Seeds of Faith
So we had an AMAZING testimony meeting on Sunday--probably one of the best ones I've had on my mission. This was a MIRACLE because every single person that spoke said something that our friends needed to hear right now. And THEN Stephanie went up and bore her testimony and it was so so sweet. Isaiah her son brought tissues to one of the ladies who was crying as she bore hers and it was just so tender--holy moly I loved it.
A big theme of that meeting and my personal study this week has been Faith. Faith to do hard things; not just believing in God but trusting Him to do as He asks>>> that's HARD!
A little boy went up and shared a tragic story about a man who went rock climbing. His rope got stuck on some rocks as he was coming down. It was freezing cold and dark so he couldn't see anything. He tried everything to get it unstuck. He prayed and asked God to save him. God told him to unbuckle his harness. NOPE too scary--he would definitely die then. He was so cold and he didn't trust himself to free climb in the dark. He sat there freezing cold all night. In the morning he was found dead hanging 2 feet from the ground:(
That Faith and Trust is a hard thing. But the more we act on it the easier it gets.
I think about swimming as a kid. My dad or mom would tell me to jump in with their arms open wide but I was scared! My memory is foggy...I don't know if I cried or sat there for a while before my first jump. But it was truly a terrifying leap of faith. After feeling the joy of leaping into my parents arms and learning to swim (still my fav activity to this day), my confidence shined! But it took that jump and every faithful jump after that for me to work towards jumping into the water as I competed at Arizona State Championships in all four years of high-school>> my parents both cheering me on every second. I taught swim lessons which also taught me soooo much about being on the other side of that undoubting trust.
Did little me know what it would feel like to swim the 100 meter butterfly at state? Nope. Did she know she would love swimming so much that she would teach hundreds more kids to take that first jump? Nope.
All she knew was that she loved her parents so much and they promised her it would be worth it.
So she jumped. And I'm so grateful she did.
*INVITATION*
Sometimes, actually most of the time, having faith and trust is so scary. It requires us to put our actual life in Someone else's hands. To unbuckle the harness. But God is the PERFECT parent who loves us so much more than we could imagine. TRUST HIM AND YOUR TRIALS AND SUCCESSES WILL BE SO WORTH IT. He will always be there with arms open wide, knowing your great potential even when you don't see even a little of it, smiling and waiting for you to jump. So JUMP. He will catch you. He will teach you. You will teach others. And someday when you're diving in at State Championships He will cheer you on, so proud, so happy you trusted Him over and over and over again--so thankful you looked towards His love and knew it was enough to jump with no certainty what the future would be beyond His arms:)
Sometimes, actually most of the time, having faith and trust is so scary. It requires us to put our actual life in Someone else's hands. To unbuckle the harness. But God is the PERFECT parent who loves us so much more than we could imagine. TRUST HIM AND YOUR TRIALS AND SUCCESSES WILL BE SO WORTH IT. He will always be there with arms open wide, knowing your great potential even when you don't see even a little of it, smiling and waiting for you to jump. So JUMP. He will catch you. He will teach you. You will teach others. And someday when you're diving in at State Championships He will cheer you on, so proud, so happy you trusted Him over and over and over again--so thankful you looked towards His love and knew it was enough to jump with no certainty what the future would be beyond His arms:)
Pockets of Fun
-With the many rejections we get now we leave and say "We'll see ya in the spirit world" lol. Hopefully they are more open then.
-Soooo apparently I've been saying Porta Potty wrong my entire life. We had a 30 min long argument in the car cuz I say Porter Potty. Bahaha!
- I said "buenos diaz in la tardes" to a Spanish lady and Cola LOST IT laughing. I was super embarrassed and felt so white lol...
- So apparently I'm "just unique". That's the only word my comps could think of to describe me lol. Thanks y'allll!!
-We had a King Lamoni moment. We were praying with a lady outside and she FELL DOWN mid prayer. It was terrifying. We thought we may need to call someone. She fell STRAIGHT into the bushes she had just trimmed but she was able to get up eventually. It was SO scary but we all laughed about it after baha.
-We bought fish tank decorations for a part member family haha. It was so fun. They loved them.
-There is so much more that happens y'all but I get too lazy to write it all in these emails--but I'm LOVING IT lol!
-With the many rejections we get now we leave and say "We'll see ya in the spirit world" lol. Hopefully they are more open then.
-Soooo apparently I've been saying Porta Potty wrong my entire life. We had a 30 min long argument in the car cuz I say Porter Potty. Bahaha!
- I said "buenos diaz in la tardes" to a Spanish lady and Cola LOST IT laughing. I was super embarrassed and felt so white lol...
- So apparently I'm "just unique". That's the only word my comps could think of to describe me lol. Thanks y'allll!!
-We had a King Lamoni moment. We were praying with a lady outside and she FELL DOWN mid prayer. It was terrifying. We thought we may need to call someone. She fell STRAIGHT into the bushes she had just trimmed but she was able to get up eventually. It was SO scary but we all laughed about it after baha.
-We bought fish tank decorations for a part member family haha. It was so fun. They loved them.
-There is so much more that happens y'all but I get too lazy to write it all in these emails--but I'm LOVING IT lol!
Gratitude
-MY PARENTS--I really don't thank them enough.
-The power of prayer.
-Fasting and the symbolism and focus it has on God and Jesus Christ!
-Baby's breath (my fav flower).
-MY PARENTS--I really don't thank them enough.
-The power of prayer.
-Fasting and the symbolism and focus it has on God and Jesus Christ!
-Baby's breath (my fav flower).
Southern Vocab
Mouth of the South: That person that gets all the gossip and spreads all to gossip lol.
Mouth of the South: That person that gets all the gossip and spreads all to gossip lol.
Pictures (Bunch of random ones. I've been so bad at taking them haha!)
-Yes the blurry picture is from when we tried to make a human tower after weekly planning today BAHA!!
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