We have a saying that there are qualifying blessings on a mission. Thursday was the qualifying part of the blessing. It was a long and hard day but we talked to everyone we met about the Gospel. Friday was incredible. We saw so many people. We passed out 5 copies of the Book of Mormon (we can do more :) and everyone who accepted one was excited to read. I can't even really explain how some of these things come about other than that the Lord puts people into our path who are willing to hear the message of the Restored Gospel. I have never seen this many miracles. Some are small and could be put to chance, but there are so many that you know it is the Spirit directing you to these people.
The Dick family (the family that came to church last week) came again this week! We called them in the morning to make sure that they were up and ready to come to church :) Brother and Sister Dick want to go back to the temple! We will go see them again this week and follow up on how their family prayer is going-they have been doing great!!!
That's all for this week, Sister White and I are a bit sick right now but we're working through it.
-Love you heaps!
-Sister Edmunds
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
This last week has been wonderful! One experience in particular stands out.
For the last few weeks we have been meeting with a less-active family, the Dick Family. They are American, they had us over for Thanksgiving and they are never at a loss for words. They have a story about absolutely everything and they have lived some very interesting lives :)
On Friday we met with them again and talked for a while. We shared a message on prayer. We asked them if they would pray together as a family everyday and they said they would :)
Then Sister Dick said, quietly and humbly, "I know we need to go back to church."
The next day we had arranged to go to the Ward Relief Society Christmas Party with Nancy and Patty. We caught a ride with them to the RS Party and it seemed like they had a fun time. They got to know quite a few of the sisters in the ward. One of the sisters (sister Togai) got along great with Patty. Sister Togai asked if they were going to come to church the next day and Patty said to give them a call in the morning to make sure they got up :) They also told us to give them a call so they could get up on time.
When we arrived back at Nancy and Patty's house we thanked them for the ride (it saved us heaps of k's) and Sister Dick said, "you brought us."
We called them Sunday morning and made sure they were up :) I was so excited to see them at church! It was fast and testimony meeting and Nancy got up to bear her testimony. She told the ward that she and Patty had the most wonderful time at the Relief Society Christmas Party the day before and that she had never in her life felt so welcomed by a ward. She thanked us for bringing her and her daughter Patty to the Relief Society Party and that she has been an ungrateful child of God because she has seen the blessings he has given her in her life and yet had not been going to church.
After sacrament she thanked Sister White and I and said that "even if you don't save and souls, you have brought a few back." and told us how much we meant to her that "she has never before had sister missionaries that have affected her life as much as we had."
Yeah, I pretty much just cried and gave her a hug. :)
I think it is interesting because I feel that she has done so much for us and yet she feels that way about us as well. It is amazing that when we serve others in the Gospel and wear out our lives in the service of God, we feel that so much has been done for us, when in reality it is us who have simply allowed Him to shape who we are.
There is a quote by CS Lewis from Mere Christianity that Alexa sent me in one of her letters:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace, He intends to come and live in it Himself”
When we allow the Lord to shape who we are He makes us into so much more than we ever thought we could be. It is truly incredible that the only way to find ourselves completely is to lose ourselves entirely in His work.
-Sister Edmunds
As a fun side note. We had a Mission President's Christmas Fireside Sunday evening at the Maroondah Stake Centre next to the Melbourne Temple. We had to sing-which was interesting because we really didn't have time to practice. But it was very nice. We met some really wonderful people afterwards. Some members, some new members and some investigators. It was nice. There were so many people who were Chinese there. I can't wait until the Gospel can be brought to the people there! We met a man named Austin (his Anglicised name) who was from Northern China and had only been a member for 2 months! Apparently I look like his English teacher from China. (Strangest thing I've found here is that I remind people of someone else. I've never had so many people tell me I look like someone they knew. Seriously, strangers on the street have walked up to me and asked me if they knew me-I say no, and start teaching them the Gospel :) We also met brother Cheng, a members who brought his father who was Chinese but spoke no English and is not a member. Brother Cheng translated for us and we practised what little Chinese we know :)
Wonderful, wonderful week
For the last few weeks we have been meeting with a less-active family, the Dick Family. They are American, they had us over for Thanksgiving and they are never at a loss for words. They have a story about absolutely everything and they have lived some very interesting lives :)
On Friday we met with them again and talked for a while. We shared a message on prayer. We asked them if they would pray together as a family everyday and they said they would :)
Then Sister Dick said, quietly and humbly, "I know we need to go back to church."
The next day we had arranged to go to the Ward Relief Society Christmas Party with Nancy and Patty. We caught a ride with them to the RS Party and it seemed like they had a fun time. They got to know quite a few of the sisters in the ward. One of the sisters (sister Togai) got along great with Patty. Sister Togai asked if they were going to come to church the next day and Patty said to give them a call in the morning to make sure they got up :) They also told us to give them a call so they could get up on time.
When we arrived back at Nancy and Patty's house we thanked them for the ride (it saved us heaps of k's) and Sister Dick said, "you brought us."
We called them Sunday morning and made sure they were up :) I was so excited to see them at church! It was fast and testimony meeting and Nancy got up to bear her testimony. She told the ward that she and Patty had the most wonderful time at the Relief Society Christmas Party the day before and that she had never in her life felt so welcomed by a ward. She thanked us for bringing her and her daughter Patty to the Relief Society Party and that she has been an ungrateful child of God because she has seen the blessings he has given her in her life and yet had not been going to church.
After sacrament she thanked Sister White and I and said that "even if you don't save and souls, you have brought a few back." and told us how much we meant to her that "she has never before had sister missionaries that have affected her life as much as we had."
Yeah, I pretty much just cried and gave her a hug. :)
I think it is interesting because I feel that she has done so much for us and yet she feels that way about us as well. It is amazing that when we serve others in the Gospel and wear out our lives in the service of God, we feel that so much has been done for us, when in reality it is us who have simply allowed Him to shape who we are.
There is a quote by CS Lewis from Mere Christianity that Alexa sent me in one of her letters:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace, He intends to come and live in it Himself”
When we allow the Lord to shape who we are He makes us into so much more than we ever thought we could be. It is truly incredible that the only way to find ourselves completely is to lose ourselves entirely in His work.
-Sister Edmunds
As a fun side note. We had a Mission President's Christmas Fireside Sunday evening at the Maroondah Stake Centre next to the Melbourne Temple. We had to sing-which was interesting because we really didn't have time to practice. But it was very nice. We met some really wonderful people afterwards. Some members, some new members and some investigators. It was nice. There were so many people who were Chinese there. I can't wait until the Gospel can be brought to the people there! We met a man named Austin (his Anglicised name) who was from Northern China and had only been a member for 2 months! Apparently I look like his English teacher from China. (Strangest thing I've found here is that I remind people of someone else. I've never had so many people tell me I look like someone they knew. Seriously, strangers on the street have walked up to me and asked me if they knew me-I say no, and start teaching them the Gospel :) We also met brother Cheng, a members who brought his father who was Chinese but spoke no English and is not a member. Brother Cheng translated for us and we practised what little Chinese we know :)
Wonderful, wonderful week
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