I love God. I love that He loves us. This past week has been wonderful and we've been able to see the Lord's tender mercies in this His work.
A few days ago we met a young 21 year old Nikki and her younger sister Shaunte'. We were out on our bikes at night trying to find people to talk to when we spotted the two of them walking down the street. We introduced ourselves (with a lack of faith on my part) thinking this was going to go like most of our encounters with people but Nikki was interested and wanted to learn more.
We pulled off to the side of the road to get further away from traffic, where we said a prayer and shared with them the restoration. We met a couple different people that night who allowed us to pray and share a scripture from the Book of Mormon with them and it felt amazing to bring them closer to the pure love of Christ.
We were able to set up a return appointment with Nikki two days later (Saturday) and we had a member come with us. She had a lot of questions which we love and she has a desire to learn more about the gospel. Our lesson was quick because she had a lot family over but we invited her to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray so she could receive an answer for herself of it's truthfullness. She accepted and we'll be meeting with her again this week. Please pray for her. One thing I've noticed is that when someone has a sincere desire to learn about God and come closer to Him. Satan starts to work double time because that's the last thing he wants to have happen. The power of the Lord is and will always be stronger.
Yesterday was a cold and cloudy day. We didn't have any appointments after church so we decided to knock doors for a couple of hours. The night before I picked a street called Terrill (for familiar purposes) so we knocked there. It was a super nice neighborhood with really big houses. For the most part people were really nice but uninterested and everyone on the block seemed to be set in their religions.
Towards the end of the street we knocked on a door and no one answered so we began to walk away. When we got to the end of the driveway a lady opened her door and asked us who we were with. We introduced ourselves as the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and told here we shared a message about our Savior and about a book called the Book of Mormon. She stopped us and told us she would like to share a message with us.
She then began to tell us how we as women in the church were brainwashed and were slaves of men. That we were forced to be on missions by our parents and that we weren't servants of God but of men (our prophets). She had read up on a lot of anti things and when we bore testimony she rejected it with things she had read. She ended up walking away from us and we wished her well when she left.
As we walked away the sun came out for the first time all day. It went away after a couple of minutes but Sister Boyd and I both noticed it and Sister Boyd mentioned that it was Heavenly Father's way of saying "All is well".
I'm so amazed at what we can accomplish and become with the help of Heavenly Father and our Savior. If this encounter would have happened before my mission it would've taken me awhile to recover but now experiences like this only strenghten and help solidify my testimony. If anything I've found more love and respect for myself inside of the church than anywhere else. No other religion or worldly antidote can offer me the peaceful assurance that I'm a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father. Who knows my name and knows how to help me in my weaknesses.
Sister Boyd has a couple of talks on her Ipod where the prophets and apostles bare testimony of the Savior. I keep playing them over and over and my testimony of them being men called of God has also been strengthened. There are a lot that are my favorite but one I really love and I'll leave with you in my e-mail. It's given me alot of strength as a missionary but I know it's for everyone. I'm not sure which one but one but one of the apostles says:
"For nearly six thousand years God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the second coming. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not. God has saved for the final ining some of His strongest children who will help bare off the kingdom triumphantly. For you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God. Make no mistake about it, you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is for us. Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our support will go. The forces of righteousness will finally win. What reamins to be seen is where each of us personally now and in the future will stand in this fight and how tall we will stand".
Think of it! The confidence and the trust They have in us to be placed on earth specifically for this time. They have faith in us and They know we can make it back to Them. Who better to have on our side than Them and the many examples of those who have faithfully gone before us? I love you all and hope you never forget your divine destiny.
We're in this together,
Sister Green
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