8/19/2013

Woo!

Hey y'all, what's going down?! For some reason 'y'all' has been my favorite word today, which is weird, because I'm pretty far from Texas in both mind and location...but whatever. How you doin?! This week has been a lot of fun. Read about it below!

An Update:

Sister Wayman and I have had a great week. I love her. She is completely grudge-free and never takes things personally...heaven knows what I'll do next time I get a really sensitive companion...;P But this transfer has really been a blessing and a lot of fun. Jessica, our on-date investigator is still progressing towards baptism, though she wasn't at church last week. Heather was though, to our surprise. We love her, and hope she gives up smoking soon.

An Experience:

The most incredible blessing of this week was talking to this guy named Z (or Andrew Zinkland, as he occasionally goes by). Z is rough. Tattoo'd up and down his arms, has a serious past history with both drugs and the law, and has a scowl to rival the devil. Funny thing is, he's a member and he's active. He's at like every activity, at church every Sunday...but most of the time he sits out in the foyer and looks so angry, like you wouldn't want to touch him with a ten-foot pole...still, we've been talking to him, and had this running joke going about how to be chill, not super super missionary-giddy as per the usual...BUT. This last Tuesday, out of the blue he asks to meet with us. His brother says something big has happened, and we're majorly...I don't know, just weirded out; didn't know what was going on. We met with him though, at 7:45 at McCollum Park...and he proceeds to tell us of his miraculous history with the Gospel; how he's been changing the past few weeks and has had some crazy communication with Heavenly Father that has served to heal some wounds of the past he thought would never go away. It's incredible. Since having told us that, he's been changing so fast. He's given us referrals for his friends, come to Outreach, read his scriptures every night, and even wore a shirt and tie to church on Sunday. Besides that, his countenance has changed; his face has really opened up, and he's opening up to others...it's incredible to see the spirit work in him and the transformation that's taking place. I know we're not responsible for it, but it's a serious blessing to witness.

A Thought:

My thoughts aren't really organizing themselves into one coherent thing this week, so I'll just share the end of the 13th article of faith, which I love:

"If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

I love this. You can really tell the difference between good and bad in your life; between that which invites you to do good, spend your time well, love God and love and bless others, and that which encourages you to keep to yourself, become isolated, and care not for God or anyone else (Moroni 7:16-17). Pursue those things which encourage you to do good. Take a chance and say yes to an opportunity to serve someone or learn something delicious, because all these things will increase the presence of the Spirit in your life, and bring you to that much more joy. Plus your life will become a whirlwind adventure of taking advantage of every opportunity; pleasant side-effect.

I love you so much! Please don't hesitate to write as well. One of those service opportunities that will bring you joy, I promise. ;)

Love,

Sister Hale