The First Vision!

Last Sunday, we taught the lesson in Relief Society.  It was on the First Vision and receiving revelation.  It went really well.  We gave everyone a piece of paper and asked them to think of something that they needed revelation on and then throughout the lesson to write down their thought and feelings.  We then told the story of the First Vision and analyzed what Joseph Smith did - like he studied the scriptures, planned what he was going to do, etc.

Independence Day - Part 2

After the breakfast, we went home, studied, then planned for the week. We finished by about 3:30, then it was off to work until about 5.  We then went over to a member's house for a hamburger dinner!  It was delicious.  These members love two things: missionaries and Navajo Indians.  I was a popular dinner guest that night!   :)   We had to be in our house by 6:30 because it is very hard to tract on Independence Day.  We planned, studied some more, then told stories sitting around candlelight until we heard fireworks outside. We ran out to the parking lot and had a clear view of the neighborhood firework show.  It was the best! :)

Lessons Learned!

Well, this week was really tiring, but really great!  My companion and I got this crazy idea to set really high goals for ourselves this week - higher than either one of us has hit in our entire missions!  Well, we worked our tails off, and ran into a ton of problems, and although we weren't able to hit all our goals, we learned some valuable lessons in the process.

1) It's hard to plan and balance time, but it's worth it!

Along with setting almost ridiculously high goals for ourselves, we also set goals to visit every one of our members and less-actives this week....and we have a lot.  We have to really be dedicated and focused on our goals because there is a lot of work to do and not very much time to do it.  One of the biggest reasons for not hitting our goals was because we didn't use our time as well as we could have.  But luckily we have this week to redo everything and fix the mistakes we made last week.  We already have appointments set with almost all of our members and we've identified others who are willing to meet with us and keep commitments!  Talk about golden members!

2) We need to simply focus on the basics

Having so many solid appointments in a day means we're planning lessons like crazy.  Sometimes I think that the next day's lessons are supposed to make our members and investigators make huge, leaping strides in their spiritual progress, making daily planning stressful, long, and exhausting!  But one thing I realized this week as I was reading "Act in Doctrine" by Elder David A. Bednar, was that our individual lessons don't need to be life-changing moments, but rather they just need to bring the Spirit.  Lots of subtle, spirit-filled moments go farther than huge, elaborate discourses.

This changed completely the focus of our lessons and the commitments we are having our members and investigators keep.  This week, we created a small Book of Mormon reading chart for all of them.  Every time they read and pray together as a family, they just check off a box for the day.  It only goes for a week, so they won't get tired of it and we promised them all a prize on Sunday if they can read every single day.  The kids are super excited for the challenge!

3) It's more important to love the investigators than to worry if you're doing everything right.

I think this is a lesson I still have yet to learn!  Often, I am so worried about if I am teaching well or if I am doing every little thing possible to get these investigators to baptism that I forget that these are people with their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.  We should really be helping these people get baptized because we love them, not loving them because we want them baptized.  Keeping this in mind has helped us more easily shift our focus to what is most important in this work: bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of our brothers and sisters (Moses 1:39)

Weekly Report - March 3

This week was great because we each of our goals, with the exception of one . The only goal we did not hit was "investigators" at church . We had everything lined up for our investigator family to go , but their ride to church "fell through".  We were in another town at the singles ward , so by the time we even found out there was a problem , it was too late to do anything about it . We were not super- happy about it , but there 's always next week!

On the bright side , we decided to pass the house of a part member family and were told that the non-member of the family wanted to be baptized ! ! : D: D: D Actually, this is my favorite family EVERRRRR ! So I'm really , really, really excited! : D: D: D The baptismal date in later on in March. Oh yeah , and we're planning a wedding for them! : D Hahahaa I am sooooooooo excited!

Also, we found out that the way in which the missionaries will  present the gospel will change. We received training in the new way of teaching . The zone leaders told us that we would need to change a lot, but when it was presented to us, there was not much changed . It's super fun because now we have to figure out this new way of missionary work; every contact is a trial and error run! It makes life interesting! :)

We're teaching this individual who has some interesting stories to tell us about his life . To help introduce the Book of Mormon , we shared the story of Nephi going to get the plates . Man, he ate that story up! He absolutely loved it! Periodically we'd stop to ask him how he'd feel if he were in the same situation as Nephi and his brothers . The insights he was giving were so unique . When we told him about Laban throwing Laman out and trying to kill him , we asked him how he would feel and he starts saying  "it 's one thing to mess with me , but when It 's with my family , That crosses the line! " Long story short  he really, really, really liked it . Telling him about  Nephi killing Laban was a bit interesting haha ! The scriptures teach us valuable lessons so y'all better read them! ;)

Additional Scriptures? Why, Yes!

The last few weeks, we have run into people who are opposed to the Book of Mormon.  In my entire mission, I have never run into so many people with the same doubt and they have no hesitation bringing it up as soon as we open our mouths.  Because of this, however, my companion and I have practically perfected our approach to that doubt, and I think God is rewarding our diligence, because yesterday, we ran into a guy who literally asked us why there weren't more books than just the Bible.  With smiles on our faces, we eagerly told him that there were more books. I love those moments on the mission!

Scripture Study Blesses Your Life!

In my personal study, I have been focusing a lot on how to study because in order to help our investigators study the scriptures, I need to know how to do it myself.  Every morning, I read a chapter of the Book of Mormon.  It has become such a part of my daily routine that I can't believe there was a time when I didn't read the scriptures.  There is so much in them.  It takes time to really get to a point where you believe they actually help you, but if you exercise a little bit of faith on what the prophets have said and actually read and study them every day, you will begin to see how they will bless your life.

Reading both the Book of Mormon and the Bible is so important especially in preparing for a mission.  You need a knowledge of both.  I love reading the Bible because it explains where our beliefs as Christians came from.  It's like a philosophy book.  The Book of Mormon has a great story line.

Another Baptism!

This week we had another baptism!!!!!! :D It was such a sweet experience.  After the baptism, the stake was doing a fireside for the youth and our recent baptismal candidates stayed for it.  We stayed for a bit to help the youth pass off Scripture Mastery.  Right before we left, the sister that was baptized gave us a big hug and told us thanks for changing her life.  That made me so happy.  I can't describe it in words.

Leadership Conference

This week, we had a three-day leadership conference.  It was very good and I learned soooooo much!  They talked to us about the importance of using scriptures and personal experiences as we teach.  I learned that I need to rely more on the Spirit and teach more to the needs of our investigators.

"CPR" and the Gospel Make Us Happy!

The purpose of the gospel is to make us happy.  Going to church, reading the scriptures daily, and having personal and family prayer are not just motions the culture of our Church tells us we should do, but they are necessary to our happiness.

I have learned these things are important, and I'm trying to teach them to others.

Spiritual "CPR" Continued...

I never knew the importance of CPR until I had to teach it, and it was hard at first for me to teach others this because I myself was guilty of not fully acting, too.  However, I now can see why it is so important we are daily keeping all of the commandments - especially the little ones - like CPR.  When we do not keep the commandments, we cannot be truly happy.

"CPR" in a Spiritual Sense

We are seeing a lot of success in our area.  We have found great people to teach, and the people we have found have been touched by the Spirit the gospel brings.  As missionaries we leave commitments with everyone.  These commitments are supposed to lead people closer to Christ and help them repent of their sins.  Almost every single one of our commitments has to do with getting them to Church, Praying individually and as a family, and Reading the scriptures (we call it CPR because it sustains spiritual life).  We leave these commitments because we know it will help them progress spiritually.  When they do these three simple things, they feel closer to God and true conversion occurs.

Daily Scripture Study

We had a lesson last Sunday about the importance of daily scripture study. The sister who taught Relief Society said that if we read the Book of Mormon every day, everything else in our lives will fall into place. I have seen this in the short time I've been out in my mission. I have begun reading the Book of Mormon regularly (I know, I've always been bad with scripture study!). It's helped me maintain a clear perspective of the purpose of missionary work which has helped me maintain vision and faith every day.