Hello everyone! You might be wondering what I mean
by "sing when you find, find when you sing." There is a section
in Preach My Gospel called, "teach when you find, find when you
teach" in chapter 9. Let me tell you why I changed it to "sing"
for the title of this blog post.
The Power of Music
I have been blessed with companions that not only like to sing, but are good at it! Sister Haycock is an excellent singer just like Sister Springer is so I am very blessed. I thought about singing as a way of finding but never did it even though I really wanted to. It would be kind of like Christmas caroling but all year round and not so... awkward. Anyway, Sister Haycock and I were looking for service opportunities a couple of weeks ago so we went into an assisted living home and talked to a woman in charge about doing service. She welcomed us and said she would love to have us do service and that we could do anything we wanted to so we set up a time to go back and then went home and prepared some songs to play and sing. We jazzed up some hymns with the guitar and sang at the assisted living home this past Tuesday. It is a great finding opportunity because the people who work in the assisted living home love listen to us sing.
Last week we went to visit an older lady in our ward that is in an assisted living home. While we were in there with her, I had a prompting that we should sing to her so we did. While we were singing, a nurse came in and asked if we could sing to a lady across the hall so we said sure! As soon as we walked into the room we knew instantly that she was going to die very soon. She was very close to the veil and we could feel the presence that was in the room with her. We sang five hymns for her. The spirit in the room was so strong. We knew there were spirits there to usher her home to her Heavenly Father. We found out later that night that she died shortly after that. It was crazy, sad, beautiful, spiritual experience. Death really is a heartbreaking yet beautiful and amazing thing. What is the end for us on the earth is the beginning of something incredible for those who are leaving this earth life and returning to the presence of Heavenly Father.
On Friday I went on exchanges with Sister Woodbury in Grand Forks, North Dakota. We planned to go tracting and to sing to people we met if the opportunity came up and if they were willing to listen. (I heard somewhere that David Archuleta did that on his mission and so we thought, why not!) While we were out that day, we met a woman who is new to the area and a new friend of a member. She is a guitar player and so you already know that, naturally, I talked her ear off! She is sort of quiet and shy and a little unsure of what to think about us missionaries, but I asked if we could sing to them. They accepted and Sister Woodbury (who has a beautiful voice) and I sang "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy". The spirit was so strong. (I know that is a men's choir song but it is my favorite hymn so we sang it anyway.)
My testimony of the power of music has grown so much since I have been on my mission. Music touches people's hearts and really gets to them. I know that Heavenly Father blessed me with musical talents so I can share them with those I meet on my mission and throughout my life.
New Investigator
We got a new investigator! We tracted into her about a month ago and she said we could come back but we thought she wasn’t interested because she never answered the door. But there was a funeral on Saturday and she was there! She knew the woman in our ward who passed and she was so nice and happy to see us. She hugged us and kept smiling at us and asked us to please come visit her. Turns out the first time we went we asked to write down when she was home but she wrote down the times she wasn’t home and we didn’t know that. So we will go see her this week!
Friends in the Pre-existence
There is a less active lady named Claudet whose name always caught my eye on the ward list so we decided we should visit her a couple of weeks ago. But when we stopped by she wasn’t home. Then she showed up at church a couple of Sundays ago, ready to be active again all on her own. We have been visiting her since and teaching the lessons to her all over again. I know it sounds weird but I always felt like I knew her in the pre-existence. I thought maybe I just felt that way because I liked her so much because she is hilarious and always buys us muffins but yesterday she pulled me aside during church and told me that since she met me, she has been wondering where she knows me from. Then she said it hit her that she knows for certain that we knew each other in the pre-existence. She said "you probably knew I was going to go all crazy and fall away from the church so we made a promise to find each other." The spirit testified to me that it was true as soon as she said it. Right then I gained a strong knowledge that none of our associations are by accident. Everyone in our lives is put there for a reason to help us grow and learn. I know that I am here in this mission because I made promises to people who live here. It was so good to hear her confirm what I had also been feeling.
The Restored Gospel
Lately I have such a strong appreciation for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As missionaries and members that is our unique message to the world. It sets us apart from any other church. We know that the original organization of Christ's church fell apart after He and His apostles died because of the loss of the priesthood, the power and authority to act in God's name. But the good news is that God reaches out to His children in love, by calling a prophet, just like He has always done throughout history. We see this happen all the time in the Bible. We know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He, again, reached out to His Children by calling a prophet for us here in the Latter Days. I have been thinking about the restoration a lot lately. I wish I wouldn't have kept it to myself before my mission. It is meant to be shared with the world!
The Power of Music
I have been blessed with companions that not only like to sing, but are good at it! Sister Haycock is an excellent singer just like Sister Springer is so I am very blessed. I thought about singing as a way of finding but never did it even though I really wanted to. It would be kind of like Christmas caroling but all year round and not so... awkward. Anyway, Sister Haycock and I were looking for service opportunities a couple of weeks ago so we went into an assisted living home and talked to a woman in charge about doing service. She welcomed us and said she would love to have us do service and that we could do anything we wanted to so we set up a time to go back and then went home and prepared some songs to play and sing. We jazzed up some hymns with the guitar and sang at the assisted living home this past Tuesday. It is a great finding opportunity because the people who work in the assisted living home love listen to us sing.
Last week we went to visit an older lady in our ward that is in an assisted living home. While we were in there with her, I had a prompting that we should sing to her so we did. While we were singing, a nurse came in and asked if we could sing to a lady across the hall so we said sure! As soon as we walked into the room we knew instantly that she was going to die very soon. She was very close to the veil and we could feel the presence that was in the room with her. We sang five hymns for her. The spirit in the room was so strong. We knew there were spirits there to usher her home to her Heavenly Father. We found out later that night that she died shortly after that. It was crazy, sad, beautiful, spiritual experience. Death really is a heartbreaking yet beautiful and amazing thing. What is the end for us on the earth is the beginning of something incredible for those who are leaving this earth life and returning to the presence of Heavenly Father.
On Friday I went on exchanges with Sister Woodbury in Grand Forks, North Dakota. We planned to go tracting and to sing to people we met if the opportunity came up and if they were willing to listen. (I heard somewhere that David Archuleta did that on his mission and so we thought, why not!) While we were out that day, we met a woman who is new to the area and a new friend of a member. She is a guitar player and so you already know that, naturally, I talked her ear off! She is sort of quiet and shy and a little unsure of what to think about us missionaries, but I asked if we could sing to them. They accepted and Sister Woodbury (who has a beautiful voice) and I sang "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy". The spirit was so strong. (I know that is a men's choir song but it is my favorite hymn so we sang it anyway.)
My testimony of the power of music has grown so much since I have been on my mission. Music touches people's hearts and really gets to them. I know that Heavenly Father blessed me with musical talents so I can share them with those I meet on my mission and throughout my life.
New Investigator
We got a new investigator! We tracted into her about a month ago and she said we could come back but we thought she wasn’t interested because she never answered the door. But there was a funeral on Saturday and she was there! She knew the woman in our ward who passed and she was so nice and happy to see us. She hugged us and kept smiling at us and asked us to please come visit her. Turns out the first time we went we asked to write down when she was home but she wrote down the times she wasn’t home and we didn’t know that. So we will go see her this week!
Friends in the Pre-existence
There is a less active lady named Claudet whose name always caught my eye on the ward list so we decided we should visit her a couple of weeks ago. But when we stopped by she wasn’t home. Then she showed up at church a couple of Sundays ago, ready to be active again all on her own. We have been visiting her since and teaching the lessons to her all over again. I know it sounds weird but I always felt like I knew her in the pre-existence. I thought maybe I just felt that way because I liked her so much because she is hilarious and always buys us muffins but yesterday she pulled me aside during church and told me that since she met me, she has been wondering where she knows me from. Then she said it hit her that she knows for certain that we knew each other in the pre-existence. She said "you probably knew I was going to go all crazy and fall away from the church so we made a promise to find each other." The spirit testified to me that it was true as soon as she said it. Right then I gained a strong knowledge that none of our associations are by accident. Everyone in our lives is put there for a reason to help us grow and learn. I know that I am here in this mission because I made promises to people who live here. It was so good to hear her confirm what I had also been feeling.
The Restored Gospel
Lately I have such a strong appreciation for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As missionaries and members that is our unique message to the world. It sets us apart from any other church. We know that the original organization of Christ's church fell apart after He and His apostles died because of the loss of the priesthood, the power and authority to act in God's name. But the good news is that God reaches out to His children in love, by calling a prophet, just like He has always done throughout history. We see this happen all the time in the Bible. We know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He, again, reached out to His Children by calling a prophet for us here in the Latter Days. I have been thinking about the restoration a lot lately. I wish I wouldn't have kept it to myself before my mission. It is meant to be shared with the world!
Remember to bear your testimony every day through both actions and words! Loving
actions and words are some of the best ways to share your testimony of Jesus
Christ and of the restored gospel. In
John 13:35 it says:
“By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Sister Park
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