What a great week!! General Conference was so great!!! Don't you just love all those Mormons? A few of my favorite speakers were Christofferson, Uchtdorf (so good!!), Andersen, Klebingat, Hamula, and Bednar. A few of the people we're teaching came to the church to watch a session and they loved it! Krissy and Alan are this super sweet couple who just love everything about the church. Alan has so many questions and has such an open heart. During Elder Allan F. Packer's talk Alan leaned over and asked what "temple work" is, and so I explained how we research our ancestors so we can get baptized for them in the temple. Then he asked what he would have to do to get baptized for his grandmother. I told him the Fairmont church has a family history center with consultants who can help him do his family history and find his grandmother's name. I also explained to him that you have to be a member in order to enter the temple, and he quickly replied, "Well I definitely want to be baptized." They are working towards being baptized on November 22nd.
I received some cool revelation during President Uchtdorf's talk about light and truth. Krissy and Alan have so quickly embraced the idea of getting baptized and joining the church. It's awesome to see, but in the back of my mind there has been a hesitation, because they don't fully understand yet what the church is all about and why it's different from other churches. My thoughts turned to them as President Uchtdorf said that we need to "nourish and encourage ALL light, until it grows bright and true." That helped me to see the vision of who Krissy and Alan can become, and it reminded me that we all have to start our spiritual progression somewhere, and we GROW in knowledge and understanding. A seed takes many, many years to become a towering tree. (P.S. Was anyone else disappointed when he didn't give his talk in German??)
We're teaching a man named Mick, who is married to a member of the church, and he is such a great, humble guy. We had a lesson yesterday about the ten commandments and the law of chastity, and afterwards his wife invited us into the kitchen to have some biscuits and gravy (which was delicious, by the way). While we sat around the table, Aimee (Mick's wife) hollered to Mick, who was still in the front room, "Are you gonna come in here and talk while they eat?" (they had already eaten before we came). He said, "I'm reading! I wanna get a head start on my assignment." (We've been assigning him sections of Preach My Gospel to read). He has some health problems, but is so dedicated and sincerely wants to learn. He's great!
On Wednesday I was studying about Christlike leadership in Jonh 10:1-15. It says that we need to "enter by the door" before we can be a shepherd and lead the sheep. Later, Christ says that He is the door. So we need to enter by Jesus Christ. This door is the door of salvation, and in order to help people come unto Christ and enter through the door, we need to have entered the door ourselves. How can I teach someone about the atonement and ask them to repent if I have not first gained a firm conviction of the divinity of the Savior's mission and gone through the very process of change I am asking people to go through? I've thought about this a lot on my mission. There are a lot of things about myself I have tried to change on my mission, and in some areas I have been more successful than others. Keeping this in mind gives me patience when I teach someone a principle about the gospel and they don't immediately do a 180 flip in the right direction. Sometimes when someone we are teaching forgets to read the Book of Mormon or is too lazy to come to church, my initial reaction is, "Really? Come on, it's not that hard. Don't you realize how much it will bless you life?" But then I look at myself and all the bad habits I've tried to quit and the good habits I've tried to start, and then I have to say the exact same thing to myself. It goes back to how spiritual progression is gradual.
Most of the green has left the leaves. I can't believe it's fall again!
I love you all so much! Thanks for being who you are, and for all the love and support.
Love,
Sister Myers
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