God is love.
Wowowow WHAT A WEEK in Connecticut. I can't believe another week is gone.
I don't know where to begin, but the beginning is always a great place to start! We met President and Sister Holmes this week, they are amazing. Quite the change from President and Sister Teuscher, but nonetheless called of God and are leading the mission to further God's purposes. President Holmes has a fire and a passion that I have never seen matched. He LOVES the gospel of Jesus Christ and is anxious to get it to all of God's children. I am 100% for that. So the mission tour was great, besides the fact that I live in Timbuktu and it took 5 years to get there, but hey--WE MADE IT.I ALSO hit one year as a missionary this week. That was wild. One year ago, I was in the MTC! Time has flown by. I can't believe that I am here, now. I am so grateful for all the things that I have learned and the ways that I have been able to draw closer to my Savior. This past year has been everything but easy, but oh so beautiful. Every part of this journey is something that I will forever hold dear to my heart. I know God is leading me by the hand, giving me answers to my prayers. He has taught me His character, and I have come to adore Him. I love my God and I love my Savior. They are our biggest cheerleaders, now and forever. If I have learned anything, it's this: HE LOVES EACH OF US. Yes, broken as we are. Yes, bruised and scarred. Yes, with our imperfections and our sins. He loves us. And He loves us enough to refine us. I am so grateful for Him and His infinite love.
We had some amazing experiences this week, I'll share a few briefly.
On Thursday, we had a call with a less-active member named Brother Jack. As we spoke, he explained to us why he doesn't come to church anymore. He had long ago been offended by the actions of someone in the church and had vowed to never come back. As he spoke, I realized just how much Heavenly Father loved Brother Jack. Usually, when I feel this kind of love, it is empowering and joyful. But this time, I just started crying and I couldn't stop. I felt Heavenly Father's pain at seeing His son choose to walk away from the truth--allowing someone else's mean words to have eternal consequences on his own soul. It was heart-wrenching. It reminded me that although the actions of others and their words and their opinions may be totally unkind and wrong--we cannot let anything come between us and our personal salvation. People are imperfect, the church is not. Unfortunately, most of us, if not all, will be offended by the words of others at some point. We must choose to lay aside those feelings of frustration and perhaps understandable bitterness and choose Jesus Christ and His gospel anyway. Our Heavenly Father would never want us to leave Him because of someone else's unkind words. So please, if you're hurting and frustrated--come back. It is not worth it. Our Heavenly Father has a place for you in the gospel and it is not the same without you in it. YOU are needed. You are loved.
Friday, I was doing some FB finding when a name popped out at me. I looked at his bio and found a phone number. I made the randomest choice to just call the number. The phone rang once and he quickly answered. "Hi is this Billy?"
"It is. Who is this?"
"Hi, I'm Sister Miller, we are new friends on FB and I was just calling to introduce myself!"
"Sister?"
"Yes, I'm Sister Miller."
"As in, religious sister?"
"Yes, I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
"We have been looking for a church for so long, let me get my wife."
Wow. I was flabbergasted. I began talking with this couple only to find that they not only had been looking for a church, but they were suffering with many questions. July is the anniversary of their twins' death. At some point in our lengthy conversation, Heather (Billy's wife) asked me this question. "Where are my sons? I never even had them baptized. Are they okay?" I was able to bear testimony to her that they in fact are okay and in the arms of the Savior. I read from Moroni 8 with her and promised her that this gospel is the peace that she had been looking for.
Two days later, we were calling again, but this time the Gallardo family joined us. We spoke of eternal families and the sealing power of the temple. Sister Gallardo testified that Heather and Billy would get to be with their precious Ray Ray and Paul again through the power of Jesus Christ. Both women cried as they spoke to one another. I cannot explain to you the feelings in my heart as they spoke. It was warm, it was peaceful, it was the spirit confirming truth to each and every one of us.
I know that God led me to Heather and Billy. I know that the gospel is true. And I know that there is hope for all of us in the life to come. We will see those we love again.
We did some knocking Saturday night FOR THE FIRST TIME, and I was absolutely terrified. But, I was ready to do whatever for God. As we knocked on our first project building, no one was answering. It was so frustrating. When finally one person answered, we got the door slammed. It was less than ideal. But all of a sudden, down the hallway we heard a door open. Sister Avondet and I looked at each other and ran to go see who was coming out of their door--they wouldn't escape us now--haha! But we got around the corner and no one was there. So we went back to start knocking again when the door opened again! So we ran back around the corner and ran into Cat and her son Karter. We introduced ourselves. She was warm and friendly. We talked for a few minutes and she was so surprised that we "flew all the way to CT, just because you love Jesus??" Yup, that's it exactly. She was enthralled. We showed her the Book of Mormon and testified that it had the knowledge she was seeking and she eagerly accepted it saying she was interested in coming to church with us next week. It was so cool. Wow, God is in the details, my friends. We were in the apartment, on the fourth floor at the very minute Cat was planning on going to dinner. There are NO coincidences. God is good always. We are here for one another.
WOW, this week has been one for the books. So many miracles. So many tender mercies. Change, and the monotonous and everything in between.
For my spiritual thought, I want to share a scripture I came across this week. It is in the book of Psalms!
Psalm 139: 7-10 reads, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me."
I just love that. There is no crevice that we can fall that He won't be there too. That is my testimony. Jesus is real. He loves. He saves. You, me, and the homeless man down the street. He loves outside the lines. God is love, after all.
I love you all. The gospel is true.
Be happy. Be brave. Be smart.
Love,
Sister Miller
Sister Hailey Miller
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