LAST WEEK OF BEING TRAINED!!!

LAST WEEK OF BEING TRAINED!!!!

If you can't tell by all caps + 4 exclamation marks, I'm stoked. I cannot begin to comprehend the fact that I've been a missionary for 3 months (on wednesday)! time has flown by!

This week was another week of missionary work on a lesser level due to sickness. My companion is still sick, some days are better than others. I have a cold that's only gotten worse this week.

 

Monday we had dinner at one of my FAVORITE families in the ward. I ATE BROCCOLI willingly!! They're way cool. After dinner we played some sort of charades game with them. 

 

Tuesday we had a great district meeting. Elder F, who is my district leader gave a training on conversion. We talked about how when we come to realize that the sacrifices we made by coming on our missions aren't sacrifices at all - that's when we love our missions. And Elder F took the scripture in D&C 4:2 "therefore, o ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength that ye might stand blameless before him at the last day" and said that we should split it up and think "see that ye serve him with all your heart" "see that ye serve him with all your might" "see that ye serve him with all your mind" and "see that ye serve him with all your strength". We can easily serve Him with all our might and strength, but it's when we have ALL 4 aspects we will truly love missionary work. (I hope some of that made sense...) 

 

After district meeting we grabbed lunch at an amazing sandwich deli shop called The Corner Bakery. The sandwich I got was supposed to cost $8.39 & GUESS HOW MUCH I HAD TO PAY!!! $3.39! For some reason the cashier lady gave me $5 off. BLESSINGS. Then we went to Let It Be for a few hours then came home to weekly plan, but Sis K rested instead. We had dinner at the Ks! I ate more broccoli & it was delicious!

 

Wednesday we finally got to weekly planning that we were supposed to do the friday before! Then we went to the B's for a lesson, then had dinner with the Gs. They're a really sweet older couple. 

 

Thursday night was cool because we were trying our potential investigators and I felt like we needed to try this guy named B. Well, we didn't meet B, but we met (who we think is his son) T who was interested in learning more. I don't remember exactly what was said when we met him but he said something about baptism & I remember saying "uhh, eventually yeah!" And he still set up an appointment to meet with us! hahaha so we're going there tonight with a member from our ward who's just about to leave on her mission to New Zealand in a few weeks. Hopefully he'll want to start investigating!!

 

Friday our zone had president interviews. I wasn't sure what to expect with that, but President H is really amazing. He's very inspired. He gave me some great counsel. Also, I got to have a really nice talk with sister H when Sis K was being interviewed. Then we went home and weekly planned until we were supposed to have a lesson at the Church with C, but that fell through, so we went to dinner at the R's. Brother R makes THE BEST ribs ever. They're the infamous R Ribs. Also, Brother R told me he'd give me $50 if I could go 1 month without painting my nails. I'd totally do it, but I don't think that's legal haha. After dinner we went to visit R and R again! They're really nice, but I don't think they're interested in learning more about the gospel.

 

Saturday was supposed to be a really great day! We had a ton of plans to go visit people and even had the goal of getting 2 new investigators! Sadly, that all fell through when I woke up with a bad sore throat & Sister K woke up sick, so instead of going out, we went to the library to do mormon.org and then to a park to talk. It was good. We've really been trying to communicate better this week because we're both not good at it. It's been helping a ton! We did have dinner at the B's though. Then we needed to go get froyo to soothe my throat. (don't worry, we got permission)

 

FAST SUNDAY!!! 

Yesterday was one of the best sundays I've ever had. SO MUCH INSIGHT GAINED. First off, fast & testimony meeting was quite good, then came gospel principles. As I've said before, Brother H is an incredible teacher. He says that he LOVES teaching that class because he learns so much from the spirit while teaching. 

 

One of the cool things we talked about: Perfect - complete or whole. Most people think of perfect to mean "without sin". Look Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect." then look at Him teaching a rendition of the Sermon on the Mount in the Americas, in 3Nephi 12:48 "Therefore, I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." We are commanded to be perfect, but we are human, therefore we all sin. If we think of 'perfect' to mean sinless, then none of us can be perfect. But look at Jesus teaching in America he says "be perfect even as I" He CAN say that now because at this time He is a resurrected being, therefore His life & ministry was complete, whole, and perfect. While He was teaching the Sermon on the Mount He was still in His ministry, therefore his mission was not yet complete - He was not yet perfect. So although we cannot be sinless in this life, we CAN become perfect, as we strive to complete our mission on earth.

 

Hopefully that made sense, because it's WAY cool!

 

Then Relief Society was great, I sang "Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet". Then at ward coordilation Brother H gave some more amazing insight! Let's see if I can explain this one: Read and link together these scriptures: Luke 23:39-43 + John 20:11-17 + 1 Peter 3:18-19. (paraphrasing) Jesus speaking to the sinner on the cross "you will be with me in Paradise". Jesus to Mary at the tomb "touch me not, I have not yet ascended to my Father". After Christ was crucified "He went and preached unto the spirits in prison". We who know the plan of salvation understand Paradise & Prison, but others do not. But it's amazing to see that these scriptures, when understood explain that there is a spirit paradise & prison. We see that after Christ was resurrected, he had not yet ascended to His father. but he DID spend time preaching to the spirits in the spirit world. So we know that the spirit world is NOT in the presence of God. We might think "why wouldn't Jesus, after being crucified, run to the Father?" this goes to show just how important preaching the gospel is!

I don't know if any of that made sense, but I sure hope so because yesterday was a day full of inspiration and insight!

I hope you're all doing well & know that I love & pray for each one of you daily. I can feel your love & support. It strengthens me.

 

Love you so much! 

have a great week :)

xoxo Sister Viraldo