well....the end of the week was freezing! I forgot to mention that two weeks ago....it snowed! yes folks...it was more like chunks of slush though haha..anyways....
We started off the week by taking an adventure to the temple! it was so beautiful and warm :) the temple had a nativity scene set up too and the leaves were kinda like New England leaves..COLORFUL!
The highlight of the week was an event called Journey Through Bethlehem...It was organized by many churches in the Huntsville community and we got to help out! It took place on some fair grounds so we spent most of Thursday setting up and it was a two night thing...Basically, we create Bethlehem with all of the shops and everything...It starts out with the people paying a "tax" and you'd be put into a big group of people..Shepherds would lead you from place to place..Most of the actors were actually from our ward..King Herod was definitely my favorite :) Then an angel comes out and announces the birth of the Savior and these two women from a baptist church sang Silent Night and Mary Did You Know..One of them is the next Beyonce...I'm serious! She was so amazing..I wish that I could have listened to her sing all night! So then the shepherds lead them through Bethlehem and everyone is dressed up as if we were in that time period. The best part was Mary and Joseph...They needed a Mary and Joseph at the last second and the director saw Elder Smith and Sister Hosking standing around so he came up to them and was like, "Go be Mary and Joseph!" and shoved a toy doll in Sister Hosking's arms!
Oi...it was sooo cold! I looked like a marshmallow because I put every piece of warm clothing that I owned on!
The miracle of JTB was this: after the friday night show happened...the director came up to sister Hosking and said, "When this is through, I'd like to sit down and learn about what you believe in..I've read the Book of Mormon." WHAT?! this guy is the minister for the Methodist church! We weren't allowed to proselyted or wear our name tags, he must noticed something different about us because he knew that we were LDS!
Jo Ann made us dinner one night which we were all surprised about because she had HEART SURGERY! The doctor told her that she's not allowed to raise her arm for six weeks....and that there's just one wire between her and Heavenly Father....if she lifts her arm, she'll be gone before the ambulence gets to her home..Instead of sharing a message with her, we asked her if she'd be willing to share one..She didn't skip a beat! She pulled out the conference issue of the ensign and started reading parts that she loved. Ah. I love that woman. She's such an amazing example to us all! I cannot believe that she has only been a member since August! When sister hosking found out..she thought that Jo Ann had been a member for her entire life!
We saw Maria last night..she made us a mexican dish called posole..i don't really know how to describe it..it was kinda like a soup....but it was soo good! I can't wait to make it for yall someday! She and her husband asked, "So what kind of rules do we have to follow in order to join your church?" Ha...They're golden and so ready!
Yesterday was wonderful...I've really grown to love sundays even more now that I'm a missionary...It's the best day of the week! At first, the thought of sitting through six hours of church sounded insane but in reality, I freaking love it! it's like i'm getting my batteries recharged every week! Krystin Ulassin was confirmed wahooo!!!!
At the YSA branch, a high council member spoke and yes..i know that everyone's first thought is oh boy something to put me to sleep! but in reality, he was amazing..In fact, he was my EFY director when I went to EFY in New Hampshire! Small world, right? Anyways, he related Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life to our lives...At the beginning of the dream, Lehi sees a man dressed in white and the man tells him to follow him. Well, the man took him into the wilderness "for the space of many hours"...If I were Lehi, I would've probably thought this man was crazy..So it took him hours just to reach the point where he could see the tree..His thought was probably, "I made it!". But in reality, he had a much harder trial to go through with everyone taunting him from the great and spacious building...The speaker told us that throughout our lives, there are many crucial events that happen and we can sometimes think that when those events arrive, we've reached the promised land. He related this to being a missionary..You wait for months for that envelope and the day finally comes when you can open it and read: Texas Houston Mission. Promised land! Then you enter the wilderness of waiting for the MTC, the "real" promised land. You arrive at the MTC and realize that the journey has just begun. Finally, you leave and land in Texas...okay, this is really the promised land! Ha. No. Now you begin to travel through the dark wilderness. This mission is hard but seeing people come to the Savior, that is the delicious fruit from the tree of life.
You finish your mission and expect marriage, kids, etc to be the promised land when in reality, we live our entire life in the wilderness..We reach the promised land, the tree of life when we reach the Celestial Kingdom. Our lives are a test. Yes, they're hard but we can still taste of the fruit of the tree of life by following the Savior.
The brother then shared a personal story of how his son was engaged to a convert, in fact, she was the only member in her family. Her family was VERY opposed to the church and tried to do everything to prevent the temple wedding from happening. On the day of the wedding, her father dropped her off at the temple wearing a tank top and shorts and said to her, "Have a nice life!" and drove away..She still walked through those doors and proceeded to be sealed to her eternal companion for time and all eternity. After the sealing, the sealer said to her and her husband,"I feel impressed to tell you that your children are here with us and they are rejoicing that they are going to be born under the covenant (sealed to their parents)." The sealer turned to the wife and said, "The day will soon come when you and your family will all be gathered in a sealing room like this." She bursted into tears (as would I...)..They walked out the doors of the temple and waiting for her was her ENTIRE family dressed for the ocassion. Wow! Talk about a change of heart!
A few years later, the entire family had the opportunity to take a tour of the Houston Temple for the open house..The groups were so large that they couldn't fit everyone into one sealing room. So they split the group into three, one for each sealing room. Somehow, the family stayed together and it was just them in a group. They were able to all entire into a sealing room and be there together..Hugs and tears were exchanged and the wife and her husband had the opportunity to share their testimonies of eternal families.
The family hasn't joined the church yet but they are very close..All of this was possible because that girl had the courage to join the church and overcome the challenges placed before her.
Take courage my friends!
Sister Gregson has a saying written by her bed it says, "THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING!"
Well family, THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING!
There are people all around you, waiting to hear the gospel. It has been restored once again to this earth through a living prophet!
the church is true yall.
Love,
Hermana Emma Seymour
No comments:
Post a Comment