This was by far the best week of the transfer :) Every morning Sister Lindberg and I study together, and we find a scripture of phrase to motivate us through the day. We were reading on Tuesday morning in Preach My Gospel chapter 1 for our Zone Meeting homework, and we picked "People are searching for purpose in life...and you travel among them."
That day we met 5 unusually nice strangers. Excerpts from June 21 journal entry:
Stranger #1 JV Bernard. We were walking by our house and decided to stop and check the mail. GOOD DECISION. JV was standing in the parking lot looking all confused, and he asked us where an address was. We helped him out but he got really distracted by our shiny nametags and he started asking all the right questions! We talked about our church, and he told us that it is his dream to be a youth minister, he imagines himself speaking to thousands of young people :) He's from Louisiana, but he prayed about it and felt like God wanted him to come here for some reason. All he wants to do is follow God. He is perfect. We gave him a Restoration pamphlet and an appointment for a church tour. He gave us an awesome prayer. MIRACLE. we travel among them!
Stranger #2 Mitch the Mailman! Several weeks ago, a mailman pulled over, smiled and said "Hey, I really admire what yall do." while we were out tracting in the heat. Okay, this was the best part of that entire day. I have been grateful for that mailman ever since. And then immediately after meeting Stranger #1, we turned around, and this mailman was delivering our mail! We got to talk to him for a while, and I got to thank him for being a beam of sunshine in a hard day. He knew a lot about missionaries and has met with them before :) He said he used to deliver to the Mission Office, and GOODNESS THAT WAS A LOT OF PACKAGES!
(In case you were wondering, we didn't get any mail.)
I won't tell you every story, but people were unusually nice to us on Tuesday. Even the Elders! They had the car on free taco day, so they brought us tacos while we were out working :) I took a picture of Elder Perry the Angel.
Sister Lindberg and I had many teaching opportunities and spiritual experiences this week. The people here are prepared and progressing and we are so grateful. Prayers are answered!
Yesterday JV, Stranger #1, came for his church tour. We had a great member with us, he joined the church a few years ago and his story is really powerful. I love lessons in church buildings, the Spirit is unmistakable! By the end he had accepted to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and to pray about baptism on July 30th. JV truly has the strongest desire to follow God, like I said before. I admire his humble searching for truth. I know that all who seek for truth will find it. It takes effort, for sure! I know that JV will do what it takes to find his answer.
Wednesday was our Zone Conference, it was really, really good. My favourite part was the reminder that missionary work isn't meant to be easy. Elder Holland said: I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.
Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great
Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him?
It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in
Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the
summit of Calvary.
He says that through all the rejections, persecutions, and struggles that missionaries endure, we are standing with Jesus Christ and His Atonement will carry us. I guess I needed to hear that! It sure keeps me going!
My mission is the greatest experience of my life. All the ups and downs make me sick sometimes, but I wouldn't trade what I am learning from all of this for anything! Thank you for your love and prayers, have a blessed week!
Sister Bartsch 💕
PS: The greatest thing happened on Saturday. We went to the Clinton Visitors Center to contact a referral who wanted to learn more about Family History. The lady wasn't there, but another really nice couple was! And they let us talk and pray and even gave us a bunch of community service ideas. AND guess what was going on right then? A Southern Folk/Bluegrass jam session. They do this almost every Saturday. If you know me, you know I LOVE live music. As soon as we walked in they said "Oh, Latter Day Saints from Utah!" We sat down, sang along, and loved every minute of it!!!!! I'll send a video to my mom, maybe yall can hear it somehow :)
xoxoxoxo
 |
| Elders Bringing Tacos. Life saving! |
 |
| Bluegrass jam session |
No comments:
Post a Comment