Monday, February 29, 2016

Showing love through persistence

Cleaning, moving, baby showers, and more! Yet again, another incredible week in Georgia.

Cleaning-We have been helping a less active family move their house. It was on the DL...so we couldn't ask too many extra people for help. Not to mention that all the kids had already moved out months ago and the house had been untouched in many areas where they usually were at. So...we had a lot or work to do. It was the missionaries and the mom packing up and scrubbing this house. I'll tell ya, the mission is preparing me to be very clean and well organized in my family life. Everything ended well and she was extremely grateful for the extra hands.

Baby showers- A few ladies in the ward threw a baby shower for this young mother who hasn't been active recently. It was wonderful to see how many people came and supported her. She's such a cutie! We somehow hadn't met her until that night, so we're now going to meet with her and her husband regularly to help them pick up those priceless habits they've been missing that lead us closer to our Father in Heaven. Also, it was amazing how many of her friends we were able to meet who were not members of the church that we probably would never had seen otherwise. A few of them asked us questions about our missionary service and what we do. So wonderful! We're hoping to see more of them later.

We finally got to meet with Emily again. She is the friend of a member in the ward. She has a cute...and extremely picky/particular 3 year old who loves to run around like crazy during our lessons :D But it was so neat to meet with her this week because she had read the intro to the Book of Mormon and I was so surprised by how willing she is to learn more. You never know who is ready. Something she said that made me smile (she's very honest). It went something like this:  "When I was reading it, I couldn't help but think how far-fetched the stories sounded. Then the thought came to me..well, so is the Bible. I might as well give it a try." So true. Sometimes we judge new things far too harshly just because we are not familiar with them.

Oh, something crazy...because of a family and medical condition, one of the women's husbands in the ward was able to come home from Korea for 2 weeks. That's pretty much unheard of in the Army. It was a miracle that it happened...because she was in a bad state and their marriage was getting pretty rocky. It just testified to me how important the family is to God. Only because of Him was this miracle possible, and I firmly believe it happened so that their family will not fall apart but rather be sealed in the temple one day as an eternal unit.

The part member family we have been working with came to church this week! It was the happiest moment to see all of them walk up to the front doors in their Sunday best. They are still making many changes in their life to live the gospel again...but that's just it, they're making changes! :D God doesn't ask for immediate perfection...but He does ask for immediate progress. (Tad R Callister)

A few funny moments of the week:

*while at a part member's house whom we have had an extremely hard time getting a hold of...we were waiting at the door as a van slowed down but then sped back up and continued driving by. Yep, it was their van. Sad day! Ha :'D We laughed it off.
We may have not been able to talk to them that day..but we felt like we needed to go back Sunday. We caught the mom right as she was going outside to check on something. We were able to have a wonderful, enjoyable visit with the family. If nothing else, it at least showed them that we are here to be their friends and not someone who they need to feel like they have to avoid.

*The 12 year old son of yet another part member family answered the door after us knocking last night. He's one of those people to just kind of say whatever he thinks and it doesn't always sound how he probably meant it. He yells over his shoulder at his parents "It's them again!" You may say we're persistent, but we do so with love :) :) We also had a great lesson/chat with the mother and 2 of her sons kept coming out to talk with us. It's all about loving the people!

*One afternoon we were in an apartment complex and we ended up with ALL the neighborhood kids following us around. So funny. Kids are honestly the best! They can also feel the spirit so strongly. They usually ask us over and over again if we can visit their families. Sometimes their parents let us in..sometimes they don't. Imagine if we all followed the Savior's admonition to 'become as little children.' Either way, we ended up with a big band of followers. :D

All I've got time for this week. Be safe! Share the gospel! And take advantage of the time we have now to study!!!! Knowledge is so priceless!

Much love,

Sister Brown

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