It's been a busy week! On Wednesday, we made a trip down to the mission home to have a "New Missionary" training for Sister Liu. It went all day but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting for me to hear the training for new missionaries as I'm preparing to go home soon. I remembered when I received my new missionary training and it was really good to see it from a more experienced perspective. Sister Liu is amazing, I love her.
All of our efforts have paid off this week. Two people we met last week came to church this week for various activities and they also came to church on Sunday! We had a Stake YSA activity on Saturday - basically, there were over 700 water balloons and the missionaries just stood back and watched as they went to war....I saw our Bishop in a whole new light. Haha, it was a blast to watch. Everyone had a great time, especially our investigators.
Saturday we taught English Class and afterwards, one of the students stayed behind so I started a conversation with him. He's had what you could call some really bad luck in his lifetime. He was telling me story after story, and he expressed that he's not sure there's much happiness for him in the future, that some people just aren't very lucky and he's one of them. I began to share with him the blessings of the Gospel. He said he used to be Christian but after he was treated poorly by his father, he stopped going to church. After a 30 minute conversation, he agreed to meet with us to have a lesson. He said that if there was a way for him to be happier he would like to know how. He texted us afterwards and said it was great to meet us and looks forward to seeing us next week. I can't explain the happiness I feel when I can see someone like him start to have even the slightest bit of hope. I'm excited to meet with him again.
Last night we were able to watch a CES Devotional - many of you may have seen it with Tad A. Callaster speaking. One thing he said that really stuck in my mind was this: "God means everything He says. "It lead me to search for a scripture this morning in Moses 4:30, which essentially states that none of God's words can be voided. We know that God is perfect, He cannot lie, which led me to think of all the promises or "words" He has said to us. One comes to mind in Doctrine and Covenants Section 84:88: 'He will go before us, He will be on our right hand and on our left, He will send angels to lift us up.' These promises that Heavenly Father gives us aren't just little nice things he says to comfort us, it's real! It's truth! On the other side of it, when he tells us to live his commandments, he means it! It's not just a suggestion, it's a commandment." It was a great devotional. Another thing he mentioned that stood out to me was, "When someone says they don't want to go to church because of all the hypocrites, it's like saying you don't want to go to the gym because of all the unfit people." Interesting way to think about it.
I love this work, I don't think I'll ever be able to express in words what serving a mission has done for me, it's amazing. Anyone reading this who is considering serving a mission, go. Serve. Don't miss the greatest opportunity to grow and see miracles. Your life will be changed, you won't regret it. I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Sister Raitt
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