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| Sidney with the Dobbins, the family housing her and her companion |
Hello my family! How are you all doing? I heard that it
snowed in Utah , which is super
strange cause it still hasn't snowed here yet. No complaints though.
So I realized that I haven't talked much about the people
that we are teaching. Super sorry about that. But we met with one of our
investigators this week and had a way cool experience! We had been trying to
get her to commit to a baptismal date, but she has lots of concerns and also
talks A LOT so it's hard to say everything that we want to tell her. But this
week we talked to her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the cleansing power
of the Atonement. She told us about some serious mistakes she has made in her
life, and how much she regrets them now. We were able to testify to her about
the cleansing effects of baptism and how she will be free of those sins she
committed before. I wish I could explain to you all exactly what happened, and
how strong the spirit was. It was so clear that Heavenly Father loves her SO
much, and wants her to return to him. And as we invited her to be baptized, and
she accepted I LOVED being able to promise her the blessings that come through
baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. We are SO excited for her to be
baptized!!!
Another major event that happened this week is that one of
the lady's in our ward had a baby, and the baby passed away. It's been a
heartbreaking week for many of the members as they prepared for the funeral and
lent a hand to the family. Our bishop invited us to come to the funeral to help
show our support for the ward. It's interesting because our mission president
invited us to study the plan of salvation for the past few weeks and write a
paper summarizing the plan. So it's been on our minds quite a lot recently.
Attending the funeral was hard, and brought back a lot of memories about the
funerals I have attended before. Even with the knowledge of the plan of
salvation it doesn't make losing a family member easy. We love them, and we
love being in their presence and it's hard to know that for right now, we can't
be with them. But oh my goodness how thankful I am for my Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. For his ability to break the bands of death and rise again, and through
him we all can live again. If I didn't know this before my mission I sure know
it now that my family will be together forever. No matter when they are taken from
this life, and how long I have to be here without them I know that I will see
them again and be able to spend the rest of eternity with them. It's been such
a blessing to know that as I spend the next year and a half away from those I love
and cherish I will be able to help those who don't have that knowledge find
peace and comfort in losing their loved ones by knowing that when a person dies
they will live again, and we will be celebrated and rejoice as we join them in
the next life. And right now, that's why I know I can do this, I can be away
from my family, because this isn't the end for us.
Sorry for the super serious subject. I realize that probably
my last two emails have been downers and hopefully it doesn't freak any
potential missionaries out. I absolutely LOVE being a missionary. It's the
hardest, most rewarding thing I have ever experienced! I have never felt such
love for people I hardly even know, and also I've never understood the atonement
as well as I do now, and I'm so glad I have 17 more months to study and learn
from the scriptures. It's so awesome!
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