Hey all!
I've gotten a lot of mail this week, the district leader and some other Leadership peeps went to Halifax for a day and came back with my mail! so that was good to see the things that you'd sent before I learned my NF address. I'll work on replying to those today so that you can stop thinking I'm a terrible person, who never replies to her mail.
so then there was this one time when we were teaching two really awesome and interested children of god. each were found separately and each is learning and growing in their knowledge and testimonies of the gospel at their own rate. they both have a Muslim background, both are insanely smart, have PhD's in pharmaceuticals and masters in nanotechnology and whatnot, and both happen to be from Iran. this was all fine and good until one of them brought up the concern when we asked him if he was considering baptism, that if he doesn't get permanent residency in Canada and has to go back to Iran, (which in all honesty would happen because his family lives there) then he would almost undoubtedly be shot and killed. Martyrdom is great. haha just kidding no it's not. so then we asked our other investigator what his knowledge was of this and he was like "yeah, I know the consequence. Death. But it's not about You. it is about you're responsibility to God." so we asked the mission president what to do. because we have no intention of sending people to their death. he called up the line of church authority and found that we are advised to not even teach people from Iran, because we're not supposed to baptize them, and just waving the benefits of the gospel in front of their noses while withholding the ability to participate would just be cruel.
so now we have an investigator who has a solid testimony that Jesus Christ is his savior, keeps the commandments, and is ready to hop in the baptismal font without us, and we aren't even supposed to be teaching him. like at all. and President hasn't yet told us what to do. so I'm stressed. it's great. and he hangs out with the YSA Girls. and Victoria is openly flirting with him. and he might not be able to be baptized. and I don't know what to do. I'm hoping that something will happen, somehow they'll be given a route to citizenship or something, because everything I've learned about Christ so far would suggest that he would not prepare the hearts of these people so well, without having a plan for their happiness. so that's happening.
but on another note, we had a pretty cool experience in church this Sunday. one of the former investigators from mount pearl came to church, and sat in on the Gospel Principles class on baptism. she's been coming to church off and on and her parents are Mormon, but she was never baptized. toward the end she had an epiphany that was better described later in relief society. she'd said that she had been having a lot of trouble trying to make ends meet, and last night that from a little extra money she had she could have gone out for a night of dancing but instead decided to stay in and read (later revealed that she'd read her scriptures.) the next morning she woke up in time to make it to church which apparently never happens (and also had time to get a Tim Horton coffee on the way which she then sipped through sacrament, but little steps.) while waiting in the parking lot she had the money that she had the night before and decided that she should pay tithing. as she decided how much to give, she came to an amount that gave her peace, knowing that she wouldn't have enough probably to pay bills. and turned it in. as a result she gained a spiritual witness to an answer that she'd been looking for for more than 25 years. she said and I actually found it quite profound, "I get it now! I've always had concerns about the authority, but now it makes sense. Women were given the ability to create life, and Men were given to cleanse it." of course she was much more dramatic than the text sounds, because she's got more blackitude than most Mississippians. but it is always cool to see someone else's testimony grow, and gain that witness yourself as well.
but on another note, we had a pretty cool experience in church this Sunday. one of the former investigators from mount pearl came to church, and sat in on the Gospel Principles class on baptism. she's been coming to church off and on and her parents are Mormon, but she was never baptized. toward the end she had an epiphany that was better described later in relief society. she'd said that she had been having a lot of trouble trying to make ends meet, and last night that from a little extra money she had she could have gone out for a night of dancing but instead decided to stay in and read (later revealed that she'd read her scriptures.) the next morning she woke up in time to make it to church which apparently never happens (and also had time to get a Tim Horton coffee on the way which she then sipped through sacrament, but little steps.) while waiting in the parking lot she had the money that she had the night before and decided that she should pay tithing. as she decided how much to give, she came to an amount that gave her peace, knowing that she wouldn't have enough probably to pay bills. and turned it in. as a result she gained a spiritual witness to an answer that she'd been looking for for more than 25 years. she said and I actually found it quite profound, "I get it now! I've always had concerns about the authority, but now it makes sense. Women were given the ability to create life, and Men were given to cleanse it." of course she was much more dramatic than the text sounds, because she's got more blackitude than most Mississippians. but it is always cool to see someone else's testimony grow, and gain that witness yourself as well.
so basically, life is normal, I guess? I'll write everyone back as best I can today, and hopefully you will get letters soonish. and by that I mean a couple of weeks. the post is slow on the rock.
Love
Kelsey
No comments:
Post a Comment