Dear Friends and Family,
It is transfer time again and Hermana Griffeth and I are very anxious to know what will happen to us (we find out tomorrow night). Next week I will probably still be writing to you from Posadas, but I could be writing to you from somewhere else, and I will most likely be writing to you alongside a new companion. But, as always, anything is possible! Maybe Hna. Griffeth and I will stay together and have 4 transfers together! It is strange living life in short 6-week segments...but now I only have five six-week segments left before I return to living life in...semesters, or seasons, or sunsets, or 525,600 minute-moments, or what-have-you. I can hardly believe it.
This week nothing very notable or grand happened. We continue to visit the same wonderful investigators and recent converts and less-active members and that is very fulfilling, wonderful, satisfying work. But at the same time we are having a very hard time finding new investigators to teach and a lot of the time it feels like we are just walking and walking and walking around and accomplishing very little. About 3 times a week (or more!) I have a little mini breakdown where I dramatically exclaim "HOW do you find new investigators???!!!" I know there is no magical secret (just ask for references from everyone, talk to everyone, go door to door, etc. and eventually we´ll find them) but sometimes I feel very overwhelmed by the prospect. It´s like: "Okay, Hermanas, here is Downtown Posadas. Ready? Go!!! Find people who want to be baptized into a new religion!"
Anyways, I have been thinking a lot today about sacrifice and since not much happened this week I thought I´d write about that. We finally got our Gospel Principles teacher back at church yesterday after acting as substitutes for over two months while she took the "Teaching, No Greater Call" workshop--and I am so grateful to have her back! Our investigators and new members need to hear some other voice besides ours (we are already visiting them several times a week and smothering them with sister missionary words and wisdom), and Monica (our teacher) is an excellent teacher. It was the first time I saw her teach and she truly stunned me. The class was on sacrifice, and I have been pondering on it all day long. Monica has this amazing intensity--and somehow, even though we were basically just reading from the manual, she taught in a way that really sunk in deep. Before reading the first paragraph in the chapter she just said something like "this first paragraph is really great, and I want you all to pay close attention and think deeply about every single line! every line!" Then she read it with lots of emotion. Then we spent a long time just going over every sentence. She is good at leading a discussion and inspiring people to share stories and insights and interpretations. She emphasized several times "it is saying here we must be willing to sacrifice everything. absolutely everything. for the gospel cause." We read the story about the young rich man who lived all the commandments and asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded that he must sell all his riches to the poor and come follow Him. He could not because he was very rich, and in his heart, deep down, was not willing to sacrifice his worldly comforts and riches to follow Christ. That story is really resonating with me right now. It is a story for self-reflection and examination. Sometimes it feels like obedience to commandments should be enough, but I love how Jesus shows us here that He requires of us a life of complete consecration. He requires us to give him our very hearts. Today I have been thinking about what things are especially hard for me to sacrifice and I am praying to have a change of heart.
Thank you all for your love and support. You are in my prayers, keep me in yours.
Love,
Hermana Parker
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