Dear Friends and Family,
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| A little jammie time after a hard day! |
It's getting wetter, darker and colder out there...welcome to Seattle! I have never been so excited for Daylight Savings in my life! Forget Halloween! No, it's been a fun week. We just had to bust out all the fleece lined tights, gloves and wool socks again. Some of the long-timers up here on the Mountain say that sometimes the power will go out up to a week at a time. I truly hope that never happens! I would rather not become an ice cube! I can't imagine serving a mission in Russia and in some of the colder places of the world. I have been so blessed to serve in a mild climate. Rarely too hot or too cold...all you need is a light jacket:)
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| My study area |
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| Our cute little casa! |
We have had a few cool run-ins with people. We met a guy named Erik who has never been religious, but he is dating a less active member of a neighboring ward. He was open to having us bring a member over and come in and teach him...so we did. He is starting to read the
Book of Mormon and he prayed for one of the first times in his life. So cool!
We also met a very kind Bahia lady with whom we had a very good discussion about the Restoration, and we also met a very kind British man who wants to do family history with us.
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| Our Jesus Bracelets |
Update on Simon: we haven't seen him. He basically lives at school. Always doing homework or chores. But the good news is that his mom and dad are starting to really like us. We went over to see Simon on Friday and his mom let us in to talk to her while she was cooking. She is very sweet...just doesn't like talking about religion a whole lot. So we are trying to set up service to help their family out.
Update on Brian: He likes us coming over and he doesn't mind sitting out on his front porch to talk with us (it's a rule that we can't go inside with a male unless another female is with us). He is always sharing more and more with us about his spiritual path as a healer. We are praying for the gift of discernment so that we can find the truth in what he says. I have found that there is a lot of truth; sometimes he perceives it differently than the "Mormon" way. What we are struggling with at this point is helping him understand the importance of the priesthood and ordinances. He has seen many miracles and performed miraculous healings based off of faith and spiritual gifts. I don't discredit that, but I think he is still missing a fullness of the healing that can be done through the Priesthood.
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| A llama in the forest. What?? |
Also he has a big problem with repentance. He was raised in a Baptist church and he felt like their doctrine teaches "God loves you. A lot. But you are a sinner and you will burn in hell." Which isn't super far from some of the ideas I had about repentance growing up. But something that I have come to understand, starting in high school until now, is that repentance isn't the punishment for sin. It's the cleansing power. It's the rubbing alcohol in the wound. It's sandpaper on the wood. It's probably going to hurt a little before things get better. But that's the beauty of repenting daily. It is a little bit of cleaning everyday instead of having to deal with a whole blowout at once. It keeps us in line with the straight and narrow.
We had interviews this week with President and Sister Schofield. I was a bit of a mess...(I will tell you later), but they taught us about forgiveness through repentance. Pres. Schofield asked us, "Who is in need of repentance?" All of us raised our hands. "Who does God forgive?" All of us raised our hands a little more hesitantly. He read in the scriptures about the promise that God makes. That when we repent, He remembers our sins no more. As often as you repent is as often as you will be forgiven. Pray for strength to overcome your weak spots. This is how we truly live at our full capacity, living up to our potential.
Thank you for all your love and prayers in mine and my companions' behalf. Have an incredible week! Share your testimony with the ones you meet. D&C 62:3
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