April 14, 2014
My Dear Family and Friends,Do you ever feel overwhelmed with happiness? I don't know exactly why, but today I've just been taken aback by you all. I feel incredibly blessed to have such an amazing, supportive, (if at times oddly) hilarious family, as well as such encouraging, and inspiring friends. I'm so grateful for you! You all are rock stars in my books.
The weather has taken a turn for the beautiful here. I make any excuse I can to be outside, which is good because we've had a lot of opportunities to do service outside. There's nothing like being outside. I think growing up on a farm helped me appreciate that.
Being outside has its perks though....because Sister Roundy and I accidentally locked ourselves out of the house! I had the bright idea of weekly planning outdoors in our backyard. Which was fantastic until we realized we forgot to check if the lock on the door was open before we came! Luckily we had our phone so we called Sister Andrus, and she let us know where the spare key was. Oh, days in the life of a missionary.
Yesterday, I was asked spur-of-the-moment to sing a musical number at the assisted living facility sacrament meeting we attend. Of course, I said yes. I simply sang "Because I Have Been Given Much." It wasn't perfect, but I'm glad I did it.
Due to recovering from sickness this week was a little slower than usual, but we continued to strive to be as diligent as we could be, and I can tell you right now that we've seen blessings from that. We found 3 new investigators this week!! When we opened this area, we only had one, but now we have five! A happy missionary is a teaching missionary, and that has definitely been a source of great joy to me. Two of our investigators are a single mother and her son. The Spirit was so strong as we taught the Restoration. They agreed to be baptized when they came to know the truth of our message!
On missions, a funny thing happens. You become all too aware of your weaknesses. However, as you come to know these things, it just allows you to rely more on the Lord. With the Lord, I know that our weaknesses can become strengths. I know, because I've seen it happen too many times to deny it. There is a definite power in doing all you can, and then humbly turning the rest over to the Lord. One of my favorite stories from the New Testament of the Savior is in Mark 5 about the woman with the issue of blood. Mark 5:25-34. I think at one point or another we all feel overwhelmed, much like this woman. I also know that as we follow this woman's example, as we reach out to the Savior in faith, we can feel the Savior's words, "Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." He can make up the difference.
I encourage you all to look to the Savior during this Easter week!
Much love,
Sister Rachel Ann Bennett
No comments:
Post a Comment