Everything is connected

Howdy!


We had 13 less actives at church yesterday!!! And there is another couple that we are graduating to active status (in our book) as of this Sunday. This week as we went through the ward roster we picked out a lady to go see. We stopped by in the evening one night and she didn't answer. Then a few days later after an appointment fell through we decided to check on some less-active members in her area and we biked past her house. We decided to stop by and she opened the door right up! (Because of her screen she could see out but we couldn't see in.)

We talked with her and she wants her children to come back to church and has a testimony it seems, but hasn't been to church in a long time. She's in her 70's and is going into surgery for her hand today. So we arranged to see her again on Thursday and invited another sister in the RS of similar age to go with us. The RS sister we brought with us had lots of connections with this sister and they were able to connect and hopefully start the beginning of a friendship. We had a wonderful visit and the less-active sister shared her testimony of the restoration and of her conversion. We invited her to church and she promised to be there. AND SHE CAME!!! Despite a lot of trouble with her neck she came and the Bishop talked with her and gave her a priesthood blessing to prepare her for her hand surgery.

The Bishop is very happy to see several less-active families coming back! I'm sure the 11:30am time is helping too. (We used to meet at 9am.) The key is to strengthen everyone's faith enough so that when it switches back we won't lose them. We also have started reporting to the RS presidency every week the less active sisters that we visit and they count it as visiting teaching and it helps them know who is willing to have Visiting Teachers and who we can help fellowship as a ward.

We are really excited for the baptism next Sunday of a 9year we have been teaching. His mother is a really sweet lady and has been coming back to church. Teaching him I've come up with a few more ways to teach the different lessons. For example we made a matching game to pair pictures and words for the different principles and people, like baptism, tithing, Jesus Christ, prophets, priesthood, etc. We also had fun teaching tithing as a math lesson since he loves math.

President Taylor challenged all the missionaries to read the Book of Mormon again by the end of March and look for 50 different questions that he gave us. He also asked us to pray every day before we read and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true and then to look for the answer as we read it. He told us to loop around from where we are now.

I'm currently in Ether and before I never really enjoyed reading Ether because I felt it was just a story of lots of people rebelling and killing each other. But as I have been reading and looking for the questions that Pres. Taylor posted I have seen how many wonderful things are contained in Ether. One favorite verse that I found shares one reason why we need the Book of Mormon. Ether 8:26 "Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no more power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved." Throughout this chapter he talks of secret combinations and gangs that destroyed both his people and the people he writes about and that he is pleading with us not to allow those things in our society. I am grateful for all the bad examples both in life and in the scriptures that we can see and learn from!

We got to teach the Sunday School lesson on Sunday because the normal teacher (our ward mission leader) was out of town. It was on Spiritual Gifts and at first we didn't really know what to share. But as we pondered it we saw how connected this lesson was to the Atonement. It is the Atonement that not only overcomes sin, death and pain, but also exalts us. It is through the Spirit that we are prompted and it is the Spirit that sanctifies us! Developing these spiritual gifts are a way that we use the exalting power of the Atonement and take a few more baby steps on the path to Exaltation (becoming like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ).

During the lesson we also had a great discussion also about how we can help others on this road of discipleship. We stressed that we have to develop our own faith before we can strengthen that of others. I have found that Christ's parable about the beam and the moat to be soooooooo true! As a missionary I see people that are trying to get other people to come to church or to learn about the gospel, but yet they themselves are not going to church or living what Christ teaches. And then they are surprised why they are not able to help their friends and family. But if we are developing our own faith and have the Spirit with us, it is then that others can feel the Holy Ghost and can be influenced by him.

I am so grateful for all the lessons that I am learning. I know that Jesus Christ and His atonement are connected to everything. So often I feel that as humans we forcibly separate things that are connected. I have a testimony know that everything we do in life is connected to Jesus Christ and his gospel. No matter how mundane or temporal we think it is, it is all connected! I know that Jesus Christ came and fulfilled his Father's Plan and through him we can be saved and exalted.

God loves us, every one!

Sister Lila Jenson