We
met this crazy awesome family this past week! Meeting with them just
makes us so happy. Last Wednesday we were trying to visit someone but
they ended up not being home, but Sister Speakman had a feeling we
should knock on the door across the way so of course we did. We met a
young woman and we started to share the message of the restoration with
her at the door, but she stopped us and asked if we would like to come
in and meet the rest of her family. Of course we would! Their family
moved to the United States about three years ago and started practicing
Christianity when they did. They are so interested in learning more
about Jesus Christ and they wanted us to come back and share more with
them. We have been going back since then and reading from the Book of
Mormon with them and talking about who Jesus Christ is and what He means
for each of us. Testifying of Jesus Christ and explaining the gospel to
someone with little knowledge of Christianity has really strengthened
my own testimony and love for Jesus Christ. We teach the three
teenagers, and then they share with their parents who don't speak
English. They are some of the kindest people I have ever met and are
truly seeking. I cannot wait to see how having to gospel will bless
their lives.
This
week has definitely been a hard one. It is really hard that Satan is so
loud almost all of the time and the Holy Ghost has to speak so quietly.
But I am learning to listen better to the right voice, and even though
it is hard right now I know that the more I do what I know is true the
better I will be able to hear it. What I want everyone to please
remember is to go to the right sources, don't judge or dispute anything
until you have done sufficient research from notable sources. Like when
you have a representative of Jesus Christ and the church in front of
you, don't ignore them and then trust the first result on Google as
truth. The theme this week has been for people to tell us all the reason
they believe we are wrong and why our personal testimonies don't stand.
It has been really hard on us, but I know that I cannot deny what I
know to be true. No matter how shaky my testimony has felt because of
these attacks on the church and us personally, I know it still stands.
Lots of prayers and having a wonderful companion have been a huge
strength in this time. Satan can tell us some pretty awful lies, like
that we aren't doing our best or aren't on the right path, but I know
that in the times that feel hardest if we pray and really listen our
Heavenly Father will bless us with guidance and comfort. Like my very
wise companion told me, if we just go one moment and one decision at a
time, and choose in all the small moments to do our best, we will be
alright.
2 Nephi 32:3
"Angels
speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words
of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ;
for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should
do."
I
want all of you to know how much I love the scriptures. I remember a
time when it was hard for me to sit down and get myself to read the
scriptures, but now an hour is just not long enough. It is so
incredible to me that the scriptures literally contain the words of
Christ and the things our loving Father in Heaven would have us know. It
has been amazing how every time I fervently pray, and really need
something, I find exactly what I need in my scripture study the next
morning. I can promise you that if you humbly pray to God and really
seek, you will always find our answers in the scriptures because that is
how God speaks to us. We were talking to Keith last week about
scripture study and we asked him what he though it meant to "feast upon
the words of Christ." He said it's like Thanksgiving, where we eat until
it hurts and we feel like we are going to burst. So Keith's advice to
all of us is to "read until it hurts" and I can add my witness to that,
because in doing that we can find great strength.
