Missions are seriously the greatest thing ever, and everyone should go on one. There can't be many things that are better than sharing the Gospel and seeing God's hand do His work up close and personal.
We met with Seph again. His family is still unhappy he's looking at the Mormons, and on top of that, there are a lot of problems going on that doesn't have anything to do with religion. He really wants his family to stay together and he loves them so much and he's really doing everything he can for them. It's so inspiring to watch. He told us he hadn't been able to do any reading or praying because he's had to work out a lot of these things first and wants to wait until his life calms down. Which, when you think about it, is like planning to fix your ax after you get this tree down, or planning to fix your bow later before this deer gets away. We promised him God would help him if he put God first and committed him to praying and making time for just five verses of the BoM each day.
A few days later we met up with him again, and he said, "boy, you just can't read five verses, can you?"
He had plowed through like six chapters since we last saw him. He loooooooves Nephi and finds him so inspiring! He still doesn't know about actually joining the Church, but he really relates to Nephi and Joseph Smith and is really open to learning.
Have I said anything about Sherry? We introduced the Word of Wisdom to her a while back, and she at first looked taken aback, but then after thinking about it, said that it made perfect sense. She committed to living it, and later had an experience that made her want to live it even more.
So we come in to teach her this week, and she says, "you should see my pantry!! :D"
She did a lot of research about what's good for your body and what isn't....everything in her fridge and pantry is totally and completely fresh, organic, raw, unprocessed, etc. etc. Haha!! She is DEVOTED to the WoW, and it's really neat! it made me want to live it better. She's even started having food storage, just because she felt like that would be something wise to have with all her healthy foods. She was delighted to find that that was also something Mormons did.
One thing that we've talked about in meetings is how we need to stand out. How does anyone find the light when it blends into the darkness? How can anyone find the truth when the ones who know the truth try not to bring any attention to themselves and look like everyone else? When you wear a little black nametag and a skirt, sometimes it's scary because it feels like you've painted an archery target on your face. But that's kinda the point (lol puns). While we were on the street talking to someone, we said goodbye and turned to go to find someone else kinda hovering around behind us, looking like they wanted to say something but didn't really want to. So we shook his hand and introduced ourselves. he had overheard a little and seen our skirts (and now our nametags) and asked, "is this about God?"
"yes," we said. "And Jesus Christ, and how They love us."
"....can I learn?"
Uh, yeah, you can!
Moments like that make looking really weird and different worth it.
And it doesn't have to be a skirt and a little black nametag. There was one man we sat down with to teach. He didn't speak a lot of English, but he understood Jesus Christ and we could teach him about the Restoration of Christ's church well enough. At one point he said we were "very peace in the face. Very happy face!"
The Gospel is so amazing, and I love being out on a mission where I can see all of this happening. I wish more members were missionary-minded, so that they could have the same experiences. They seem so scared to come out on lessons with us, and we're just like, "no, seriously, you have to see this, you'll just see his face light up and you'll feel God's love like never before!"
I talk to people on the streets because I want them to feel God's love so badly, and to have the Gospel work in their life. Now I talk to members because I want them to feel God's love so badly and have some of the joy I have when I share that, haha!!
Missions are awesome. There's still nothing I'd rather be doing. My companion is amazing and I love my God more than I ever have before.
You guys are all awesome and I love you all so, so much! God's love and the Atonement of Christ are so real and so tangible! There is power in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, and I love this Church! I know that this is Christ's church, and that He's at the head of it.
If He wasn't, then us 18-21 year olds would've messed it up a long time ago. ahaha.
I love you all!! C:
-Sister Stratford
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