Wednesday, May 27, 2015

WEEK 43, May 18, 2015: One Sentence Testimony - Share ONE THING you know to be true! Lord's Will & Faith



WEEK 43, May 18, 2015
Danish Phrase of the Week: Ha' det godt! (hay day got!) Literally it means 'have it good!' It's what people say to each other when they're saying goodbye. It's like-Have a good one! 

This week was a Zone Training Week! We love Zone Training! Søster Perkins and I gave a training this time around on how to be bold, simple, and loving as we're teaching. Really it's just a basic communication skill for all aspects of life. Don't beat around the bush, say what you mean clearly and simply, and make sure you are motivated by love.

It was so fun-we had a funny object lesson, good discussion, and at the end, we invited all of the missionaries to stand up and say their testimony in one sentence. One sentence of something they know to be true. It was so powerful to hear the bold, simple, loving testimonies of 30 missionaries one right after the other! One Elder who is actually a recent convert commented about it afterwards and said, 'In my short time in this church, I have never felt the Spirit rush into a room so fast.' It was a great experience and everybody learned a lot! 

I've been thinking and studying a lot recently about what it really means to be willing to do Heavenly Father's will at all times. It sounds like it relates a lot to what mom wrote about last week-making sure that whatever we're doing, no matter how big or small it may seem-is what God would have us do that day. I think in the past I've been willing to do Heavenly Father's will as long as I could see the direct benefit or logic of it. But what I'm learning on my mission is that sometimes, Heavenly Father's will is for us to work and work and work and not see immediate results. The real test is, when we're not seeing 'the point,' or we're not seeing results, do we stop working? Do we decide that, 'Well, I worked really hard for a week and nothing happened. I guess that means nothing will EVER happen.' Or do we have the faith to keep pushing and to work just as hard today as when we first started out?  Doing the Lord's work doesn't mean that everything we touch turns to gold. It's humbling and it's tiring. It can be disappointing and hard to understand why He doesn't just fix everything and everyone RIGHT NOW. Doing the Lord's work means that we push forward with hope and trust that God has a bigger plan, we do our absolute best with our little piece of it, and know that everything really will be for our good in the end.

David A. Bednar told a story where he gave a blessing to a sick girl, and asked her if she had the faith NOT to be healed. I thought that was so interesting! It's easy to have faith that things will work out perfectly in our lives. But do we really have enough faith in God's plan of happiness for us to let him take things away from us sometimes? It's a big question! MY MISSION IS TURNING ME INTO A DEEP THINKER.

I hope you all are doing great things. I hope you and the pets are figuring out the new house, that Andrew continues to be great at throwing things over long distances, that Emma will stop having pregnant-brain and start remembering where we live, and that everyone is healthy and happy! I love you!!

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