Today I went to my branch alone... Zane was sick. I went to the welfare meeting, then met with a few of the sisters in the branch, just getting to know them.
Just before sacrament meeting started, I looked around the chapel and wanted the opportunity to meet a family I hadn't yet. On the back row was a beautiful couple with 2 children. I wat down next to the sister and we started talking - they are not members, but were visiting with the elders. We became instant friends, and I look forward to growing with her in the gospel.
As I looked around the chapel, I had a really neat experience. I realized that every single member of the branch was familiar to me. I realized that my spirit was recognizing each person in the chapel - as a spirit brother or sister whom I had know before this earth. I know the calling Zane and I have been given is inspired. I look forward to the opportunity we will have to serve and spread the love of our Savior!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Our first Sunday
Today, Zane and I put on our missionary name tags for the first time, and met with our new Spanish branch. We are so excited!
All the adult members of the branch actually fit in the Relief Society room - and what a beautiful branch we have! For the block meetings, we had sacrament first, then the last 2 hours were combined. The lesson was about missionary work - talking about the responsibilities of the members. This wonderful branch is starting an initiative where the members are going to be finding people for the full time missionaries to teach. Every Thursday and Saturday for 2 hours, the branch presidency want members that can to go out seeking families. We are having a missionary open house on November 1st, and at that time they want to have a "full house". It's really neat to see the efforts that are being made to spread the gospel. I am sure the Savior is very pleased!
It was an amazing feeling today to put on a missionary name tag again. My heart is so full of love for the people in this branch... and I hardly know any of them. I know what kind of spirit is always present in Spanish branches. I felt right at home as soon as we walked in the door. Hearing the hymns in Spanish (singing them in Spanish...) brings the spirit so strongly. It is impossible to explain the feeling to anyone unless they have experienced it - but being among the Lamanite people is just an amazing experience.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve the Lord. I look forward to serving in this beautiful branch!!
All the adult members of the branch actually fit in the Relief Society room - and what a beautiful branch we have! For the block meetings, we had sacrament first, then the last 2 hours were combined. The lesson was about missionary work - talking about the responsibilities of the members. This wonderful branch is starting an initiative where the members are going to be finding people for the full time missionaries to teach. Every Thursday and Saturday for 2 hours, the branch presidency want members that can to go out seeking families. We are having a missionary open house on November 1st, and at that time they want to have a "full house". It's really neat to see the efforts that are being made to spread the gospel. I am sure the Savior is very pleased!
It was an amazing feeling today to put on a missionary name tag again. My heart is so full of love for the people in this branch... and I hardly know any of them. I know what kind of spirit is always present in Spanish branches. I felt right at home as soon as we walked in the door. Hearing the hymns in Spanish (singing them in Spanish...) brings the spirit so strongly. It is impossible to explain the feeling to anyone unless they have experienced it - but being among the Lamanite people is just an amazing experience.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve the Lord. I look forward to serving in this beautiful branch!!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Come Follow Me
This weekend, I was inspired to write a poem.
The messge, I feel, is very important. I wanted to share it!
Come Follow Me
There is a place within our heart
A man will sometimes go
A place so deep, a place so dark
We feel no other knows.
The lonliness we go through there
Pulls down our hearts
Drags down our minds
To the very depths of deep despair.
There was another, once,
Who felt the salf-same pain:
Gethsemane He faced alone
So eternal life could be our gain.
The friends with him sat idly by
While kneeling, praying
From every pore he bled -
And to His father He did cry
To remove this cup instead.
We cannot ever comprehend
The pain He had to bear:
Nor the agony He faced on Calvary's hill
He struggled through
To comlete our father's will.
So when into our hearts we go
To that place of darkest night
Our Savior wants us to recall
He paid a price already -
To make our burdon's light.
The simple invitation of
"Come follow me"
If we will just accept
Will fill our hearts with joy and peace:
And remind us of His love.
The messge, I feel, is very important. I wanted to share it!
Come Follow Me
There is a place within our heart
A man will sometimes go
A place so deep, a place so dark
We feel no other knows.
The lonliness we go through there
Pulls down our hearts
Drags down our minds
To the very depths of deep despair.
There was another, once,
Who felt the salf-same pain:
Gethsemane He faced alone
So eternal life could be our gain.
The friends with him sat idly by
While kneeling, praying
From every pore he bled -
And to His father He did cry
To remove this cup instead.
We cannot ever comprehend
The pain He had to bear:
Nor the agony He faced on Calvary's hill
He struggled through
To comlete our father's will.
So when into our hearts we go
To that place of darkest night
Our Savior wants us to recall
He paid a price already -
To make our burdon's light.
The simple invitation of
"Come follow me"
If we will just accept
Will fill our hearts with joy and peace:
And remind us of His love.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Our mission call
As many of you may know, Zane and I have been called to serve a mission with the Inner City Project here in Salt Lake. We are both so excited to serve! Since we both served our full-time missions Spanish-speaking, we have the incredible opportunity to serve this mission together in Spanish!
We spent the last 2 days in a training with other missionaries for the inner city. Many of the other couples will be serving with refugees from places such as Somalia and Iraq (among other places). We were unaware ther are over 19,000 refugees living in the Salt Lake area. I feel it is absolutely amazing that this inner-city project has been put together - to help all those in need of help. Not all the people being served by the missionaries are members of the church, and this is an incredible opportunity to share the love of the Savior to those who are in great need of being spiritually lifted. Most of the other couples serving in the project are retired, or older couples. One sweet couple had their 38th wedding anniversary today - and I'm not even that old! We feel extremely blessed to be able to work with these senior couples and learn from their wisdom.
After our training today, we went and met our branch presidency and a few other members of the branch also. There are approximately 80 members in the branch, and each of the members that we met have a beautiful spirit about them. As we stood there waiting, the spirit was so strong! I couldn't help but feel the love of my Savior as I saw these beautiful families - and tears filled my eyes.
To think, we have been given so many resources with which to help them! There is a way to help them further their education, find doctors that charge less (for those without insurance), find housing, assistance to pay the bills, legal aid... the list goes on and on. Our assignment is to help the families in our branch to become more self-reliant by teaching them how to set and reach goals, as well as better understand how to live within a budget, or get more education for a better job security. There are so many opportunities to teach, this almost seems insurmountable! We know that as we serve, the Lord will guide us in all that we do, in order to allow us to best serve the members of our branch. We are very excited to have been given this marvelous opportunity to serve the Lord.
We hope to write about some of our experiences as missionaries. We were asked to keep a journal. We thought it might be interesting to others to learn about our mission experiences as well, so we decided a mission blog would be a good idea. We hope to write at least once a week!
We spent the last 2 days in a training with other missionaries for the inner city. Many of the other couples will be serving with refugees from places such as Somalia and Iraq (among other places). We were unaware ther are over 19,000 refugees living in the Salt Lake area. I feel it is absolutely amazing that this inner-city project has been put together - to help all those in need of help. Not all the people being served by the missionaries are members of the church, and this is an incredible opportunity to share the love of the Savior to those who are in great need of being spiritually lifted. Most of the other couples serving in the project are retired, or older couples. One sweet couple had their 38th wedding anniversary today - and I'm not even that old! We feel extremely blessed to be able to work with these senior couples and learn from their wisdom.
After our training today, we went and met our branch presidency and a few other members of the branch also. There are approximately 80 members in the branch, and each of the members that we met have a beautiful spirit about them. As we stood there waiting, the spirit was so strong! I couldn't help but feel the love of my Savior as I saw these beautiful families - and tears filled my eyes.
To think, we have been given so many resources with which to help them! There is a way to help them further their education, find doctors that charge less (for those without insurance), find housing, assistance to pay the bills, legal aid... the list goes on and on. Our assignment is to help the families in our branch to become more self-reliant by teaching them how to set and reach goals, as well as better understand how to live within a budget, or get more education for a better job security. There are so many opportunities to teach, this almost seems insurmountable! We know that as we serve, the Lord will guide us in all that we do, in order to allow us to best serve the members of our branch. We are very excited to have been given this marvelous opportunity to serve the Lord.
We hope to write about some of our experiences as missionaries. We were asked to keep a journal. We thought it might be interesting to others to learn about our mission experiences as well, so we decided a mission blog would be a good idea. We hope to write at least once a week!
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