Goodmorningggg!
It's a beautiful dayyyyy, no it's actually pouring. Our zone p-day trip on the ferry to manly beach has been postponed. ugh. BUT, we've planned some fun games for an indoor zone fun day, haha, we're excited. It's been an interesting week to say the least, some stories I'll have to leave out of my email but feel free to ask me after the mission and I'll share some stories with you :) However I have a few miracles I'd like to share!
I think It was on Tuesday, basically all of our appointments cancelled on us, so we had an entire afternoon to just go out looking for people. But it turned out great! I met a really nice Korean girl and Sister Slade met ________ from China but he prefers to be called by his English name....Diego. hahaha, I've never met an Asian named Diego but there's a first for everything. So, we were prepared to head back to the chapel to help with mission prep class when I stopped and talked to a girl standing at the cross walk. She is from Thailand and when she saw my badge, she said, "Oh, you speak Chinese??" I told her yes, and she's like "Me too!" I've never met someone from Thailand who speaks Chinese, another first. So we just start chatting in Chinese and she was so amazed, she video taped me speaking so she could put it on her Instagram, haha. She then asked if she could join us for dinner - sure, why not. Then she asked where we were going next. We told her we were on our way to the chapel. She's like, "Oh, can I come with you? I've never been to church." So our new little best friend from Thailand came with us to the chapel and we taught her how to pray!
We traveled to Emu Plains for trade offs on Thursday. The area is really slow right now. We tried to visit about 30 different people but nobody was home. Of course, the very last person we went to visit was a former investigator. He used to learn from the Elders. We knocked on the door and a girl in her early twenties answered. She told us that ________ (her father), who we were looking for, died last year from cancer. She then said "Yeah, the missionaries... my dad used to talk about you guys a lot, he really liked you." I told her that we were probably meant to come to meet her, she said, "Yeah, maybe." She doesn't believe in God. I asked her what brought her comfort during the challenge of losing her father and she said, "That's a really good question...my family has basically fallen apart." I briefly shared with her how Jesus Christ and a belief in God is what helped me personally and helped my family go through losing a loved one in the family. I gave her a pamphlet to read and then we left.
I've said this before but I know it's not a coincidence that we meet people usually when something drastic has happened in their life. Going through a divorce, loss of a loved one, lost their job etc. Heavenly Father really loves his children and is looking out for all of us. I attended a funeral on Friday for a young father of a member in my last area passed away unexpectedly. Most of the attendees at the funeral aren't from the church and don't have much of a belief. It was so comforting to hear Bishop's words at the funeral, promising the children they would see their father again someday. Families can be eternal, it's the plan Heavenly Father has for all of us.
We had an overall good weekend, our appointments cancelled on Saturday so again we spent the entire day looking for new people to teach. We didn't have too much luck, but I know it was just a test of our diligence from Heavenly Father because Saturday night we got a call from a recent convert and he said he's bringing 3 friends to church on Sunday who want to learn from us! WOW! And they did, they all came and we've set up appointments to meet with them this week. Heavenly Father continues to bless us :)
I'll just finish with a snippet from my studies this week, starting with a quote: "Following Christ is not a casual occasional practice, but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places." I've said before, commandments aren't like guidelines, where we can pick and choose which ones are convenient for us at the time to live, but they are instructions from God of how we may obtain blessings and happiness in this life. I believe strongly in total commitment, not one foot in and one foot out. Not just when it is convenient, or when life is easy, but always. I like the scripture in Luke 9:62: "No man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." I invite all of you to commit yourselves to the Gospel, to your callings, to living the commandments. I know that only blessings and happiness can come from commitment to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He loves us, and He has "prepared a kingdom for us in the mansion of his father."
I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Sister Raitt
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| Sister Raitt and the other Sisters |
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| Natural History Museum |
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