Monday, October 5, 2015

The Fall is here, y'all! 10.5.2015

The happy day at last has come -- fall! Yay. We made it through summer.

This week was great. Wow. Seriously amazing. Here's the quick sum-up.

Our Garland ward council told us about a less-active/fairly recent convert family that they would love us to go visit, but they said us that it may be hard to meet with them. Tuesday afternoon we stopped by, and the mother was there. She didn't let us in, but told us to come back that night so we could visit the whole family. We had our ward mission leader with us that night, so we all headed over together. It ended up being a really nice visit and they invited us to come back anytime. I'm glad we weren't afraid or worried about stopping by.

We got a media referral for a lady named DO. We headed over to deliver her bible, and her nurse was there as well. We were able to teach the restoration to them. They are both big church and tithing lovers, so they had a very excited conversation about donating. Haha. It was fun. Lots of energy. We will be going back this week.

We had planned to see KR Wednesday night with a sister from the ward, so we headed over. We were going to focus on missionary work, but we started talking about the Book of Mormon and our need for daily spiritual food. We had a really great lesson about righteous spiritual habits. It was another testimony builder that when we are prepared, the Lord  will bless us and inspire us to be able to change lesson plans and share messages that His children need to hear.

We taught AS on Wednesday as well. We went over the baptismal interview questions and taught a few last things to help her get ready for her interview on Sunday. She was still a little shaky about Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson, but we both just bore our testimonies of them and invited her to pray about it. We talked about how the Holy Ghost communicates to us, and we were really able to help her recognize the times that she's felt the Spirit speak to her. So flash forward to Sunday morning, AS and her mom came to the church to watch conference with us. It was a great session, and they both loved it. Then AS went in for her interview with Elder Pigott. When the interview was finished, she came out crying. My heart dropped. I just looked at Elder Pigott with wide eyes, but he gave a thumbs-up! She hugged us and said that the interview was one of the most amazing and spiritual experiences that she's ever had - just like it should be. She said she had gained a testimony of modern day prophets, and she is so excited to be baptized. Love that girl!

With MEL, we had a great lesson about tithing and did a comparison between the rich young ruler and the widow with two mites. MEL is so awesome! She has a calling now and will be speaking in sacrament on Sunday.

We were able to see KA and his two step-sisters who are being taught by the Hermanas. It was Saturday afternoon between sessions of conference, so we had a really great discussion about modern day prophets. When we asked KA how it made him feel to know that there is a prophet on the earth today, he simply replied "good." I'm telling you though, that was a very sincere answer. We finished the lesson up with a song again, "I Pray In Faith." The Spirit was definitely there, testifying to all of us. Also, Saturday's quote of the day came from KA who had red stains all down the front of his yellow shirt. "You can't beat Hot Cheetos."

Sunday we received a referral for a girl named LA who wanted to know how she can know where God's truth and true church is. We were able to teach her briefly about the Spirit and about how our church is set up. We have an appointment with her this week, so I'm definitely excited to see how that goes.

This week, Sister Greenall and I set a goal of finding 7 new investigators. We prayed and worked hard..... and we met the goal! But seriously, all 8 of our new investigators this week came through media referrals and a former investigator. The Lord is so good to us.

I loved General Conference! (I mean, how can you not, though?) Some highlights for me:

  • Living a Christ-centered life fills us with happiness
  • As we're centered on Jesus Christ, He will mold us into exactly who He knows we can be.
  • What is my heart condition today?
  • What is keeping me from progressing? ... I actually had a cool experience with that. Saturday night I asked this question in my prayer. I waited for minute, grew a little antsy, so I asked again. Then the answer hit me in the face - patience! Haha. So, I'm definitely working on having patience this week.
  • Conducting personal councils
  • The Savior is there for us.
  • We can radiate the light of Christ and help others feel His love through us.
  • Focus not on what we can't do, but on what we can do.
  • Express your beliefs with confidence and clarity.
  • The invitation to ponderize weekly. My trainer taught me about this after President Durrant extended the invitation to her, but I never really caught on. So, I've now committed to ponderize weekly. This weeks scripture is 2 Nephi 2:25 - Men are that they might have joy.
  • The Atonement leaves no traces or tracks. What He heals, stays healed.

Wow, it was such a good boost. I look forward to the Ensign to be able to dive in.

Well, we're off to the Texas State Fair today! Should be good!
I love you!
Love,
Sister Gretchen Gilbert




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