November 4, 2013
MOIN :)
Greetings from
Langenhorn!
Starting on a low note
. . .
The first several days
of this past week I had a really bad headache and I was just feeling down. I was irritable, stressed, and
tired.. . . (Normally I am pretty happy and bubbly . . .) But one morning
after we had had personal study and companionship study, we began our hour of
"sprach studium" for the day.
Sister
Darrington was busy writing away on a piece of paper and before I knew
it, it was lying on my desk before me. She went back to her study and I
picked up the paper to see what she had written.
It was such a
small thing to do, but it made such a difference.
She just reminded me
of who I was.
Something that is
sometimes hard to remember. . . I am a daughter of God. Sometimes it's
easy to get caught up in the world's eyes, but all we need to do is slow down
and look through God's eyes.
My frown turned into a
smile, and I even laughed as I read some of the things she had written.
Sister Darrington is
amazing. I am learning much from her.
We met with a less
active/part member family this past week. I absolutely LOVE coming here. They are from Honduras and they are the most
humble, fun-loving, and sweet people.
We shared the story of
Helaman's stripling warriors. Helaman's 2000 sons. The faith of these young men
was so strong. They doubted not because their mothers knew it. They
were obedient in all things, and they attributed their strength to their
mothers.
It was so sweet
because little S*** who is only about 10 started talking about serving a
mission one day. He was saying that it would be hard to leave because he
loves his Mom so much. .
The mother of this
family has to have so much strength since her husband is not a member, and it
was such a perfect lesson for her.
We are
working with them to help her and her other daughter be able to go the temple
together. Even though this family has really struggled to make it to
church every Sunday, the mother has taught her children to have
strong faith. Whenever we visit them, we kneel down for our
prayers, we read together from the scriptures, and the children and the mother
always mark verses that they like.
It just made me
think about my own parents. . . Mom and Dad, you have both taught me so much
throughout the years. My faith is strong now, and I do not have doubt
because of the way you taught me. So thank you :) I have made me own decisions that
have got me here, but I have acted upon what I was taught by you.
We met with a referral
this past week also. It was a referral
from a young man in our ward (the one now serving in Ukraine). His
Dad excitedly volunteered to come to the lesson since he knows the family so
well.
We went there
and had one of the most powerful lessons I have ever experienced.
The family lost the
Father/Husband three years ago, but we were able to talk about the Plan of
Salvation, the hope we have through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the
Resurrection. The Brother from
our ward who was present really took the lead in teaching everything which was
wonderful. He naturally spoke from his heart to this family (Mother and
Son) that he has had a long time connection to.
We invited
the family to personally pray to God to ask if He was there. (Mother
is very bitter about the fact that her husband was taken from her and says she
does not believe in God).
We invited them to
pray with real intent--what it means to me is that we decide before we pray
that if we do get an answer that we will act on the answer that we
receive.
We bore testimony in
this meeting, The brother from our
ward bore testimony, and the feeling in the room was unbelievable. We
all had tears in our eyes, and Sister Darrington had tears running down her
cheeks.
We were there for
quite a while, but in the end, the Mother had a whole new look on her
face. She even hugged us goodbye, and said that she would see us
in the future. Then, yesterday in church, this same brother got up in
Sacrament meeting to bear his testimony and he shared this experience.
I love working with
members, and I love the spirit of missionary work.
Also, yesterday
in Sacrament meeting another man got up and bore his testimony, again on
missionary work. We had met with him earlier this week and we
had talked about missionary work. (Most of the time this makes
members not too excited--unless it is the Roggow familie-- because most of them
have already talked to their friends and acquaintances about the church and
been rejected). This has happened with this man and his wife earlier, but
we decided to try a different approach.
We connected
missionary work to our baptismal covenant and we read in Mosiah 18.
Do you realize what it
is that we covenant when we are baptized?
8 And
it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon
(for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to
come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing
to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to
mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of
comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in
all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye
may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first
resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—
We covenant to stand
as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places. As we do missionary work we are
fulfilling this covenant.
This brother related
his experience he had had that week of being in the barber shop, getting his
hair cut, and then having an opportunity to speak about the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. . . . ."AT ALL TIMES AND IN ALL THINGS, AND IN ALL PLACES .
. ."
There were many people
that got up in sacrament meeting and almost every one of the people spoke
specifically to or about Sister Darrington and me. It really just made my
heart swell . . .
It brings me joy
that members are enjoying the same love for this work as I am.
A woman in our
ward brought a bag full of food for us to enjoy later that day . . . She
made us a really good asian sweet and sour recipe and some noodles with
vegetables . . . Yeah, pretty much our ward is great. :)
Exciting news! All
of the prayers have really helped with H*** . . He is BACK!
Interesting point!
We taught a lesson earlier this week in three languages . . . we taught
in German, Norman translated in Spanish, and then a Vietnamese woman came in
the room, and we ended up teaching her in English. Yaya for the gift of
tongues!
Well, I better be
going. Time is up. But, I want you all to know how much I love you.
Enjoy the time with the family around this holiday season. Oh my
goodness, I have been choosing Christmas songs every morning to start
companionship study with . . . and we have been listening to Sister
Darrington's Christmas playlist. Ahahahahaha :D :D :D I love the
holidays. And a family in our ward invited us to come to an American
thanksgiving dinner this coming Friday. wooo hoo.
Well ta ta for now!
Sister Heidi Elaine
Shelley
In front of a cute German yard. that was decorated with lots of animal statues! :D
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