Feed My Sheep: Transfers!!!! October 28

I stayed!!! I was literally praying to stay here because I'm in love with the area and we have so much work to do. I don't remember if I already told you or not, but my companion Sister Seely has been waiting for her visa for the last 6 months and she finally got it! So she left us last night to Brazil. I'm so excited for her, but I'm really sad to see her go. Sister Jensen is staying here with me though, and we are getting a 3rd companion tomorrow!

Random fact: one of the Philadelphia Eagles players is in our ward and he and his wife are rockstar member missionaries, no big deal :)

This was a week full of learning! We were really busy and had some unique experiences. Here are some of the lessons I learned:

1. God works with each of His children throughout their WHOLE lives to get them ready for when we finally meet them. It's been amazing to learn from these investigators how many experiences they had previous to meeting us, that have proven to them that God is real. It is really cool to talk to multiple people a day, and have each of them tell you that if nothing else is real, they know that there is a God. Each of these people come from VERY different backgrounds and have different experiences, but it is amazing that it all brings them to know truth. Truth really is completely constant, and God allows His children to find those truths amidst all of the lies that the world is full of. How cool is that? It's so nice to work with people who already have come to know certain truths, because all we do is discover what truths they know and then build off of that.

2. When we receive new commandments or counsel or (missionary) rules, it can be really hard to just accept them and follow them. Because of that, it is so important to pray about your own heart being softened enough to desire to follow it. This week we received new rules that seemed just kind of annoying (sorry, I'm not perfect!). So my companions and I prayed about the rules and asked for help to follow them. It was incredible how quickly our frustration seemed to melt away and we have been able to just accept and now embrace the new rules.

3. Repentance is a natural consequence of faith. If you are familiar with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you know that the points go as follows: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. We had two very distinct experiences this week where we had met with investigators for the first time, and the next time we met with them they told us that they had stopped swearing, stopped getting so angry with people, stopped drinking coffee, had a greater desire to love people and be kind to them, etc. We never told them to do any of that! All we did was visit with them and teach some of our beliefs. The Spirit had clearly touched them and as they experienced Faith in Christ, they naturally knew that it was important for them to make better choices. How cool is that?

4. This point comes from the last lesson. This is an awesome parenting lesson that I'm excited to use some day: When someone is not following some commandment, don't keep teaching them that commandment! Weird, right? But really, if they are not being obedient to some commandment, there is some underlying doctrine that they do not understand. When that doctrine is understood (and faith is developed in that doctrine), then the natural consequence will be that they will want to follow the commandments (or repent. because repentance really is just changing whatever is not in alignment with God's will). You see? Repentance is the natural consequence of faith, and obedience in the natural consequence of true understanding.

5. "Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End." This is the missionary purpose that we recite every day. One of the members who goes out to lessons with us all the time helped me to understand Our Purpose in a new way. It says "to invite OTHERS to...." It doesn't say that we "invite non-members to..." As missionaries, we help others whether they are non-members, less-active members, fully active members, our companions, etc. I'm out here on a mission to help others come to Christ, regardless of what their religious background is. If I'm doing that, then I am succeeding as a missionary.

It's been an amazing week! We have found new investigators, L & G who got baptized last Sunday were confirmed with Sunday and L got the Priesthood! D, Ju & Jo came to church! So did 2 less-active families that we are working with, both of which haven't been to church in many many years! We continue to see miracles all around us. I am so spoiled out here, and I really don't know how I'll ever pay back Heavenly Father for all of His blessings. Let's be honest... I really can't ever pay Him back. But I'm grateful to be doing what He wants me to be doing at this time in my life. Thank you for all of your love and prayers. I sure feel them! Keep going to church and doing the little things that keep you strong!

Love, Sister Ricks