We taught a primary class yesterday (there was another lady in the room. so we weren't breaking the rules in case Andrew was wondering) and this poor little girl started telling us about how she made valentines for her friends and they all broke the valentines and threw them in her face. It was SO sad to hear. All I could say was that I knew God loves her no matter what. But sometimes it breaks my heart that even though there are people who confess to know Christ their "fruits" would say otherwise. And it is in times like that when we have to realize that all of us fall short of God's glory and all we can do is forgive and move on with our life. And hopefully one day they will realize the mistakes they have made and take the actions necessary to rectify them.
We have actually been learning a lot about faith unto repentance. And how repentance isn't just an Abinidi action where we point out that everyone is going to hell. But more like Nephi asking Lehi where he can go to find food, and Lehi realizing he needs the spirit and direction and he repents. But really all we can do is cry repentance with a heart full of love for people. and even though they make dumb decisions we can hope for the best for them.
And the stuff about Noah is crazy. I wish all my converts could just go up to heaven. Man, the old Testament is something else. I'm excited when we die and I realize the answer to all my questions.
With you talking about church and doing the things everyday to build your testimony it reminds me of something that happened last week. Right after emailing I got a call from a convert who was baptized right before I got to this area. Basically she told me that she doesn't believe Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Pearl of Great Price is scripture. She said that going to church makes her feel drained instead of spiritually uplifted so she is going to have her records removed. It broke my heart that she was saying all these terrible things about a church that she just joined, even the church of God. As I have been able to look back on the time I have spent with her I realized things that were missing. Namely, she was reading the bible instead of the Book of Mormon. She spent most of her time in church on her phone. And she hated when people quoted modern day prophets. So even though at the time of her baptism she knew those things were true, she stopped doing them and quickly lost her testimony. I know that it's the little things that are SO important to do that way our testimony stays strong!
I love you SO much! Have a great week!
Love, Sister T!
Monday, February 24, 2014
February 23, 2014
This week it snowed a lot!! And we weren't allowed to drive. SO my trusty bike Bertha got a little used. I'm sending you probably the greatest picture EVER. We were outside all day long trying to tract and bike in the weather. Then at night we had to walk a mile to an appointment, stay for 15 minutes to teach them and walk a mile back in a blizzard. I felt like an old time missionary! But also I felt really cold and tired. Literally from our walk to the appointment and starting to walk back we couldn't see the foot prints that we made. It was that snowy!
And also we won't have a car at the end of this week because it'll be under repairs. SO we get to BIKE! WOO! haha I'm so stoked. I definitely know that when we sacrifice for the gospel God blesses us SO much. SO I'm excited to sacrifice my warmth, safety, and energy to share the gospel of Jesus Christ! It'll be pretty exciting!
Oh this is what I was going to say about it. The morning of the day of the storm we get a text from president Ehlert (our substitute president) that we can't drive. I looked outside and it was a clear sunshiny day. And I was more than a little upset that we would have to cancel our appointments because they were too far away for us to get there without a car, so as we are walking to and fro knocking on doors I was tempted to say, "let's just go and get our car. it's not even going to snow in this area today" but then I thought about how you have been writing a lot about Noah and how people thought he was crazy for building a boat for over 100 years when it's blue skies and sunshiny. But in the end he was victorious. And it's definitely true. It started ice raining and right after that it started snowing. So the roads were SUPER treacherous, covered in snow and below that in ice. EVERYONE got stuck. We had to help push so many people and I'm extremely glad that we decided to be obedient and not drive.
Have a FANTASTIC DAY! I LOVE YOU
LOVE. SISTER T <me
And also we won't have a car at the end of this week because it'll be under repairs. SO we get to BIKE! WOO! haha I'm so stoked. I definitely know that when we sacrifice for the gospel God blesses us SO much. SO I'm excited to sacrifice my warmth, safety, and energy to share the gospel of Jesus Christ! It'll be pretty exciting!
Oh this is what I was going to say about it. The morning of the day of the storm we get a text from president Ehlert (our substitute president) that we can't drive. I looked outside and it was a clear sunshiny day. And I was more than a little upset that we would have to cancel our appointments because they were too far away for us to get there without a car, so as we are walking to and fro knocking on doors I was tempted to say, "let's just go and get our car. it's not even going to snow in this area today" but then I thought about how you have been writing a lot about Noah and how people thought he was crazy for building a boat for over 100 years when it's blue skies and sunshiny. But in the end he was victorious. And it's definitely true. It started ice raining and right after that it started snowing. So the roads were SUPER treacherous, covered in snow and below that in ice. EVERYONE got stuck. We had to help push so many people and I'm extremely glad that we decided to be obedient and not drive.
Have a FANTASTIC DAY! I LOVE YOU
LOVE. SISTER T <me
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| Sisters Terry and Ballard |
Friday, February 14, 2014
February 9
Hello my mother! And others. :)
Well I am here at Elm Creek for yet another Transfer and I am SUPER stoked! I love this area and this ward SO much! They are fantastic. Things are going well here with my new compadre Sister Ballard (no relation to Elder Ballard) She has been here 7 months and spent most of her time in tiny branches so this is something definitely new to her! And it's super crazy to take over the area! I realized how much I am NOT good a navigating at ALL. But I'm learning. And how hard can it be to know where everything is in just two towns? Well super hard, but that's alright. God is on my side.
This week was super difficult with A LOT of appointments falling through or not being set up due to the fact our PHONE got STOLEN. yup. How does that even happen, I have no clue. But it did. And it was only a lot inconvenient. So we did lots of tracting this week. Which despite doing it all the time in Eden Prairie, I'm still not a huge fan of it. But one night as I was SUPER frustrated because of the lack of hitting our goals and having success I was pretty much complaining to Heavenly Father as we drove to a gas station to fill up. I was so frustrated because we worked SO hard and nothing was happening. But as soon as i got out of the car this fantastic song was playing by FUN. Saying, "If you’re lost and alone, yeah you're sinking like a stone, carry on."
It was such a tender mercy from God to be able to hear words that do inspire and uplift (even if they aren't a hymn.) I knew in that second that God was aware of our desires and our efforts and it was okay that things weren't working out. It's such a blessing to know that although Good times don't happen all the time and not nearly as much as we would wish God has not abandoned us. It's been a remarkable blessing as I've been on my mission to learn just how much God is in control and aware of everything that goes on in our life. Not one thing that happens is not for our benefit or to help God's work progress. And I am so thankful for that knowledge.
I also want to shout out my love to all those who have been such great examples in my life! I love you all and I'm so thankful for all the hard work, and effort given by my family and friends that led me to where I'm at today. I know that I definitely would not be the same without any of you and I think everyone who reads this is super fantastic! :) and I know God loves you all!
Well I am here at Elm Creek for yet another Transfer and I am SUPER stoked! I love this area and this ward SO much! They are fantastic. Things are going well here with my new compadre Sister Ballard (no relation to Elder Ballard) She has been here 7 months and spent most of her time in tiny branches so this is something definitely new to her! And it's super crazy to take over the area! I realized how much I am NOT good a navigating at ALL. But I'm learning. And how hard can it be to know where everything is in just two towns? Well super hard, but that's alright. God is on my side.
This week was super difficult with A LOT of appointments falling through or not being set up due to the fact our PHONE got STOLEN. yup. How does that even happen, I have no clue. But it did. And it was only a lot inconvenient. So we did lots of tracting this week. Which despite doing it all the time in Eden Prairie, I'm still not a huge fan of it. But one night as I was SUPER frustrated because of the lack of hitting our goals and having success I was pretty much complaining to Heavenly Father as we drove to a gas station to fill up. I was so frustrated because we worked SO hard and nothing was happening. But as soon as i got out of the car this fantastic song was playing by FUN. Saying, "If you’re lost and alone, yeah you're sinking like a stone, carry on."
It was such a tender mercy from God to be able to hear words that do inspire and uplift (even if they aren't a hymn.) I knew in that second that God was aware of our desires and our efforts and it was okay that things weren't working out. It's such a blessing to know that although Good times don't happen all the time and not nearly as much as we would wish God has not abandoned us. It's been a remarkable blessing as I've been on my mission to learn just how much God is in control and aware of everything that goes on in our life. Not one thing that happens is not for our benefit or to help God's work progress. And I am so thankful for that knowledge.
I also want to shout out my love to all those who have been such great examples in my life! I love you all and I'm so thankful for all the hard work, and effort given by my family and friends that led me to where I'm at today. I know that I definitely would not be the same without any of you and I think everyone who reads this is super fantastic! :) and I know God loves you all!
Love, Sister Terry
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| Sisters Hudson and Terry |
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Transfer Week
Hello My Friends and FAMILY!! I hope all is going well and everyone is staying warm during this crazy cold weather!
This week was FABULOUS! We've really been pushing ourselves really hard to get the ward involved with our teaching and to find people to teach. And best of all LUNDIN got baptized! WOO! I'm sending ya'll a picture of her. And me. Don't pay attention to how much weight I've gained.... oops. But anyway the baptism was SUPER awesome! We were so excited for her and everything went spectacularly. I LOVE teaching these little kids. They're fabulous. We just play hopscotch with them or jeopardy to help them understand the teachings of Sister Terry and Hudson. It's great.
And on top of it all, I get to stay here another TRANSFER! woo! I love this area; it's so diverse and wonderful. The African people here are amazing! We met this new member who moved into our ward a few days ago and she is from Liberia. She started telling us about how God saved her life because soldiers came into her village and killed her brother and husband right in front of her. But then let her and her children go. Which is unheard of there. They usually kill everyone. Then she entered her name into this lottery to be able to come here to America. And eventually she had her name drawn. But she could only take one child with her, so she left 3 of her kids in Africa to come here. The only problem is that she doesn't know how to read or write so she doesn't have a job. Literally the problems in her life are insane. But through it all she never stopped praising God for saving her life and the lives of her children. It's so amazing to me to see these people who have literally been threw Hell and back but never once lost their faith in God. Amazing!
On Thursday it snowed so much that President said no cars. So we had to walk and walk. We spent most of the day just helping people get their cars unstuck! It was NUTS! Rookie drivers. haha, but really when it snows here it snows ALOT. And then the wind blows hard core so all the snow that just got plowed blows back into the road. There is always an opportunity to go shovel though. My back has never been buffer.
Well I hope everything is going well! The church is Definitely true and God still continues to speak to us today. I'm so blessed to be able to share that message everyday and I'm thankful for everyone who has impacted my life to get me to where I am today!! I love you!!
Sister T
This week was FABULOUS! We've really been pushing ourselves really hard to get the ward involved with our teaching and to find people to teach. And best of all LUNDIN got baptized! WOO! I'm sending ya'll a picture of her. And me. Don't pay attention to how much weight I've gained.... oops. But anyway the baptism was SUPER awesome! We were so excited for her and everything went spectacularly. I LOVE teaching these little kids. They're fabulous. We just play hopscotch with them or jeopardy to help them understand the teachings of Sister Terry and Hudson. It's great.
And on top of it all, I get to stay here another TRANSFER! woo! I love this area; it's so diverse and wonderful. The African people here are amazing! We met this new member who moved into our ward a few days ago and she is from Liberia. She started telling us about how God saved her life because soldiers came into her village and killed her brother and husband right in front of her. But then let her and her children go. Which is unheard of there. They usually kill everyone. Then she entered her name into this lottery to be able to come here to America. And eventually she had her name drawn. But she could only take one child with her, so she left 3 of her kids in Africa to come here. The only problem is that she doesn't know how to read or write so she doesn't have a job. Literally the problems in her life are insane. But through it all she never stopped praising God for saving her life and the lives of her children. It's so amazing to me to see these people who have literally been threw Hell and back but never once lost their faith in God. Amazing!
On Thursday it snowed so much that President said no cars. So we had to walk and walk. We spent most of the day just helping people get their cars unstuck! It was NUTS! Rookie drivers. haha, but really when it snows here it snows ALOT. And then the wind blows hard core so all the snow that just got plowed blows back into the road. There is always an opportunity to go shovel though. My back has never been buffer.
Well I hope everything is going well! The church is Definitely true and God still continues to speak to us today. I'm so blessed to be able to share that message everyday and I'm thankful for everyone who has impacted my life to get me to where I am today!! I love you!!
Sister T
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| Ludin and Sister Terry |
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| Sister Hudson |
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