"THIS is how it's supposed to be."

Monday, July 22, 2013

Let's see...

We've had another busy week.  

One of our main focus is simply working with prepared people.  I feel like a common misconception is that missionaries are here to dispense information.  Anyone who wants to acquire more information can find our beliefs at Mormon.org.  Which is a great route to go.  

But information doesn't do anything to change a person.  At best, it will influence someone's opinion.  

We are here to help people come unto Christ, through faith and repentance, to prepare them for baptism.  So if they don't have their own desire to do that, we really can't do much for anyone, except leave our testimony, and point them in the right direction if they are curious.  

I have a testimony that God restores us according to our desires (Alma 29:4)

If we as missionaries are really looking for and focused on finding people whom God has already prepared, we will find them.  If we lack faith that there are truly prepared people, we'll only find people who are not truly prepared. 

It's tempting to try to coerce someone into hearing your message, but we are emphasizing focusing our efforts on people who already have a desire.  This has led us to some amazing people.

We're working with a lady named Sara right now.  We met her tracting when she was babysitting some kids for her friend, so she didn't have much time.  But she told us she wanted to learn about whatever we had to offer, because she needed a stronger relationship with God.  Sara is a recovering alcoholic, and has experienced some close personal losses recently.  

The first thing we teach is the Nature of God.  We read from Romans 8:16, and Acts 17.  She was absolutely floored.  We used basic, simple scriptures that we've used thousands of times before.  But to her, it was like a new revelation - because it WAS.  As she really read from the scriptures for the first time in her life, you could see on her outside what was happening on her inside.  

We explained to her what it meant to be a daughter of God.  She loved the idea of being a "Daddy's Girl" with her Father in Heaven :)  

She came to church yesterday, and is becoming friends with a lady in our congregation, Nancy, who was baptized just a few months ago, and can relate to a lot of her struggles.  

In our last lesson, we were teaching, and as Nancy was talking to Sara, I was struck by the thought: "THIS is how it's supposed to be."   

We as missionaries put forth all our efforts to be obedient and diligent. God prepared and led us to Sara, Nancy was willing to support Sara, and the spirit was so strong, it was the perfect teaching environment. 

When I hear about the hastening of the work of salvation, and how tracting will be phased out, my initial reaction is to cringe. I LOVE tracting.  But teaching- and I mean really teaching, not just tellling someone about the restoration,- is even better. I would love if 24/7 my days were filled with appointments like that. And with the hastening of the work, that will happen. probably not in my time as a full time missionary, but it will happen :)  

I love being a missionary. I love having a purpose every minute of my day, every day of my life, and I love that my purpose is of eternal significance. I love and am grateful for the privilege of carrying the mantle of a missionary.  I love the opportunity to work with other missionaries, and learn from them.  I love the WATAC.  I love the Book of Mormon, and the Bible.  I love... everything!

Love,

Lonas