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| The Happy Greenie and her Greenie Package! |
Funny Story: We had Asian-ish food for dinner on Monday, and there were Soy Sauce paackets. When I saw them, I immediately thought "I am Sauce" (Soy = I am en espanol).
On Monday we started teaching a progressing investigator, R-. It has been a neat experience getting to know her, finding out her needs, and gaining her trust so that she feels that she can share her deeper concerns so we can help her with them.
Hermano M- has been replaced with Hermano B-because since it is the beginning of the school year, all of the teachers have new schedules and got switched around. So that was sad since Hmo M - was such a good teacher, but we are learning tons from Hma B- too, a nd I already love her.
On Tuesday our devotional speaker talked to us about the 5 parts of the Work of Salvation"
1. Member Missionary Work
2-Con vert Retention
3-Activation of Less-Active Members
4-Temple and Family History Work
5-Teaching the Gospel
He also shared a quote that President Hinckley said in 1999, "with concerted effort, with recognition of the duty which falls upon each of us as members of the Church, and with sincere prayer to the Lord for help, we could double that number [of investigators]." In 1999 there were about 300,000 convert baptisms a year. Today, there are STILL only about 300,000 baptisms a year. I think part of this comes from the typical fear that we don't want to offend someone by "forcing" our beliefs on them by sharing the simple truths. This is like seeing a hungry homeless person and thinking "Well, I don't know if they like the exact kind of food that I have with me, so I just won't give them anything." No matter if that food is their favorite or not, if they are starving, they will eat it! We need to share the gospel with ALL the world! EVERYONE needs the gospel, no matter if they are a member, inactive, nonmember, or investigator. EVERYONE needs the nourishment that comes to the soul through reading The Book of Mormon, a nd pray ing and talking with God. The gospel ins the ONLY thing that brings true, lasting, eternal happiness and joy!
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| Matching companieras at the Provo Temple |
About half of the church is made up of inactive members. Active members need to help to reactivate them, to help them get their lives in order, to feel that they have a friend at church, to have the desire to come back to church. Inactive members coming back to church should not be looked down upon. They are making a necessary change in their life to live happier and to come closer to God! If active members do not make returning embers feel welcome, they may not keep coming back. Missionary work is not just for the non-member. Reactivation counts! It changes eternity for that individual, their family, and all of the people whose lives they will touch. Please, be as welcoming and loving towards those that are coming back to church as to those who have never left. God still loves them, and we should too!
Please, make a commitment today to all that you can to share the gospel. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own little worlds, that we don't take the time to look out and find out the needs of others. (I know I am guilty of this, too, so it is just as much for me as well.) This the natural man: to focus on ourselves. When we become like Christ, we turn out, focusing on others instead of on ourselves. Missionary work is so much easier if you will put aside the natural man, and be willing to be open to others and to see their needs and help them.
I challenge each of you to look for the needs of others (even members -- not everyone is converted) because it will CHANGE THEIR LIFE! Look for a missionary experience and opportunity EVERY DAY and pray for the help of Heavenly Father, and I PROMISE He will provide you with one as you do your part and keep your promise to take the opportunity!
To Mom: Thanks for the great missionary guidelines. I love how you are finding analogies for missionary worki n every day life! I would like to share what you said with everyone else, because I think it will really help them to start thinking about what little thing they can do each day to help ot hers and have missionary opportunities.
1. Deadlines/goals help us to focus and help us feel the urgency of the work.
2. Ask family members and others to help. Findind the lost is not a one person task.
3. Specific prayer - pray for help to see opportunities, faith and courage to take action even when previous attempts seemingly fail. Pray for help to achieve a goal within the time frame you have available.
4. Search diligently and take action!
5. Begin where you are. When I finally found my missing library book, it was on the desk - upside down! It was in plain sight the whole time, I just didn't recognize it. I had to wonder - How many of our Heavenly Father's children are hidden in plain sight? We need to pray to recognize opportunities right around us.
6. Give thanks for the help we receive from the Lord. Be humble enough to recognize the Lord's hand when we find one who is lost.
To S an d K: Good luck with the beginning of the school year! I am sure you will do great with all of your new callings, classes, etc. Don't forget with all of your busyness to have fun and to remember to Look Outside Yourself. Look for missionary experiences every day! You are already doing awesome, and I KNOW that as you have DAILY scripture study and prayer, t hat the Lord will bless you with even more opportunities, and with the knowledge to know what to say. Love you both!
To H: You are going to do awesome in Middle School! You are going to have SO much fun, and make so many new friends! Remember the importance of DAILY, PERSONAL scripture study. It is so important to feel the Spirit and to have good influences in your life, especially in middle school where there is so much ickiness. Love you lots!
Con amor,
Hermana Durfee
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