Dearest family,
It has been quite the week!
Tonya, my Louisiana friend, came to church and really enjoyed Relief
Society. She was making comments and sharing experiences right along
with the lesson. Definitely not a shy one! It was amazing to see her
heart be softened throughout the church service and by the end she
turned to me with a rather incredulous look and said, "I think you might
be saved." Well, hallelujah! As promised, we went to her Baptist church
as well. It wasn't anything like I expected. I had been led to believe
there would be a lot of talk about hell, fire, and brimstone and that
there would be a boisterous choir singing out "Amens" and "Hallelujahs"
throughout the meeting. Hollywood has disappointed me yet again! It was a
small church and the preacher talked about the importance of the word
of God (he also mentioned that the Bible is the only word of God, for
our benefit I am sure :)) and yet as I looked around I could feel so
much love for these people. They are worshipping God in the best way
they know how and I know the Lord is proud of them for doing so. It was a
cool experience and caused me to understand my investigators on a
different level now. The members of the church were all very nice and
introduced themsevles to us after the service. One very concerned, older
gentleman came up to us and wanted to know if we had been saved. I
guess he has read the Book of Mormon and thinks our souls are at risk.
Tonya stood up for us and said she knows we are saved and believe in
Jesus Christ. It was pretty cool! I think we changed the perceptions of
Mormons for everyone in the church! Oh, speaking of changing
perceptions, did you all see "Meet the Mormons"? We get to see it at
Christmas and I am very excited about it!
Another
highlight of the week: the STATE FAIR! We got to go and wheel around
the elderly in their wheelchairs. Having had no experience with people
on wheelchairs, I had underestimated just how hard to push those crazy
things can be! It was quite the work out, but really fun! My woman was
from Cuba and Jamaica and had the most delightful accent. She really
liked the art work and had zero interest in the cows, so we got along
swimmingly. I also tried another Southern delicasy: the fried Oreo. I am
not even kidding. It is in Oreo dipped in red velvet cake batter and
then fried. It was surprising delicious! There was also a friend stick
of butter, but I wasn't quite brave enough to attempt it.
We
also had a lesson with some Jehovah Witnesses! I've been wanting to do
this my whole mission, but none would ever let us in! They shared with
us some of the things they believed and we shared with them basically
the whole Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. Some of their beliefs
are really similar to ours! I felt the Spirit so strong when we were
testifying, especially during the First Vision and when we talked about
eternal families. And the crazy thing is that I felt the Spirit when
they testified, too! This week has really showed me that the Lord loves
all of His children and while our church has the fulness of the
everlasting gospel, other denominations have truth too. I have grown to
really appreciate the faithful followers of Jesus Christ. I just want to
add to the truths they already treasure!
I love you all so much! I love being a missionary and I love South Carolina!
Sis D
Oh
and I almost forgot my challenge for y'all: Study Preach my Gospel
during Family Home Evening! The lessons are in Chapter 3. Have the boys
teach 'em. There is a very powerful spirit that enters the home, when
the missionary lessons are taught. We are starting to teach the
Restoration to our active families as well and the Spirit is really
incredible.
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