Week 29 - Merry Christmas Ya'll

HELLO from Oklahoma! Where when you don’t like the weather one minute, just wait for 5 minutes, because it’s going to change.  Like 70 degrees to 40 degrees.  It was really nice earlier and now tonight it’s super foggy and cold and wet and probably going to be the rest of the week.  But some exciting news . . . There’s a 40% chance of snow on Christmas.  Everyone’s talking about it.  It never snows here. Never!  Maybe a little bit and then they cancel church because it’s an inch and no one can drive in it.

Just thought it was in the most random
spot in the town...it deserved a picture

So we’re counting down, 19 days until Stephanie and her daughter Chelsie get baptized. We are so pumped, the ward is pumped and everyone is finding out about it. We are so excited for her. . . she’s progressing so well.  Every time we see her she has a question and she just wants to know more and do better. We don’t even have to worry about anything we tell her because she knows it’s true and she wants to change.  It’s really cool how close she has become to Jesus Christ, but she has the craziest back story.  You would never have thought 20 years ago that she would be a member of the Church but you can’t look on the outside.  You’ve got to look on the inside. It was a miracle how the missionaries found her and we are just so excited for her right now. 

Also, there are only 13 days until Marilyn gets baptized and we are so excited for her. She wants baptism so much. I just love our investigators right now and they’re just doing so well. They touch us when we go and see them. They strengthen us.  We might help bring the Spirit and have the Spirit touch them but they bring the Spirit into our lives and its really humbling to teach them and then have them strengthen us so much.

Sistrict Unity! (Walker, Lewis, Williams, Kresge)

Lazara is doing great too. Last week there was a play that our Stake put on called Hosanna.  There were a lot of pieces that were sung that were absolutely beautiful.  We got to come and listen and bring our investigators and enjoy it.  Most of the music was about the Savior, the songs in the Hymn Book and songs like What Child is This? and O Come, O Come, Immanuel.  They are just beautiful arrangements about our Savior, Jesus Christ.  So Lazara came to that and loved it so much. One of the things she has touched us with is her ability to feel through music and through performing. She is very expressive and loves to talk so she was just talking it up with us about how she felt about this performance and it was just really really cool. Music is one of my favorite things about Christmas.  It is so crazy how fast Christmas has come. This is mission life. Things just go by so fast…. first Thanksgiving and now Christmas is already here.

District Unity!

So our mission president also came to this performance and he got to meet Lazara.  She’ll say anything and her goal is to be a director (of plays) for a career. So she’s putting on this play but as missionaries we wouldn’t normally be able to go.  So Lazara goes up to our mission president  and they made a deal.  I’m not sure about the details of the deal but he said we could go to the play.  So we ended up going to this play and it was really cute.  It was the best Christmas Pageant ever, if you remember that book and movie.  I remember reading it in 5^th grade.  It’s all about this church that puts on a pageant every year and usually it’s the same kids year after year.  There is the Herdman family and no one likes them.  But the moral of the story is that you have to treat everyone with kindness and you can’t look on the outside. 

We were drowning in puppies!!! And it was too cute!<3

Most of our investigators are like this.  You can’t look on the outside because you can’t know what’s in their heart.  You have to look in their eyes and find the glimmer of light in their eyes and there is so much that they have.  So this play really touched me.  You can’t judge other people, but accept them for who they are.  The Savior can help touch their hearts and help them change.  We are so glad we got to go and support her and she was so happy we were there.  We actually got a little shout out from her and there were a bunch of non-members there and so that was real good.  She said, “and so my Sisters have been helping me to come closer to God.”  We got a lot of smiles and we said hi to a lot of people.  We were fulfilling our purpose in that moment.

Just giving members heart attacks :)

Something else that happened with Lazara, happened today during Sunday School and Relief Society.  Lazara was having a real hard time with the Plan of Salvation because she has a strong foundation in reincarnation.  It was something that she had come to love and it is something that gives her hope.  So when the Sisters taught her about the Plan of Salvation she didn’t want to hear it because it destroyed everything that she thought was true.  When we talked to the mission president he said she eventually would gain a stronger testimony of the Plan of Salvation and to just move on because she is going to progress in other places and she’ll realize that it’s true eventually.  So we dropped the Plan of Salvation, mentioning on occasion like “you are a daughter of God” and “God has a plan for you” but we wouldn’t go over the details.  So today during Sunday School it got brought up and the teacher was talking about the Plan of Salvation, and Lazara perked up and was asking questions and he said he’d talk about it next week.  But she’s the kind who wants answers now.  Sister Kresge and I are just grinning ear to ear in the Sunday School class because Lazara is engaged.  Then during Relief Society she leans over to us and wrote a note on Sister Kresge’s note book, “I want to learn more about the Plan of Salvation.”  And we were so excited.  We have a lesson with her tomorrow and realize that as missionaries we find different ways to teach and we improve every time we teach because we are not perfect.  We realize that we need to teach to her needs and not to what we thought she needed to learn so we’re hoping to have her ask lots of questions this time, and we’re really excited to see how it goes tomorrow.  So wish us luck.  It’s going to go awesome.

Beauty of Oklahoma <3

So last night we got a text from our Mission President asking if we were up.  Then he calls us and informed us he was coming to our Sacrament Meeting tomorrow.  He does that from time to time.  Elder Bednar did that when he visited our mission, and just showed up at a ward council meeting.  Our Mission President is so inspired.  I know that all mission presidents are called of God and they are there to support the missionaries and lead and guide them.  I’m so grateful for the inspiration and the worthiness President Mansell has to hold this calling because he does receive inspiration from the Lord and he knows what the mission needs.  I’m so grateful to be in this mission because I need Pres. Mansell and I need this mission too.  It all works hand in hand and there’s a reason why I’m here. I’m just so grateful for someone who holds a calling so well and that calls leaders throughout the mission to also lead and guide us.  He’s so close to the Savior and I’m glad he represents the Savior so well.

OklaHOMEa

So your challenge this week is based off of something I heard in Sacrament Meeting today and it really stood out to me.  Have you ever had a talent before that you use but sometimes say, I don’t want to use it right now even when you’re really good at it?  Remember the scripture, “Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put in under a bushel but on a candle stick.  Let your light so shine that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.” I relate that to talents.  You have talents, and are so gifted.  Those gifts are from Heavenly Father and you should be using them always, because you wouldn’t have them if the Lord didn’t have something great for you to do with them.  I realized that with certain talents that I have, like music, sometimes I hide it under a bushel because I’m scared to let it out, like playing the piano or singing.  Sometimes I get nervous and I fear instead of have faith.  This sister said today, “willingness trumps talent.”  As I thought about it I decided that your willingness to do something, trumps the talent. So your willingness to do it means more than just having it.  It stood out to me so much. 

So your challenge specifically is to find a talent that you haven’t been using very much lately, and pray about how you can share it more…even if it’s a talent you already use.  Also, read your patriarchal blessing because sometimes it mentions talents in there.  Find out what the Lord would want you to do with your talent.  Talents are to be used for good and to serve and to cheer people up.  I’ve noticed that when I sing or play the piano, it always makes me happy and other people happy and it brings the Spirit and a good feeling in the room.  Find that talent and use it in a good way, and then develop it because if we just do the bare minimum, we’re not fulfilling the full potential the Lord has for that talent.  Let me know how your challenge goes this week and I also want to know how your last challenge went.  So email me and tell me about it.  I hope you have a wonderful week.  I miss ya and I love ya.

...Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS Ya'll!!!!!  Sister Walker