There have been so many blessings in my life as a missionary this week that
my heart is drawn out in gratitude. At the top of this list is Sugar. As I
mentioned last week she is dating our ward clerk. It was a shock and surprise to
hear and see the news but now its almost old news since we have seen them quite
a few times this week. Sugar constantly asks us questions like, "Have you heard
of the concept of twin souls?" In short Sugar and the clerk are very similar
people and get along fabulously! We went to the temple visitors center for a
tour on Saturday night before her baptismal interview. It was such a spiritual
experience and it had all of us in tears. We walked around the grounds and
talked a lot about Sugar's progression and how they are doing as a couple. It
was such a good evening. When her baptismal interview was over our District
Leader came out and stated that Sugar's testimony is solid and amazing. Now I
cannot take any credit for that because she has done a lot of work to get where
she is at today. I am sure that with her boyfriend a lot of it has been
solidified. I just simply told her what we believe and she has chosen to believe
it. So now it is official! Sugar will be baptized on November 10, 2013 at 6pm! I am so excited!!!!!!!! Sister
Kemp and I both realized a couple days ago that she is the only investigator
either of us has had that we have seen from Start to Finish. I feel so extremely
blessed to have been here for this part of my mission. It has been so fulfilling
to watch her progression and the changes that have come to her and to her life.
She is a totally different person now than who she was 6 weeks ago. As I watched
her reaction to the things in the visitor's center I know she understands the
step she is taking next week. I watched her feel the Holy Ghost and recognize
it. And when I saw the tears of happiness streaming down her face it was the
icing on the cake because then I had tears running down my face too. ;D Honestly
I think I have been able to sense a little piece of Heaven this week. I can't
wait to see what happens down the road. :D
Also this week we have seen many miracles on being able to get in contact
with several less active members of our ward and actually have a lesson with
them. One of them in particular says he is not sure if he believes in God. We
had a member with us during this lesson and he proceeded to ask him many
questions just to kind of help us get an idea of what this less active is truly
struggling with. One of the questions asked was what his core beliefs are. He
really struggled with this and when we finally dissected it he knows families
are good and that we learn in families. He knows he has to work to be
successful. He knows that because his parents raised him with good values he is
a good person. But he really just isn't firm in a belief of God or Jesus Christ.
He was also very careful in his comments to not attribute anything to a higher
being. I am 100% sure that he has had spiritual experiences and has forgotten
them or is ignoring them. I think he is just being lazy because if you think
about it, it takes a lot of work to keep your belief active and firm that God
lives. We go to church, we read scriptures, we pray and we talk about it to
others. We have to literally work to maintain a testimony. These 3 things are
called C.P.R. (church pray read) the components needed to survive spiritually.
If we stop doing them then we start to die spiritually. It makes me sad to think
that he is just being lazy. The other thing I have figured out about him is that
he hasn't taken the initiative to actually figure it out himself. He grew up in
the church and did everything he was asked to simply because he was told to. He
has never done it for himself. I am convinced if he did he would have an
experience to remember, but its pretty hard to convince him of that.
I have been working on a project as I read the Book of Mormon this week. My
goal has been to mark every reference to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Oh My
Goodness!!!!! my pages are practically yellow! There are so many references to
them. It has been such a testimony builder that the Book of Mormon
is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It really does prove that the
words of Christ and what the 12 apostles taught are true. I love the Book of
Mormon and I love finding the little things that make is so much more
intriguing. I was reading Jesus the Christ this week and in one of the note
sections at the end of the chapter James E. Talmage suggests that the
destruction of the Jaredites would have been ending approximately around the
time that Lehi landed in South America. Which also suggests that Coriantumr
lived more than 400 hundred years just so he would be found to fulfill the
prophecy which was given him. That was also after the time that Heavenly Father
made the lifespan of man 120 years. Interesting, right? I just love stuff like
this! It makes my mind ponder all the possibilities of things we don't know yet
and the things we will discover along the way. ;D
Well everyone that has been my week. Kind of a short report, I promised we
worked hahaha
I love you all very much!
Hurrah for Israel!
Love,
Sister Cottrell
