November 3, 2014
Hei san alle,
Some fun things that happened this week include carving pumpkins
with some ward members, actually teaching people who didn't cancel with us,
teaching a 1st lesson while on splits, playing volleyball with our district...
and Jaroslav..., helping a non-member move from the 3rd floor in one building
to the fourth floor in another building (both of which did not have elevators),
Zone conference! (which means I got to see my companion from the MTC and Elder
Cole Whitbeck from home as well as make lots of new missionary friends!), a
Halloween party with the ward, finding less-actives,and having a strictly Norsk
meal (which consisted of meat cakes, potates, some weird pea-thingy, veggies,
Tyttebær sause and a unique cake... which I can't remember the name of right now.
All made by a lady in the ward. so amazing!) to break our fast. And the very
very best part: WE HAVE A BAPTISMAL DATE! We taught this guy J, a friend
of one of our recent coverts (C), for the very first time this week. We
asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he said yes! C and J are
both from Africa. J said that he had found the church in his country and
had been looking for our church here. wow! His baptism date is for the 22nd.
Miracles my friends! I am truly seeing miracles- hver dag.
I could go on and on in detail about each of these events, but
nonetheless, not even my own personal journal gets such a treat because this is
the Lord's time and not mine. You'll have to ask me for details later...
:)
The most important thing I can do with my emails is share my
testimony in hopes that by reading mine, you may strengthen yours. This week I
felt sad. A depth of sadness that brought me to tears at times. I felt sad that
the Lord's work depends on Someone so imperfect like me. I'm fine with living
with my weaknesses- I have them and I accept them, and so the source of my
sorrow did not necessarily stem from a feeling of inadequacy, but from feeling
sad that the Lord had to trust me to do his work. Yes, I wear the name badge
everyday, but I will always fall short of the calling to be a representative of
Christ. Taking these feelings with me to Zone conference, I searched for peace.
And what I got was not what anyone said, it was a thought that came from the
spirit clothed in the ideas presented in that service class at BYU that I took
my last semester. "The best kind of service is the service that allows
those you are serving to serve."
The Lord is perfect. He serves me by letting me serve Him
imperfectly. It's like when you are playing a game with a little kid and you
play in such a way that allows them to win. The Lord is all powerful. He could
do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. However, he lets us imperfect
full-time and member-missionaries serve because he loves us. He desires for us
to share in the joy of bringing souls back to Him.
The part about me never being able to really fulfill my calling
gets swallowing up the the glory of Christ's atonement. Life is simply better
when you choose to acknowledge the truth that failure is inevitable but with
the power of the atonement, failure doesn't have to be permanent. I am so
thankful that I get to work not just for the Lord, but with the Lord. He truly
transforms us if we let him. I have seen that happen in my life as well as in
the lives of people in the scriptures and people around me. The name tag I wear
everyday reminds me that I am a living testimony of the power of Christ and His
atonement. It is the very best. I am living the dream!
In our Zone conference we talked a lot about working with the
members. And as I was thinking about it, the reason we work with members is
because we want members to feel the joy and happiness that comes from doing
missionary work! We want to have them have missionary experiences, because they
are precious and fill us with joy. If you are a member and you are reading
this, Pray with real intent for a missionary experience. The Lord wants to
bless you to feel more happiness! If you are a missionary, kudos to you! If you
are not apart of this church, I invite you to find out more about The knowledge
that has made me and countless others so happy.
I can never thank you all enough for the prayers and support.
You are truly amazing. Have a great week! Jeg er glad i dere!
Med Kjærlighet,
Søster Williams
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