Grateful In Any Moment
July 28, 2014
Hello Everyone!
It's been yet another good week with lots of lessons learned. We
had our ward conference this week and learned very directly from our stake
president about the ways we need to improve as a ward, which was important. The
good news is that it seems like a lot of our ward leaders are more excited to
really push it - excellent because we, too, are motivated.
It was another week with some challenges, but also with lots of
miracles. At the end of yesterday, after some pretty disappointing experiences,
Hermana Lopez and I were feeling a little sad about what happened, but I
learned a lot today in my personal study from the talk from President Uchtdorf
from the last general conference. In Spanish it's called "Agradecidos en
Cualquier Circunstancia", in English I'm guessing it's something like
"Grateful in any circumstances" or something like that. And it talks
about how we shouldn't just be grateful FOR things, being grateful should be a
way of life, regardless of our circumstances. He also pointed out with a story
about a waiter serving bread (read it to understand) that sometimes we only see
the negative in the situation instead of recognizing the huge miracles and
blessings Heavenly Father has given us in our lives. After reading that talk, I
prayed and just thanked Heavenly Father for all the blessings He has given me
in my whole life and also this past week, because there were many, just in the
difficult moments maybe it's easy to forget. So... read that talk, and be
grateful no matter what happens to you in life! :)
As for the miracles... we had the chance to start teaching several
new investigators, including Luis and Lidia, both of whom accepted baptism
dates and went to church this past week! They are great and sincere, and we
believe that they will progress well. :) We also continue preparing Mariana for
baptism this or next week... she is great and just very prepared. Hermana Elsa
is also progressing well... she came to church for the second time yesterday
and we can see that her faith is growing. She is much more open with us about
her concerns and doubts, and she is reading the Book of Mormon! She is so
great, and I love her and her family SO much. She told us the other day that we
have such a strong spirit about us that if she could be around us all the time,
she would probably be a Mormon by now. :) Such a sweet, loving woman! And her
less active daughter is progressing too, has now gone to two church activities
and agreed to meet the bishop, which is HUGE progress for her. :) Other
miracles... a guy named Luis called us yesterday out of the blue (a different
Luis from the one I just mentioned) and said he is interested in our doctrine
and his friend Juan gave him our number. He asked if we could teach him about
the church! We're excited - not too often that people call US asking to learn
more!
Another sweet experience this week - Dad, you wrote me about true
Christian service and it's true, I really think that makes a big difference. A
woman stopped us in the street a few days ago and asked us for help. She's not
a member of the church and was obviously very emotionally unstable, poor, had
no place to go. She recognized us as missionaries, though, and asked us for
help. Our bishop is truly an example of a Christian man, I respect him so much.
He took the time to talk to her, paid for her to get some food, and found her a
free mental institution where she can stay since there is no one to help her. I
really admired our bishop, who has a LOT going on right now in his family and
in the ward, that he was willing to take the time for one of God's children who
really needed it. His example of Christian service was an example to me, and
I'm grateful to him.
Well, those are the happy highlights of the week. One of my new
goals is to maintain this gratitude as a way of life because I know we always
have so much to be grateful for! I love you all! Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Hermana Chelsie Faulk
No comments:
Post a Comment