Hi everyone!
Okay I have 10 minutes before we have to get off to tell you about my week, it's possible right?
We
just got done having a super fun Asian feast at this authentic buffet
in town with a family in the congregation. The couple lives an hour
away, but they commute every week to come to church, and one thing we
recently discovered is that the husband isn't even a member! That
fascinated us, and we pondered and prayed beforehand about what we would
share with them as we were eating. We decided one thing, but things
changed as we got there and found that the wife's sister (who was a
member) and her husband (who also wasn't a member) were going to be
joining us as well. We had a lovely conversation, full of both of the
husbands asking us questions, them both having met dozens and dozens of
missionaries in the past, about why we decided to serve missions, about
each of our family situations, and what we have learned since becoming
missionaries. The conversation shifted as we began to talk more about
the scriptures and how they felt about them. The husbands were both
indifferent about the scriptures and talked about how they were hard to
read, or about how they had lots of wars in them. But we tried to help
the connect the dots as we taught about an overarching theme that is
found in the Book of Mormon that being the promise, "that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land."
Its
a phrase used by nearly every prophet in the Book of Mormon and it has
been an attention of my studies ever since I've become a missionary.
Just
a simple phrase and promise. If we keep His commandments then we will
be blessed. We talked and mulled over the principle together and
discussed how God is bound to the promises He makes to us, and that He
cannot and will not withhold blessings from us if we are faithful to
Him. We testified to them of the blessings and the miracles we had seen
in our own young lives as we have kept the commandments and left them
with the assurance that it was not a principle only applicable and
successful for our generation or in our young lives, but that it was a
principle that universal for all of God's children.
And
then as we were leaving the restaurant, the wife's sister's non-member
husband (jeez that was confusing sorry, it would have been easier to
just use names, but its too late to go back now), who is from the
ORIGINAL Jersey (the small island in between England and France) and who
was leaving Montreal with his wife tonight to travel back there, he and
I had a wonderful conversation and I invited him to read the Book of
Mormon again, and to try to do so with new eyes. Giving it a shot so to
speak. And he agreed. And he, being very acquainted with the church
because of his wife and their family, also agreed to watch General
Conference (which is coming up in a just a few weeks!!!!), and I invited
him to ask questions in preparation, and to watch it and to see if his
questions would be answered. I promised him that they would, because I
had seen it happen in my own life when I watched conference last
October. And I told him about how it was the coolest experience ever.
Because I knew that Heavenly Father had answered my prayers, and it was
at that moment that I was explaining it to him, that a little light-bulb
went off in my head. And I guess its the principle I'm trying to relay
in this now very long email. The principle that God answers our
questions. First off, that He hears our questions, and then, in His own
due time, He answers them. If proof is needed for that, then we can turn
to the Restoration of the Gospel in these days. The Gospel was restored
to the earth in its fullness and glory, all because a young boy, who
was humble and had enough faith to receive an answer, asked a question.
What happened in that now Sacred Grove is proof to me that God answers
us. And that He is always there for us. And I guess that is what I'm
trying to say in this now, even longer, email. Hope it made some sense, I
mean I only had 10 minutes to do it.
But I
love all of you. We did a lot more than just that this week, and this
wasn't what I was planning on sharing, but that's just how it worked
out. Everything else is going really well. We are very happy and
healthy. But also cold, but I've learned that's just a side-effect of
living in Canada.
Some Pictures:
we went and partied for a whole 3 seconds with a cute family from
Argentina in the ward.
We love them. They're teaching me Spanish,
but
mostly just because I make them speak to me in spanish all the time
She's canadian so I have to give her poutine. it's like fuel for these people!
my attempt to make homemade bread last pday. we thought it looked like a brain.
Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Sister Thomas
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