Ada Ward had some special guests from Norman drive down for our sacrament meeting on Sunday. We had a family of three come down and speak on gratitude, and had a fantastic turnout. As they spoke, I looked around the audience and counted all the blessings, one person at a time. And Sister Caster from Sulphur came to Ada sacrament! My favorite bronx lady in the world! Ada was the place to be on Sunday.
But I have so much for which to be grateful. We had a lot of great things happen this week. The biggest one was with Memery. A few weeks back we'd given her a copy of "Come and See" by David A. Bednar. This talk works miracles, especially once you get to the Elder Bednar's story of his son getting a scrape on his arm and having dishwashing soap and ointment put on his arm. We compared the dishwashing soap to the oftentimes painful process of repentance and the cleansing effect it has on our lives. We then compared the ointment to baptism and its cleansing effect and the beginning of renewed life. She discussed her fears about coming to church and taking the missionary discussions. She has things in her life that she needs to change, and after some pondering on her part, she realized that she was dreading the repentance process. She fully admitted she was making up excuses and trying to put off changing. She also realized that she has greater fears (like the 2nd coming) that are far greater than little things like crowds and feeling too sick to come to church. She recited to us our purpose (we hadn't even told her!) and brought the spirit into her own home. She told exactly what we were thinking. And the Spirit was way beyond powerful. She even identified those feelings without us even having to tell her. I'll tell ya, my friends, she taught me something.
She asked us if our sins could be forgiven, even when repeated throughout our lives. We explained to her that God wasn't looking for perfection, but that He is looking for progress is each of us. That progress comes from following the example of Jesus Christ, and as long as our deepest desire is to follow Him, strive to change, and improve ourselves, the Lord will forgive us. It was quite possibly the most spirit-filled and productive lesson we've had with her. The gospel is going to fill that home!
We found a less active this week named Bro. Frazier. We were told that he lived in the other elders' area, but a member ran into him at Walmart and got his new address, and he lives in our area! We went over to meet him, but his wife answered the door. She invited us to her church's bible study. She goes to the Faith Baptist Church. We decided to attend, and the less active was running the bible study! We started with a prayer, and he gave the most Mormon prayer a less active could give! He's totally a Mormon deep down! Of all the chapters to choose from, he chose James 1. How perfect for missionary work ;) We were told to read two verses each. Of all the verses I got assigned to read, I read the famous James 1:5-6. I made sure to read it in an extra deep and pronounced voice ;) And after that he asked for the group's thoughts and insights on the chapter. We were the first people he asked for our thoughts. HA, he knows the significance of this chapter in the restored gospel. Eventually we had to leave, and when we got up, he goes, "See y'all? Baptists and Mormons can study the Bible together!" I laughed inwardly. How funny. Funny people. Funny experience. #TheGospelIsSoTrue
On Thursday we had a church tour with our investigator, Paris, who goes to ECU. We brought the Lemmerts with us, and they helped explain some of the different rooms in the building. Sister Lemmert also explained the role of Relief Society to her. After the tour we read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and read Mosiah 18. Then we committed her to be baptized! On May 30th! That's two weeks too late! Oh well, that will be one fruit that I won't be able to partake.
Saturday was exciting! Sister Lemmert the sister missionaries left for a stake women's meeting up in Norman, so Elder Lemmert and all of us elders had the brilliant idea to plant a garden for Sister Lemmert and surpise her :) So we had a bachelor party at Lemmert villa. We planted corn, cilantro, and other exciting edible vegetation. #OkraIsForOkies
Well, the countdown is now just like counting the 25 days until Christmas. Yikes... The trunky jokes have commenced. There's a song from the Anchorage, Alaska Mission Soundtrack that I keep singing that's about not admitting that you're anxious to go home. So now I've got the end the transfer with a bang and prove to everyone that "I'm not trunky!!"
Enjoy yourself this week :)
Elder Garner
No comments:
Post a Comment