This week was so good!!!!
After I emailed you last week I went to the St. Louis Zoo with some other sister missionaries and took some pictures for christmas cards we will be making! It was awesome because it was kinda cold that day and so there was literally no one at the zoo! we practically had the whole place to ourselves! I saw some Sea lions and penguins and butter flies but that is pretty much it. a lot of the exhibits were closed. I could have saw some orangutans but they were inside and we didn't know that it was still open until it was too late. The ape exhibit closed at 5. But we had fun taking pictures!! Hopfully I will be able to go to the zoo again and see the orangutans AND they are getting polar bears this coming year! How cool is that?! We got to talk to so zookeepers in the butterfly exhibit and they told us a bunch of stuff about butterflies and the zoo and it was so cool! we also got to share with them about who we are and what we do! So we gave them a He is the Gift card and told them to check out the video at mormon.org. They call it the He is the Gift initiative so the idea it they are trying to get more missionary opportunities with this video for missionaries and members. As missionaries, we track how many referrals, investigators, and baptisms we get each week with the use of this initiative. Like Brandon said this idea is truly brilliant! You NEED to check out the video dad!! It is so good! And then in the december ensign you get your own pass-a-long cards in a extra little booklet so you can share the gift yourself! It really is a easy non-threatening way to share the gospel with others.
I LOVE how you had a missionary experience with Robin Chisholm. That is so cool! What did she think about meeting with missionaries? How long did they meet with the missionaries for? Has she ever owned a Book of Mormon? Why did they stop? I think that is a great idea to invite them to the cantata! You could even give her a conference ensign or the december ensign! Modern day scripture can be just as powerful as the ancient scripture in testifying truth! Missionary work is so good when members are involve! Keep planting those seeds Dad! Awesome!
Update on Drew: we met with him twice this week. First day we taught him the Word of Wisdom and it surprisingly went very well. He totally agreed with everything and told us that recently this is what he has been trying to base his life off of and improve. He was actually very excited about the word of wisdom. I was confused. But he commited to live it so that is awesome!
the next lesson that we had with him was on prophets and we watched the restoration video with him. He liked the video. He doesn't deny that this is all true. He likes the idea and the technicalities of the church. I guess the only problem that drew has is that he is a very deep thinker. Into Philosophies and what not. But we need him to understand the spiritual side of the gospel and gain a testimony. Anyone wont last on there own human knowledge and theories. He needs to rely on the Lord. It is that spiritual confirmation that truly converts them. And that is something he needs to find on his own. We could tell him anything. But until he acts and asks God for himself, he wont get that spiritual confirmation. It is hard to understand him sometimes. He confuses me. But I wont give up on him. He is so close. And he didn't come to church again. He slept through his alarm. So like I said he needs to exercise his faith and gain that spiritual confirmation.
Thursday and Friday was the 24hr exchange and it was my turn to stay in my area. And we got to see Mr. Kruger on Thursday! He is doing so good! He is reading his scriptures!! He is asking questions!! He told me that he knows that the Book of Mormon is true!! He just has a hard time understanding the Book of Mormon because he has dyslexia so he said that he read the first chapter like 3 times. But he is trying and learning and that is all that matters! God will bless him I know it! I felt like I could really help him in this lesson it was so good! But there is one problem... He got a new job offer. He is moving to Seattle in 2 weeks back with his family. He is so excited to be back in Seattle with his family for christmas and I am so happy for him but the prideful side of me is a little upset. haha. But he still wants to meet with missionaries so we will have to make sure the missionaries in Seattle know about him and help him move in. I want to stay in contact with him.
On exchanges I also got to go to a members home for dinner. We finished dinner and we were sharing a spiritual thought with them at the table. the daughter that was sitting to the left of me was kinda rocking on her chair and then all of a sudden her chair slipped and she fell forward and hid her head on the table. She started screaming the most horrifying scream I have ever heard and I saw a big gash on her forehead. everyone stood up and tried to move the table. Luckily her Father is a Doctor so she got medical attention right away. It was awkward too because I wasn't sure we should help somehow or how we would continue our spiritual thought. The mother told us we didn't have to stay but I didn't want to just leave! haha It was awful!!! The daughter ended up getting stitches right in her own home! It was crazy! We wanted to help somehow so we helped them tidy up there basement because there were toys EVERYWHERE! haha I don't even know how to explain that situation it was awkward and traumatizing and... well everything is okay now and she was at church on sunday so she is alright.
But if there is one thing that stood out to me in my experience with exchanges is that the spirit is powerful and that Heavenly Father work through us! His servants!
In Preach my Gospel PG94 there is a quote by Gordon B. Hinckley and it says:
"Every Morning..., Missionaries should get on their knees and plead with the Lord to loosen their tongues and speak through them to the blessing of those they will be teaching. If they do this, a new light will come to their lives. There will be a greater enthusiasm for the work. They will come to know that in a very real sense they are the servants of the Lord speaking on His behalf. They will find a different response from those they teach. As they do so by the spirit, their investigators will respond under the influence of the same spirit."
This is so true!! I have experienced it!! Especially during exchanges. To be honest I was nervous for exchanges. We had 2 lesson with investigators that day and one lesson with a less active and one dinner thought with a member. And I was very responsible for how that day went. I had to inform the STL (Sister Training Leader) that I was with who these people were, what we were teaching them and what she needed to know to help them. I was very much pleading with the Lord that morning to help me. To work through me and also bless those we were teaching. The Lord was with me that whole day! The lesson with Mr. Kruger was great! My tongue was loose and I could answer all the questions he had. I love how at the end of that quote it says, "As they do so by the spirit, their investigators will respond under the influence of the same spirit." And that is what was happening in Mr. Krugers lesson. The spirit is so powerful!!
The second investigator we saw during exchanges was Tim who has the Baptism date for December 27th. He is the one who is so set and has a testimony and is just waiting to be baptized on the 27th just so his friend can come home from school and baptize him. So before this lesson we asked him what HE wanted to learn more about. He wanted to learn more about the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Just what they are and how they came about. So I had to study a lot for that. But that lesson went great also! This was an experience that really showed me that the spirit brings things to our remembrance. Every question that Tim asked me was something I studied or highlighted in my studies! It was crazy amazing!! We were definitely responding under the same spirit! I have that quote by Gordon B. Hinckley by my bed so I see it every morning.
I love this work so much! I feel so incredibly happy! It has been hard, I have felt nervous, and frustrated and stressed. BUT I know without a doubt that my heavenly Father loves me and is very aware of me. I love Him. And the Christmas season is just overwhelming me with the spirit! The church is SO true!
I am reading in Alma for my scripture study and chapter 26 is my favorite chapter in the whole wide world!! Because it is exactly how I feel!! Ammon is my Book of Mormon hero! I feel like me and him would get along very well. In this chapter it is Ammon saying how awesome God is and how much God has blessed him while he was sharing the gospel with the Lamanites. Just read the whole thing and that describes perfectly of how I feel right now!.=
Alma 26:36 is my absolute favorite! I want that on my missionary plack! "my life, my light, my joy and my salvation" This Gospel is who I am and I am so happy :)
Anyways.
All the Christmas traditions are pretty similar here in Missouri. I haven't heard anything that is too out of the blue.
I really like my ward. What I like about my ward is that a large majority of the ward is doctors or works in the medical field. It is kind of ridiculous actually haha And also, so many people decorate for christmas here! There are christmas lights everywhere!! It is awesome. I love it here.
I love you all and think of you often!
Love,
Britt
P.S. I got Grandma and Grandpa Fisher's package yesterday! The AP's (Assistants to the President) are in my district and they go to the mission office often and got the package for me. My district is kind of luck that way. We don't necessarily have to wait for meetings like Brandon does so I should get all packages before Christmas.
Walking around the zoo :)
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