It's been an interesting transfer, we have struggled to get lessons and find new investigators that are actually going to progress, but this week, I can testify that when you give everything you have to the Lord, and make ever hour the absolute best. The blessings come in such abundance it's hard to keep track of it all!
This week we really made it a goal to put everything we have into the work in a way we never had before, talking to everyone, getting rid of the chatter and getting straight to the point of our purpose, and we saw amazing miracles! It's Friday and we have made and exceeded goals set for this week, we have a brand new determination to meet those goals we set and to not just be content when we achieved them but to strive for even more.
The other day it was raining pretty hard! We hadn't been outside in a while as we were in the Teaching Center taking chats and call, calling investigators etc. We went outside and the rain had stopped, but the flowers had really taken a beating. But I saw this one lone white beautiful poppy that was standing bright and tall while the others drooped over looking rather depressed and brought down. It really got me thinking, I need to be the white poppy, doesn't matter how hard it gets, I need to stand firm and tall, pure and bright, ready to serve the Lord with all I have, it doesn't matter that everyone around me might be looking down, I have to look up and as I do that I will be able to help others look up, to look up to our Savior Jesus Christ who we can rely on for strength... so my new personal motto is "Be the white Poppy". There are so many beautiful and wonderful things we can learn from nature, that is how the Savior learned in his youth, he marveled and wondered at the things around Him as it says in Jesus the Christ - James E. Talmage (Chapter 9: Jesus of Nazareth)
"Jesus was a close observer of nature and men. He was able to draw illustrations with which to point His teachings from the varied occupations, trades and professions; the ways of the lawyer and the physician,the manners of the scribe, the Pharisee and the rabbi,the habits of the poor, the customs of the rich, the life of the shepherd, the farmer, the vine dresser and the fisherman—were all known to Him. He considered the lilies of the field, and the grass in meadow and upland,the birds which sowed not nor gathered into barns but lived on the bounty of their Maker, the foxes in their holes, the petted house dog and the vagrant cur, the hen sheltering her brood beneath protecting wings—all these had contributed to the wisdom in which He grew,as had also the moods of the weather, the recurrence of the seasons, and all the phenomena of natural change and order."
I too have found myself doing much the same, I find myself making these spiritual connections with the things around me and I love it so much, I feel like it's a Christlike attribute to marvel and wonder, like an accompanying attribute to Knowledge, I may not be exactly like the Savior in the way He understood and comprehended such things, but I find comfort in knowing that He too learned from observation, study and prayer, he too came to know these things line upon line, which is how we too must learn.
I really feel like something was being held back from us because something great was about to happen and Heavenly Father really wanted us to make the most of the opportunity, Sister Christensen and I both LOVE Jewish people, the culture, their belief, we both want to learn Hebrew after our missions and do more study about it all and connecting those ties to what we know to be true as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Long story short, We are the #1 fans of the Mormons are Jews with Jesus group! (if there is one?). ANYWAY! We were running a few errands during dinner, and I all of a sudden started craving Chick-fil-A, so we went and got some fries, and as we were walking out we said Hi to this guy and continued on, but we both felt a pressing need to go back and talk to him, his arms were covered in tattoos and noticed that He had the Star of David on his hand, so naturally we went back to investigate the situation, we got talking, stated our purpose as missionaries and got to find out a little more about Him. Luc, so happened to be Jewish. Can I get a Shalom, Manishma?! haha... but really!
We got talking about some shared beliefs and he thought it was so awesome that we thought Judaism was cool, as most people he knows thinks it's dorky. We invited him to check out the Book of Mormon and made a time to take him around Temple Square for a lesson! That lesson happened today! And Jacque was our member present as David (her husband who is a Jewish Convert) was at work. The lesson today was amazing! So incredibly open to what we had to share, naturally there is a lot of questions that he has, as he grew up believing that the Messiah had not come, and here we are sharing a message all about Him. But we talked at the Temple Model and shared some things about the Plan of Salvation, the Restoration came up while in the Assembly Hall and at the Statue of Christ, we knew that he felt the spirit and simply just couldn't put it into words. He loved what we had to share and was so grateful we would take the time out of our day to take him around and share with him these things. He took it all on board and is excited to read Alma 32 and to exercise that particle of faith and create that desire to believe in the fact that the Messiah has come, he is excited to experiment upon the word. He has questions and asked us questions while with him, and asked Jacque to, because he really liked the fact that there was someone new in all of this (having come active about a year ago) also. I have been looking for what faith looks like on Temple Square and today was a perfect example of someone increasing in their faith. This whole experience has been an absolute miracle!
We have been teaching people and seeing miracles in our investigators, in them having a desire to attend church, to meet with local missionaries, we picked up a former investigator who is now completely sincere in what he is looking for pertaining religion and the gospel. I'm seeing faith and repentance everywhere I go and though it was hard, I know that this is what the Lord needed of me so all of these things could happen, so I could learn what I needed to learn to become and even better missionary! I know the Lord has spoken through me so many times and I know that they feel the love God has for them through us, we truly feel successful and I am so grateful for that. Once you work the hardest you can, you get that fire and spirit within you, you never want to serve a day without it and I have re-caught that fire within me, it died a little and I don't know why... but I know through the Saviors atonement that I am able to have that again, to repent, so have a fresh view on everything now and do everything I can and as I said before, make every hour the best hour!
This week Jacque and I hit our year mark of knowing each other! It has been an amazing roller coaster of a road, but we have made it! Last night they made us dinner and we all had to together, I felt like I was Outbound again, eating home cooked food with members (they say it was a throw together meal, we say it was delicious!) It was an amazing. We talked about how Jacque and I met and how it was when we were first teaching her, how far she has come, it was just amazing we then were talking about our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and how Joseph Smith couldn't have faked it, he couldn't have made it all up, yet alone everything else that he did, never mind the fact that he died for what he knew to be true! But even just the written style of the Book of Mormon would have been impossible for a young man such as Joseph Smith with little education to simply just "write". It had to have been translated and translated by the power of God. Here is a few reasons why (thank-you David for teaching me some new words); Hebraisms, Cognate Accusatives, Cultural Context, Linguistic elements of the time (David knows his stuff, he is amazing with Hebrew) and last but certainly not least, the most beautiful Chiasmus found in the Book of Mormon especially in Alma 36.
I love the gospel so much and being able to declare that to all nations is simply amazing. I love knowing that we as missionaries are part of the gathering of Israel, it is happening and it's amazing and beautiful! The Jews are coming to know that the Messiah has come! People all over the world are coming closer to Christ through the Book of Mormon. I know it is true for more reasons that I have time to write down.
I have seen it be applied in my life in the weirdest and most wonderful and miraculous ways possible (Alma 32:4-7 anyone?). I have seen the Book of Mormon change lives and soften hearts and I just know that it comes from God, because of His great love for us. Read it for yourself and if you are, don't give up on it, feast upon it and just love it! Continue to pray and seek learning from the beautiful words contained in it.
There is so much more I could day and explain but I'm sure the stories will all come up after my mission.
I love you all, thank-you for all you do. Stay Strong and Enjoy to the end!
Love, Sister Ryan xx
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