Worth More Than Gold!

Well this week was a pretty good week! :)  

First off, we got iPad minis. Whaaaaat? Crazy. I found out very quickly that being away from that kind of stuff for 8 months has definitely hindered my technological savy-ness. Sister Woodbury thought it would be funny to have Elder Ray dress up in a Santa-suit and pass them out to all the missionaries shouting "Merry Christmas!"

He did and it was so funny.

Elder Ray tried to make me promise I wouldn't send the picture of him in the Santa suit home. But let's be honest.... I will anyway ;)  

My new I pad delivered by Santa:)

One thing that's kind of funny about Facebook is because I put Curitiba Brazil as my current city before I left, I keep getting portuguese ads and stuff off to the right hand side. And almost every time I reload a new page, I get a pop-up window from the explorer that keeps saying "this page is in portuguese, would you like us to translate it?" Ha funny stuff. The cool thing is that between my spanish and the picture that pops up with it, I can usually read it. welcome to my life.

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Anyways, Sister Graham are still trying to get everything going with that. We're still trying to figure out how to use them effectively, and since we only really have wifi access when we are in the church or on FB, we don't have a ton of functions we can use on there. But we're downloading videos and materials, and we're going to be experimenting with it for the next little bit :) It's pretty crazy how the work is moving forward, but I feel like having FB and iPads and stuff has a lot of missionary work potential. It's really great! And kinda weird! 

Sister Graham and I ended up having an AMAZING lesson with a Less Active member this week. She is the cutest, most fun and sweet lady ever, I absolutely adore her and love visiting her! But she's been visiting with the missionaries for a year and is almost no more less active now than she was before she started meeting with them again. 

Sister Graham and I have not really known what to do or how to help her exactly. We just haven't really figured out what it is she NEEDS. So, we decided to show her Finding Faith in Christ and talk to her about her Savior.  I watched the DVD (brand new) the day before and it worked flawlessly.

But guess what happened when I slipped the DVD into the player?  It was skipping like cRaZy. Whaaaaat?  Guess that wasn't the lesson the Lord had in mind :P

On a fly, I opened up to 3 Nephi 11 and 3 Nephi 17 which is my favorite part in the Book of Mormon to read and talk about the Savior.  I asked her before we started "who is Jesus Christ to you?"  She thought for maybe .2 seconds and was like, "well, he's the Savior."  only the Savior?

We read in 2 Nephi 11 about how Christ came and visited the people in the Americas- they saw the prints in his hands and in his feet. We talked about that experience, what it would be like, how Christ would act, what the prints mean for us, etc.

The Spirit was so thick in that room.

Then Sister Graham started asking her questions, and she just broke down crying and told us the things that she was struggling with in her life and why she wasn't coming to church.  We felt SO MUCH LOVE for her.  Then we read in 3 Nephi 17 the part where Christ invites the leprous, the halt, the maimed, the blind, etc, OR any who are afflicted in any manner.  We talked about how that last phrase covers us ALL. We are ALL afflicted in some manner. This phrase jumps out of the scriptures and applies to every one of us! He's inviting us to come unto him! 

We talked about how Christ can help her feel whole, loved, worth while, etc. He can help her get rid of shame and guilt and pain.  The Spirit was so thick.  We told her how she is a daughter of God. She didn't think she was worth very much at all, but Sister Graham and I sat there and just told her that she is loved so so much!  Sister Graham asked, "do you think God sits up there on His throne and says, 'oh sorry, you don't know the scriptures well enough- DON'T come to my church'? OR, 'oops, you missed the mark- not your whole family is baptized into my church, so just go away- we don't want you here.'"

NO! 

God NEVER says that 

That, my dear friends, is Satan.

She started crying again, and we kept reading scriptures and bearing testimony about how much we are loved and noticed

It was easily one of the best lessons of my mission (maybe THE best). What a blessing it has been for me to be a part of that lesson. Everyone just needs to feel loved. And even though people fight it and try to hide it, they need God. They feel some sort of frustration or worry or pain that they just hide. Christ can help with that.

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We finally got someone to church! A Less-actives step son. He's a 16-year old who doesn't really look like someone who would accept the gospel. But when we came and invited his Mom to church, he said he wanted to go. We got him a ride and he came! And he said he liked it better than the other church he was attending! He said our church was so much more personal.

High hopes there

*****

Sister Graham and I taught Combined YM/YW yesterday on the Atonement. It went pretty well, we think. We really enjoy discussing and preparing for lessons. Sister Graham is just ridiculously excited to actually be teaching now. Ha she loves just sharing what she knows and what she's found to be true. She also LOVES applying it to people's life directly- she makes everything personal to people.

*****

There was an older LA (less active) woman we visited this week who had studied with another religious group before. She just COULDN'T get over the fact that the Bible didn't have a verse that specifically said that Jesus is Jehovah, or something like that. I tried my best to help her and answer her question, but at some point, Sister Graham came in and was just like, "Carol, why is that even important? I mean really. You're focusing so much on little tiny detailed facts that don't even matter to your salvation. I mean look at you right now- where is this focus on facts even doing for you? Nothing. I'll tell you what CAN do something for you- the Book of Mormon! It's a personal guide to happiness. This can make you feel happy when your sad, strengthened when your down, etc. Your SAVIOR WANTS to help you! But He can't do that if your too busy worrying about evidence in the Bible to even turn to Him and let Him help you!"

It was so awesome.

And by the end of listening to Sister Graham, the LA was like, "you know, you're right! And I HAVE been feeling a little depressed lately because of my health. Maybe this book CAN help me! When will you be back?"

Uhh what? 

Ha it's the best. I love it. She just says it like it is, all love and no fear. 

*****

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we volunteer at some stables where they have a program for disabled people to ride the horses. It is SUCH a cool deal- and I love learning about stuff like that. We've loved volunteering there- grooming the horses and scooping poop and cleaning bunny cages. It's so fun :) 

*****

There's another LA we visit who, two weeks ago, told us we needed to "eat more vitamins". She gave us the most delicious bag of dark chocolate truffles and prescribed us to have at least one a day, but we may have more as necessary. It's the best. Sister Graham and I, before we leave for the day, or during studies, we're like, "hold on I need a vitamin!" 

I love it :) 

*****

There's a sister in the ward who I absolutely ADORE. I think she's from El Salvador. We went over to her house this week for dinner. She made Mexican food. Like legit Mexican food that I used to get served in Midway. I almost DIED, I was SO HAPPY. And I loaded on the pica! That meal made my entire month, and I woke up yesterday craving her chorizo quesedillas. Gosh dang I miss that food

Anyways....

This lady is really impressive for a lot of reasons in a lot of ways. But I will share just one that I was really impressed by.

There's a less active named Rosie. When Sister Graham and I stopped by to meet her like 2 weeks ago, she told us she hasn't been to church in a few months. But she told us about one member. She was like- oh, I just call Blanca if I need I ride. Oh, I LOVE Blanca!

This sister, Blanca, invited Rosie to dinner with us. And even though Blanca was her visiting teacher, you could tell that Blanca really loved her a lot. 

Yeah, she was assigned Rosie, and told to teach her and be her friend. But Blanca took it to the next level. Like, she really truly and genuinely loved Rosie. It was clear throughout the night that Blanca talked to Rosie a lot and had invited her over to her house often. They joked together and asked questions about each others families, and every thing. That pair was such a hoot! Sister Graham and I almost died laughing. 

But I was just so impressed at what sincere charity and love Blanca had for Rosie. 

I left feeling confident that Blanca is an amazing example of a visiting teacher. If every visiting teacher took their assignment like that, I'm confident that not a soul would ever be lost. 

And to Blanca, Rosie wasn't just 'someone I'm supposed to talk to once a month'. To Blanca, Rosie was a precious and loved friend that she truly cared about. That makes a big difference.

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Well that's pretty much it for now! That was certainly a long one. So much happened this week- that's not even a half of it. 

Even though sometimes I get a little sad during language study, I am genuinely so happy to be here. I love it, it's an adventure. The people here are amazing and I absolutely adore Sister Graham. Ha I feel like I learn WAY more from her than she learns from me! (aren't I the one thats supposed to be training??). 

I love this gospel, I love this work. 

We're not coming around sharing the same old message about the same old God.

I didn't leave my schooling, family, dating life and work just to go around and teach what anyone else can teach.

The message we bring is priceless.

We're not here trying to force our religion on anyone. We're not here to try and make our church more popular.

We are here because THIS message can change your life and your family. And it can change it forever.

This message brings hope.

This message brings purpose.

This message is the message of Jesus Christ.

We are here to invite ALL to come unto Christ and prepare to live with God again.

No other church can do this.

Good Christian living cannot do it.

The "Oh I believe in God," or the "Oh, we all believe in the same God, so I'm good" attitude is not enough.

Only this gospel- the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon (like Sister Graham says) is LITERALLY YOUR PERSONAL self-help book.

I mean... that's kinda cool.

Stay strong, fight the good fight. 

Peter write that our trials are worth more than gold- through them, we can build our faith and be found believing when we meet our Savior again.

I love you all! Have an awesome week :) 

Sister Walton

Our Zone having a fun activity on P-Day

The Sisters of our Zone...