We
have also been doing a ton of work with the members in our ward which
has been so great! We put at least one family in our schedule everyday
and share a message with them. The most important thing though is we
always leave a commitment, an invitation to share the gospel with their
friends in some way. It has been really neat to follow up with that and
to hear about their personal experiences. Our ward truly is amazing
already and is missionary minded, but it is so great how this extra
interaction is making that excitement even greater!
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| Stopped by a sister's home while she was making Russian food, blessing! |
Have
I told you that I absolutely love Zone Conference?! I love interacting
with so many other missionaries I don't get to see on a regular basis
and the opportunity to receive counsel from President and Sister Daines.
They truly are amazing. I think what made me happiest was when we came
in for the first meeting and we got to give Sister Daines a hug as we
walked in and were able to shake President's hand. He looked into my
face and with the biggest smile told me how wonderful and different I
look. He was going to continue but he just smiled and said I knew what
he meant. I definitely do know exactly what he meant, and that excited
approving look on his face made my day. I feel so different and am so
much more comfortable and confident than I ever have been and I feel
wonderful, I am just thrilled that there is an outward expression of
that. You know how I said helping people understand the Restoration has been the theme for us this week? Well it was actually a
huge theme in our Zone Conference this Friday as well, how ironic. We
discussed how teaching about the Restoration is not about the event, but
we should be referring people to the doctrine and the actual truths we
are so lucky to have, like the Gift o the Holy Ghost and knowing our
families can be together forever. We also talked about the many
resources and media we have available to us as missionaries to use in
teaching. It was shocking for me to learn about things I didn't even
know existed and to see how we aren't even close to using our materials
to their fullest. That is something Sister Speakman and I have decided
to focus on as a companionship and it really has been great so far.
We
ended the conference in probably the best way possible. They gave us
time at the end to share our testimonies if we would like to. The spirit
was so strong there and I really enjoyed listening to the experiences
and testimonies of my fellow missionaries. It really made me think about
my own experiences and lessons I have been learning recently. I think
with this transfer and getting a new companion and all the changes that
have been happening, it has been a reminder of just how aware the Lord
is of me personally. Every experience we have, person we interact with,
companion we are given, or trial we are experiencing, is given to us
because the Lord knows it is exactly what we need at that moment to grow
into the person He know we can become. Well, as I was listening and
pondering I could feel President Daines looking at me. He actually
wasn't looking at me much at all, but I could almost feel that he was
thinking about me. After one Elder had finished speaking, President
stood up and said, "Sister Lynch, would you please share your
testimony?" I kind of just stared at him for a second because I was
shocked and really don't like getting up in front of people, but of
course I did because he asked me to. I shared what I just shared with
you about being reminded that God does know us perfectly and knows
exactly what we need. After we had ended and everyone else was leaving,
President Daines came over to talk to me. With tears in his eyes he
asked if I knew why he had called on me. I honestly just started crying
because I recognized in that moment exactly what had happened. He
explained to me that as he was listening he could feel that someone
really needed to share and when he looked out at me he knew I was
receiving a prompting and not listening to it, so the spirit had
instructed to call on me and not let it pass. I think what troubled me
most was that I didn't realize in that moment that it was a prompting, I
just thought I was being given thoughts of what I would say if I did
feel the need to share. I have come very far, but in some ways I still
let my fears get in the way of me opening my mouth. I am just so
grateful for an inspired mission president who loves me enough to bring
that to my attention and teach me so I can continue to work on that.
So
funny story about the mysterious ways God works. Friday night after
Zone Conference we stopped to get gas, no big deal. As we went to leave,
the doors had been locked somehow....and the keys were sitting on the
passenger seat. Sister Speakman and I had no clue when or how the doors
had been locked, or when we even shut them, but we were stuck there.
Here is the incredible part, for some reason Sister Speakman had been
holding both her iPad and our phone. So we were able to call for help
and actually be useful for the hour we were stuck at the gas station
while someone brought us the extra key. Our ward mission leader actually
showed up at the same station to pump gas so we were able to talk to
him about things we had been needing to, and we contacted so many other
people there and actually got three return appointments. I know that
even though it seemed ridiculous that we were locked out of our car, God
needed us to stay there for a reason.
Well,
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter yesterday! It is wonderful to
have a time set aside to remember our Savior and the sacrifice he
performed on behalf of all of us and everyone who has ever and will ever
live. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, to know that
everyday I can repent and become a better person. I can testify that He
knows each of you individually, He knows everything you feel and what
you struggle with. I find great comfort in knowing that I have someone
who loves me unconditionally, who I can confide in and understands me
perfectly, and most importantly, who offers me help. It is my prayer
that we keep the spirit of Easter with us always, that we may have a
reminder of the great gift our Savior, Jesus Christ, has given us. I
love you all! Just keep smiling!
