayer before you leave" So he's golden. It's amazing how much he's progressed in the gospel these past six weeks, and he is so so close to being ready to commit to baptism we are so excited for him.
Spiritual thought this week comes from Elder Neal A. Maxwell from October 1995. As missionaries we talk a lot about consecration and consecrating our time and our efforts, but I learned something this week I think applies to everyone. He said "In conclusion, the submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give! Consecration thus constitutes the only unconditional surrender which is also a total victory!" I promise this is true, and the more we give of ourselves to Heavenly Father, the more we receive, and the happier we are. He has eternity to sit and wait for us to align our will with His, and He will wait for that to happen before any other spiritual progression can occur in our lives. This is really hard, and I'm trying to do this, and I have to try a little harder every day, but I'm grateful I still have so much time to figure it out and I have this beautiful, dedicated, consecrated time to learn and grow.
Thank you for all the support! Have a great week!
Hermana Meredith
1. West Side Pride
2. Zoo adventures
3. 2 thumbs up for missionary work :)
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