The Missionary Broadcast this week, Sunday, June 23, will feature the OKC Mission!
http://www.lds.org/church/events/the-work-of-salvation-missionary-broadcast?cid=HPL2P05W01025
Monday, June 17, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Numbers
A wise college president once said that nothing worthwhile in life can be measured in numbers. Math has never been my forte, so truisms like this give me hope.
Missionaries report numbers every week--our local leaders look at our "key indicators" and compile them for the General Authorities. The numbers exist to show us where to place our efforts, and to provide personal accountability. We report numbers of new investigators, lessons taught with members present, less-actives at church, and baptisms.
In my last area, numbers were easy. There was something gratifying about seeing high digits on the chalkboard during district meeting, and sometimes I looked at the low numbers of other companionships and wondered what they were doing all week. ("Lazy" was my assumption.)
God loves me enough to make me humble.
My numbers have become the dismally low numbers that I once scoffed. And now God is teaching me how to BE a missionary rather than just looking the part.
Our desperation for new investigators has led us to rely on the Spirit and to set might goals! Now we teach and testify at every door rather than offering a measly, "Could we return and share a message?" We are teaching our members the doctrine of Christ and inviting them to engage in missionary work. We are listening better, studying harder, and loving more sincerely.
And though the numbers don't show it, the Spirit whispers that God is pleased. He is working miracles in us even when we feel unfruitful. In the words of Elder Tad Callister, "power comes with consecration, not numbers."
Laban and Lemuel were troubled by numbers when they exclaimed that their enemy could command 50, whereas God was only one--what could He do against so many? (1 Nephi 3:1)
God's math is better than mine.
The numbers may not show it, but my heart is in it. And I am glad to know that to God, I am more than a number. I am His child, a number worth counting. The worth of my soul is great.
Delightsome People
"As many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people." 2 Nephi 30:7
I need to pay tribute to the Christians of Oklahoma. I know that I am sent forth to teach others, but sometimes I can't help being taught of them.
In a recent visit, Elder Anderson counseled us to ask Oklahomans about their faith in Christ. This question has opened up a world of goodwill and spiritual instruction! They might say no to our invitation to pray. They might refuse our cards. But these marvelous, believing people can't resist an opportunity to testify!
On Friday evening we sat on the lawn and chatted with five Apostolic Christians, and it was one of the happiest evenings of my life. They understand the doctrine of Christ! Their lifestyle is impressively similar to ours. We prayed together and compared scriptural verses. We shared tears and testimony. What we have in common is so much more than what differs. And what we have in common is Jesus Christ.
Nephi called it: they are a delightsome people!
Dear God, thanks for sending me to the Bible belt. :)
I need to pay tribute to the Christians of Oklahoma. I know that I am sent forth to teach others, but sometimes I can't help being taught of them.
In a recent visit, Elder Anderson counseled us to ask Oklahomans about their faith in Christ. This question has opened up a world of goodwill and spiritual instruction! They might say no to our invitation to pray. They might refuse our cards. But these marvelous, believing people can't resist an opportunity to testify!
On Friday evening we sat on the lawn and chatted with five Apostolic Christians, and it was one of the happiest evenings of my life. They understand the doctrine of Christ! Their lifestyle is impressively similar to ours. We prayed together and compared scriptural verses. We shared tears and testimony. What we have in common is so much more than what differs. And what we have in common is Jesus Christ.
Nephi called it: they are a delightsome people!
Dear God, thanks for sending me to the Bible belt. :)
Lawton, Oklahoma
Lawton, Oklahoma is, in a word, lovely. Mind you, most of the people that I meet whilst tracting are either felons or high on meth...but still. LOVELY. It is a slow town with blinking red stop lights and a highly charismatic ward. We're located on a military base, Fort Sill, so our ward members are from all over the world. The most interesting character I have met is "Ashley," formerly known as Brother Fritz." He was once in the bishopric, and now he is a transgendered woman. Fascinating.
My new companion is incredible! She is a biology major at Utah State, a Vernal-raised farm girl. She loves to harmonize, so we spend our days singing to each other and looking for miracles. She loves absolutely everyone we meet, and she is trying to become a bold missionary (something that I have mastered, strangely enough). I am constantly finding sticky notes with kind things written on them-she leaves these little pick-me-ups in my journal, on cereal boxes, in my drawers.
The area was a mess when I arrived! My fist task during lunch and breakfast breaks was to take down the Christmas tree and to clean our nasty apartment. We are also revamping our missionary focus (they only had two progressing investigators, so we're on the quest to find more!). We are the only sisters in the zone, and we love our goofy elders.
Lawton is ablaze with promise. Grateful to be here!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Perfect Picture of My Life Right Now
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/
I know and love all of those yellow shirts! That's my stake president, my AP, my fellow-missionaries,and my Village ward members!
This is my life. When I consider the enormity of the task and the beauty of the work, all I can conclude is that God must love me.
I know and love all of those yellow shirts! That's my stake president, my AP, my fellow-missionaries,and my Village ward members!
This is my life. When I consider the enormity of the task and the beauty of the work, all I can conclude is that God must love me.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Ruby Red Slippers and Big Noisy Storms
Dorothy makes tornadoes look so cut and magical.
Dorothy lies!
"It is hard to exaggerate the devastation," remarked President Taylor. One street looks perfectly fine (save a smattering of sewage-smelling sludge across the exterior of the home), and the next street is a veritable landfill.
Dorothy has ruby red slippers and a quaint blue gingham jumper.
I have man boots and thick leather gloves. Yeehaw!
I confess that I have often dreamed of owning a yellow Mormon Helping Hands t-shirt. Now I get to wear one everyday!
We had an ox-in-the-mire Sabbath this week. Our entire stake arrived at the church at 9 am in boots and jeans for a one hour sacrament meeting, followed by an 8-hour work day. We skipped P-day to repeat the same 8-hour workday. We haul fallen frees and sift through homes for old photos and beloved objects. We move junk and then do it again. We are exhausted and happy.
Dorothy sang songs to dive away the blues. So do we!
When the F5 tornado was touching down in Moore, Oklahoma, I was in my bathroom (the interior room of the house is the safest place) with my bike helmet on (missionary protocol when the tornado sirens go off) singing "Master The Tempest is Raging."
After a few hours out in the sun, the muscles and eyes beg for a break. The best response is to break into song and dance. It makes people laugh and it tricks the mind into thinking that it is having a jolly good time. Making a fool of myself is becoming something of an art these days. I have perfected a little jig that I lovingly call "The Tornado Dance." If you ever pick up tree stumps with me, I might share it with you.
There are good things "somewhere over the the rainbow," Dorothy promises.
This is true. And the rainbow isn't so very far away.
We talk about our religion everyday, and now we get to live it! Isaiah 61 is bursting to life in full glory: "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." (4).
It is amazing to see how God gives us "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa 61:3). Miracles flow from the disaster. The Baptist church provides lunch for rescue workers every day. Methodists are coordinating with Mormon Helping hands to distribute donated supplies. Families drive in from across the US to provide help and materials. Moms and kids in mini-vans drive around all day with water bottles and snacks for people in need.
Although we are not tracting and teaching as usual, President Taylor spoke well when he commented that "Our efforts here over the next few months will do more than five years of tracting." Interfaith friendships are forming. We are living what we preach. There is beauty in these ashes.
Dorothy lies!
"It is hard to exaggerate the devastation," remarked President Taylor. One street looks perfectly fine (save a smattering of sewage-smelling sludge across the exterior of the home), and the next street is a veritable landfill.
Dorothy has ruby red slippers and a quaint blue gingham jumper.
I have man boots and thick leather gloves. Yeehaw!
I confess that I have often dreamed of owning a yellow Mormon Helping Hands t-shirt. Now I get to wear one everyday!
We had an ox-in-the-mire Sabbath this week. Our entire stake arrived at the church at 9 am in boots and jeans for a one hour sacrament meeting, followed by an 8-hour work day. We skipped P-day to repeat the same 8-hour workday. We haul fallen frees and sift through homes for old photos and beloved objects. We move junk and then do it again. We are exhausted and happy.
Dorothy sang songs to dive away the blues. So do we!
When the F5 tornado was touching down in Moore, Oklahoma, I was in my bathroom (the interior room of the house is the safest place) with my bike helmet on (missionary protocol when the tornado sirens go off) singing "Master The Tempest is Raging."
After a few hours out in the sun, the muscles and eyes beg for a break. The best response is to break into song and dance. It makes people laugh and it tricks the mind into thinking that it is having a jolly good time. Making a fool of myself is becoming something of an art these days. I have perfected a little jig that I lovingly call "The Tornado Dance." If you ever pick up tree stumps with me, I might share it with you.
There are good things "somewhere over the the rainbow," Dorothy promises.
This is true. And the rainbow isn't so very far away.
We talk about our religion everyday, and now we get to live it! Isaiah 61 is bursting to life in full glory: "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." (4).
It is amazing to see how God gives us "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa 61:3). Miracles flow from the disaster. The Baptist church provides lunch for rescue workers every day. Methodists are coordinating with Mormon Helping hands to distribute donated supplies. Families drive in from across the US to provide help and materials. Moms and kids in mini-vans drive around all day with water bottles and snacks for people in need.
Although we are not tracting and teaching as usual, President Taylor spoke well when he commented that "Our efforts here over the next few months will do more than five years of tracting." Interfaith friendships are forming. We are living what we preach. There is beauty in these ashes.
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