September 16, 2013

Hello Family!!

This week has gone by really quick. We had P-day on Monday and then Tuesday we drove to Cedar Falls which is an 1 hour and 15 minutes away. The Sisters we worked with were Sister Boone and Sister Stephens. They are great sisters and are working so hard in that area. While we were there we did some finding and I had the opportunity to get to know some of their ward members. The Gillins are a young newly married couple and Bro Gillins served his mission in the California San Diego Mission. He was there at the time that the District DVD were being filmed (we use these DVDs for training and learning purposes). I enjoyed asking lots of questions about how various people in the DVD's have continued to progress in the gospel.

On Thursday we had our mission tour with Elder Robert C. Gay of the Seventy. The spirit was very strong as he spoke with us. He emphasized that we aren't here to baptize, but to help others repent and return to their Father in Heaven through the ordinances of the gospel. He also discussed the blessings that are available to anyone as they engage in missionary work, thus emphasizing the importance of having the members involved in the work. The Lord is truly preparing many people and we need the help of the members to find them all. We really are here to assist the members as they are the real full time missionaries.

Elder Gay asked that all the missionaries going home at the end of this transfer and the next, bare their testimony. Because I'm not going home at the end of this transfer it helped me to not be nervous because it doesn't feel real. My mind is focused on the work here and what I can do here to further it and to accomplish what I was sent here to accomplish. That is one of the blessings that I've seen on my mission is that I trust more in the spirit to help me know what to say and I don't get as nervous in front of others. I have really come to understand the whisperings of the spirit and it comes to me just like that, a whisper and I have to be in tune with the spirit at all times in order to have those thoughts come and to act on them.

On Friday I attended my first Mission Leadership Council Meeting and Elder Gay was present. He gave very good counsel and he boldly stated that the Lord is preparing the hearts of many and we really need to involve the members in our finding efforts. In each ward we should strive to have 30 members who are involved with finding, fellow shipping or testifying.

After MLC, Sister Egbert and I were driving back to Cedar Rapids from Iowa City when we received a call from a woman and she asked if we could meet up with her daughter who is struggling right now and give her a hug from her mom who lives in California. We ended up making arrangements to meet her daughter at the Best Buy parking lot. She was a little standoffish at first but as we continued to talk with her she warmed up. We had received some snicker doodle cookies the night before and we just so happened to pack a few to give away that day. If it weren't for the cookies we may not have been able to meet with her :) Before we left we gave her a hug and it meant a lot to her.

Later that evening we met with Curtis whom had stopped us a few weeks ago as we were on our way to an investigators. He said he was looking for a church and he had asked us how our service was that day (it was on a Sunday). Anyways, we took Sister Johnson with us who is a return missionary and we went to Curtis's home. His friend John, who is a member was also going to come and join us. Well, after waiting a while for John and him not showing up, we began teaching the restoration. Before long, Vicky, a friend of Curtis's comes into the room and say, "I'm Catholic and I don't want to hear what you have to teach." We all said, "OK" and she left the room. A few minutes later she comes back and says the same thing and she did it again one more time (we think she was drunk). At this point Curtis stops us and says that it's hard for him to concentrate because he can't feel the spirit when she keeps coming into the room. We then made a return appointment for Monday at the church building. He really wanted to come to church so we arranged for Bro Perry to pick him up. So on Sunday to our joy and surprise, there was Curtis at church! He ended up staying for all three hours and he really enjoyed it and was excited to read the Book of Mormon! One thing I have really learned is to trust the spirit and that even though someone may not understand everything that is talked about at church, they can at least feel the spirit and feeling the spirit is one of the most important things. Unfortunately he is in the Zone Leader's area, so they will take over teaching them. However, we did learn of a couple that is moving into the area who has baptism dates and they are in our area! Heavenly Father really knows what is going on and he will open up so many doors as we are obedient and trust in Him.

Those are some of the highlights from this week. I don't know for sure yet if I'll be able to go to Bro Flynn's sealing, but I'm still hoping it will work out.

This week I'll be training a little at our Zone Training Meeting this Wednesday and also at the Cedar Falls Zone Training Meeting. I'll also have an exchange with the Mt Vernon Sisters this week in our area. So it's going to be a busy week, but we'll see great miracles take place!

I love you all!!
Sister Tucker