Hello family and
friends! This last week was a great
one. We had several appointments cancel
but also had some really cool things happen to make up for it.
Investigators
We have
a new investigator named “C”. She is
only here for a month but she lives with Julie Makoul, the lady with the cute
kids (one of them was in the picture with me last week). C lives in Minneapolis
and is the grandmother of Julie’s kids.
She wants to learn about the gospel so we are going to teach her while
she is here and try to prepare her for baptism.
Then she will hopefully continue taking the lessons when she returns to
Minneapolis. She is already reading the Book of Mormon, coming to church, and even
cried when we taught the plan of salvation. She believes it and loves it and it
has answered so many of her deep questions.
K and her 5 kids came to
church yesterday and everyone in the ward was so good about fellowshipping them
and making them feel welcomed. K’s 9 year old daughter Lakota already loves
primary and has made friends. K is such an amazing person so everyone naturally
loves her and people in the ward even helped her take care of her two year old
and 5 month old during church. Even her
shy 6 year old boy stayed in class the whole time and K was so surprised by it.
K is getting baptized on February 6th and then her husband will be
deployed in April. I’m glad she has the ward to help her out during that time.
Our other investigator, Kayla, is still doing
amazing as well. We have another lesson
with her this week. She is just awesome
and we love her.
 |
| Me, Kayla, and Sister RIchins |
Funny Story
Earlier today we went grocery shopping at Walmart
and saw a couple of the elders there. They asked us if we could go get them
some leggings because they are much cheaper than buying men’s thermals and of
course they did not want to be seen lurking through the women’s department and
then buying women’s leggings. Our zone leaders started the trend of wearing
leggings instead of thermals because they are warmer and cheaper. So Sister
Richins and I went and bought them some leggings. They were so embarrassed but they really
wanted them.
 |
| One of the elders with his sweet fleece-lined leggings |
Burdens and the Power
of the Priesthood
We have
been meeting with a less active woman named Ashley. She has muscular dystrophy and is
always in so much pain. It also affects
her speech. She is the sweetest woman ever. She was baptized a little over a
year ago but is less active because she can’t get out of her wheel chair so that
makes it hard for her to come to church. We asked her if she would like a
priesthood blessing and she said yes. We
called one of the set of elders in our ward and they were available right then
so came over to her house right away and gave her a blessing. After the blessing she was so happy, the
happiest I have ever seen her and she said her hip stopped hurting. That day
had been one of her worst days yet because the pain was so bad. I am so thankful for the power of the
priesthood. The severe pain in her hip was taken away and her burden was made
light. Her burden wasn’t totally removed but it was made light.
Speaking
of burdens… I don’t know why Ashley has to endure this painful condition while
she is here on earth. I wish she could
just get up out of her wheelchair and feel good like most of us do. She is so sweet though and handles her burden
well. We don’t all have physical burdens
but we all experience something that causes us pain or sadness. Experiencing these things makes us want to
give up sometimes and it might even make us angry at Heavenly Father. We should always remember that the burdens we
carry are meant to prepare us for something greater than all of this. Our burdens really can become blessings when
we allow them to. On my mission I have
seen people change for the better and it all started with a burden of some
kind. In Mosiah 3:19 it says “For the natural man is
an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and
will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy
Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through
the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive,
meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the
Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” When people experience trials, they become
humble and are more open to developing some of the virtues mentioned in that
scripture. Sometimes our burdens are
meant to be a blessing to someone else.
When we experience trials we are able to reach out to others who
experience those same trials. In
Galatians 6:2 the Apostle Paul said “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so
fulfil the law of Christ.”
Whether
our burdens are meant for our own growth or to help someone else grow, we
experience them to become something greater than what we are.
D&C
121: 7-8-
7 My
son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine
afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And
then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou
shalt triumph over all thy foes.
Remember
that we don’t have to carry these burdens alone. We are blessed with families on this earth to
help us get through difficult things. We
also have the blessings of the Priesthood to help us. And the Savior promises to be there for us if
we allow him to.
Matthew
11: 28-30-
28 Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.
29 Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I love
you all!
Sister
Park
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