This week
was fantastic! I mean like really good. I can testify that
exact obedience brings blessings. Wow this week was crazy! Tuesday
was a DAY OF EXACT OBEDIENCE!!! So we were trying to do everything exactly as
the white handbook outlines and it was
amazing and it wasn't that hard because we strive to be obedient
anyway!!
On Tuesday
we went back to K’s and had a great
discussion with her. We invited her to church and to read the Book of
Mormon. She didn't come to church but we're looking forward to seeing her on Tuesday!
Wednesday
was AHMAYZING! We went down to Chico for the
world wide missionary broadcast and oh my goodness!!! I don't have
words to describe how good it was. The theme was "Teach Repentance and Baptize
Converts" because that is our purpose as missionaries, to
teach repentance and help others make covenants.
Thursday we
went to C's and oh my goodness the Spirit was soooo strong, we taught some
of the first vision and testified of the Book of Mormon. We gave her a copy and
she said she would read it. We promised if she did, she would feel the peace
she's been searching for, it was amazing!!
Friday was
weekly planning and we went to the Discovery Shop which is always fun!!
Saturday
was oh my goodness so good. A little girl in our ward got baptized (child of
record) and we were asked to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. Oh my goodness it
was sooooo spiritual - I almost
cried … it was amazing. They sang I Am a Child
of God as a family and
the first verse was in English and the second verse in Japanese.
This gospel
is so special and so beautiful. I am grateful to be representative of Jesus Christ,
to be able to testify of him every day and help those I come into contact with
grow closer to him. In the broadcast, Neil L. Anderson said that if we kept
Christ on our lips, if we speak of Him then He will speak of us to the Father.
How beautiful is that?!
Ohh … something
that Elder Dallin H oaks said really stuck out to me. He said that "when a
person goes through the repentance process, they are not just cleansed from
sin, but are given strength to resist temptation and to continue to endure to
the end." I LOVE THAT! I know that, that is true!! I am so grateful for
the Atonement.
We spoke in
Sacrament meeting yesterday in the 5th Ward, so I'll put that at the bottom if anyone
wants to read it. Sister W, me and our AWESOME ward mission leader, Brother M,
spoke on missionary work. It was great and I actually really enjoyed preparing
the talk.
 |
| Sister Watson & Sister Gore |
|
Oh I stepped in Alpaca poop. It was DISGUSTING! We ate at a home and the family
has alpacas and I guess they pooped in the front yard.
I didn't even notice at first, I smelt something funny but thought
their dog slobbered on my skirt. Then when we got to the church, I was
about to take of my boots and saw it, oh my I almost threw up it took
FOREVER to get it all out and the smell is still lingering on my shoe
a little bit. I wasn’t happy. It's actually quite funny ….
Sister W was
ill the next night and went to sleep at 6:45 and I just
wrote my talk until it was time for bed. No worries she's all better now.
So Sunday we spoke and had a New Member lesson with Grace and
that went well. And now it's PDAY! So excited for this coming week. It's really
my last week of being a greenie, well I have two more weeks, but next week is
week 11 when I'm in charge of everything and the week twelve is kind of getting
into regular missionary mode! Which is CRAZY!!!! Can't believe this transfer is
almost over! It went by so fast.
Ohh and the hashtag this week comes from our ward mission leader! He texted us
that this week and I just loved it! Because that's what our
mission statement is, to help people connect to Heaven!! SO GOOD!!
Anyways I love you! The church is true and God loves you!
Sister Gore🙌🏻
This week
was fantastic! I mean like really good. I can testify that
exact obedience brings blessings. Wow this week was crazy! Tuesday
was a DAY OF EXACT OBEDIENCE!!! So we were trying to do everything exactly as
the white handbook outlines and it was
amazing and it wasn't that hard because we strive to be obedient
anyway!!
On Tuesday
we went back to Kathy’s and had a great
discussion with her. We invited her to church and to read the Book of
Mormon. She didn't come to church but we're looking forward to seeing her on Tuesday!
Wednesday
was AHMAYZING! We went down to Chico for the
world wide missionary broadcast and oh my goodness!!! I don't have
words to describe how good it was. The theme was "Teach Repentance and Baptize
Converts" because that is our purpose as missionaries, to
teach repentance and help others make covenants.
Thursday we
went to Cassie's and oh my goodness the Spirit was soooo strong, we taught some
of the first vision and testified of the Book of Mormon. We gave her a copy and
she said she would read it. We promised if she did, she would feel the peace
she's been searching for, it was amazing!!
Friday was
weekly planning and we went to the Discovery Shop which is always fun!!
Saturday
was oh my goodness so good. A little girl in our ward got baptized (child of
record) and we were asked to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. Oh my goodness it
was sooooo spiritual - I almost
cried … it was amazing. They sang I Am a Child
of God as a family and
the first verse was in English and the second verse in Japanese.
This gospel
is so special and so beautiful. I am grateful to be representative of Jesus Christ,
to be able to testify of him every day and help those I come into contact with
grow closer to him. In the broadcast, Neil L. Anderson said that if we kept
Christ on our lips, if we speak of Him then He will speak of us to the Father.
How beautiful is that?!
Ohh … something
that Elder Dallin H oaks said really stuck out to me. He said that "when a
person goes through the repentance process, they are not just cleansed from
sin, but are given strength to resist temptation and to continue to endure to
the end." I LOVE THAT! I know that, that is true!! I am so grateful for
the Atonement.
We spoke in
Sacrament meeting yesterday in the 5th Ward, so I'll put that at the bottom if anyone
wants to read it. Sister W, me and our AWESOME ward mission leader, Brother M,
spoke on missionary work. It was great and I actually really enjoyed preparing
the talk.
Oh I stepped in Alpaca poop. It was DISGUSTING! We ate at a home and the family
has alpacas and I guess they pooped in the front yard.
I didn't even notice at first, I smelt something funny but thought
their dog slobbered on my skirt. Then when we got to the church, I was
about to take of my boots and saw it, oh my I almost threw up it took
FOREVER to get it all out and the smell is still lingering on my shoe
a little bit. I wasn’t happy. It's actually quite funny ….
Sister W was
ill the next night and went to sleep at 6:45 and I just
wrote my talk until it was time for bed. No worries she's all better now.
So Sunday we spoke and had a New Member lesson with Grace and
that went well. And now it's PDAY! So excited for this coming week. It's really
my last week of being a greenie, well I have two more weeks, but next week is
week 11 when I'm in charge of everything and the week twelve is kind of getting
into regular missionary mode! Which is CRAZY!!!! Can't believe this transfer is
almost over! It went by so fast.
Ohh and the hashtag this week comes from our ward mission leader! He texted us
that this week and I just loved it! Because that's what our
mission statement is, to help people connect to Heaven!! SO GOOD!!
Anyways I love you! The church is true and God loves you!
Sister Gore🙌🏻
Talk on Missionary Work:
We were asked to speak about missionary work. So I thought I'd start
of by kind of explaining why I chose to come on mission. I wanted to be
obedient to what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. I never wanted to
serve a mission, I was honestly afraid of it, so I figured I'd go
to college and get married just so that I wouldn't have to go. So I
went to BYU-Idaho thinking that no one makes it out of there single … well I
soon learned that’s not that hard to do. I was also
surprised that my desire to get married decreased while my desire to
serve a mission increased. Some of my friends were returned
missionaries and I saw what a difference serving a mission made in their lives,
so long story short, I gave into Heavenly Fathers will and here I am.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you thing of
missionary work? Sharing the gospel. That's it. It's actually pretty
simple. It is being an example of Jesus Christ, and helping others
come closer to him. So what is the how? Well let's look at Christ's
attributes. If we are to be examples of him we need to know what He
is like. Some of them are, Charity, humility, hope, love, patience,
kindness, etc. As baptized members of his church, we have covenanted with our
Heavenly Father to be an example of Christ, keep his
commandments and to serve him. The Lord has commanded that we preach the gospel
to all nations, kindred, tongues and people. Now that
sounds pretty daunting, but it's actually not as hard as you'd
think. As we pray for missionary opportunities with a sincere heart and
a willingness to obey, the Lord will help us be ready to share the
gospel and help those who are searching for truth. I have found that
everything comes back to the things we learn in primary. We all know
what they are and I know that I used to take them for granted, go to
church, pray daily and read the scriptures. In Doctrine & Covenants
11:21 "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek
to obtain my word,
and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall
have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing
of men." As we are studying and continually doing the things we need
to strengthen our testimonies, the Lord promises that He will help
us share the gospel. But first we must do our part and prepare
ourselves.
As full time missionaries we have a purpose statement that we recite
when we meet together, it states: My missionary 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 Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
I wanna talk
about some of these points. First, that we are to invite others to come unto
Christ. Our job is to give others the opportunity to use their agency and
choose to follow Heavenly Fathers commandments. We do this through teaching the
doctrine of Christ, when we teach doctrine, the spirit is invited to be the
real teacher and testifier, we are the instruments and we just have to set up
an environment for that to take place. We must be worthy of the Spirit and be
prepared and willing to share. Second, repentance, baptism or renewing our
covenants by partaking of the sacrament each week, receiving the Holy Ghost
which includes, keeping ourselves worthy to have the spirit with us, are all components
of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. You may ask yourselves where can I find this?
I'll tell you. It's the Book of Mormon. I have come to know, especially from
sharing it, that the Book of Mormon has real power. It is true, it is real. It
is the word of God and it changes the hearts of men. It changes lives. It has
changed mine. I can feel my Savior’s love for me when I read it, it makes me
want to be better and helps me know how I can. And I can promise you that if
you will read it, that you will have peace, if something is missing in your
life, you will find it. When I want to talk to God, I pray, when
I want Him to talk to me, I read the scriptures. I am grateful for
this beautiful book. Third, endure to the end. Sometimes this is the
hardest one. We must be continually working to strengthen our
testimonies and apply the atonement in our lives daily. As we do this,
we will be coming closer to Christ ourselves. As a result, we will
have the desire to help others feel that peace and happiness that we
feel because of the teachings of the gospel. In Preach my gospel it
says; "What does the Atonement have to do with missionary work? Any
time we experience the blessings of the Atonement in our lives, we
cannot help but have a concern for the welfare of others. … A great
indicator of one’s personal conversion is the desire to share the
gospel with others.”
This past week there was a worldwide missionary broadcast. We were
given instruction on how we can be more effective missionaries.
Something that Elder Dallin H. Oaks said really stuck out to me. He
said "We are called to serve, to help people receive the ordinances
and covenants to reside in the Celestial Kingdom. We are teaching the
fullness of the gospel by priesthood power, no other church or
religion can do this." As missionaries, we aren't just sharing the
gospel so people can be happy or will gain a testimony, although that
is a result, we are preaching the gospel to help people make covenants
so they can dwell in the Celestial Kingdom with their families and our
Heavenly Father forever. We have a song that we sometimes listen to in our car
and it has snippets from different talks on missionary work.
One of them says "today is the day that eternity changes, for today is
the day that I walk with God." We are literally changing lives for the
better when we decide to follow Heavenly Father and help others do the same.
One of my favorite pictures is of Christ grinning from ear to
ear, embracing a young man. It's by David Bowman and it's entitled
"Home" and on the back of the picture it says; "Someday it will
happen. You and I will find ourselves face to face with the Savior. What will it
be like? What will his embrace feel like? I believe we will experience a love
unlike anything we've ever felt before. He will hold us tight as we smile,
laugh, and cry together.
Jesus knows us personally and perfectly. He has been with us through
every trial and triumph in our lives. He is the sure foundation we
have built our lives upon. And at last, we will be reunited. We will
finally be Home. And in that embrace, may we each one of us ever be
greeted with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make the ruler over many
things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord." (Matthew 25:23)
I know that this how I want to live my life and I want to help others
to come to know the joys of the gospel and the promised blessings of
following the Lord and enduring to the end. I am grateful for my
savior who makes it possible for me to be forgiven and clean of my
sins and that through him I can be with my family forever.
I am very grateful for my parents they were amazing examples to me of
member missionaries. My dad was always looking for ways that he could serve
others and share the gospel. He was very handy around the house and yard, so
when he noticed someone fixing the roof or shoveling their driveway or mowing
the lawn, he was always asking if he could help. No matter what they said he
would always try to have a gospel conversation with them. It did not come
easily or naturally to him, he honestly was afraid of embarrassing himself, but
he prayed for help and guidance, and as the opportunities came he was willing
to follow the spirit. No one has been baptized because of his efforts but I
know that seeds have been planted. I was reminded of this scripture in
Doctrine & Covenants 100:5-6 "Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift
up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put
into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;6 For it
shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye
shall say. As we pray for opportunities and trust in the Lord, our
mouths will be filled in that very moment. When we exercise faith and
are obedient, miracles happen. I have seen so many just in these two
short months.
One experience that I'll never forget is when we're trying to see a
less active member who had actually moved. We went back feeling prompted to
talk to the lady who now lived at the apartment. She wasn't home so we got back
in the car. We really weren't sure what to do, but I had this overwhelming
feeling we needed to get back out of the car. We didn't know who we would talk
to but we got out of the car trusting the Lord.
We hadn't even walked two feet, when a man approached us and started asking us
questions. We were able to invite him and his girlfriend to church and give
them a copy of the Book of Mormon. I don't know what came of it, but I am
grateful for that experience because it showed me that when we are willing to
open our mouths, they will be filled.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Talk on Missionary Work:
We were asked to speak about missionary work. So I thought I'd start
of by kind of explaining why I chose to come on mission. I wanted to be
obedient to what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. I never wanted to
serve a mission, I was honestly afraid of it, so I figured I'd go
to college and get married just so that I wouldn't have to go. So I
went to BYU-Idaho thinking that no one makes it out of there single … well I
soon learned that’s not that hard to do. I was also
surprised that my desire to get married decreased while my desire to
serve a mission increased. Some of my friends were returned
missionaries and I saw what a difference serving a mission made in their lives,
so long story short, I gave into Heavenly Fathers will and here I am.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you thing of
missionary work? Sharing the gospel. That's it. It's actually pretty
simple. It is being an example of Jesus Christ, and helping others
come closer to him. So what is the how? Well let's look at Christ's
attributes. If we are to be examples of him we need to know what He
is like. Some of them are, Charity, humility, hope, love, patience,
kindness, etc. As baptized members of his church, we have covenanted with our
Heavenly Father to be an example of Christ, keep his
commandments and to serve him. The Lord has commanded that we preach the gospel
to all nations, kindred, tongues and people. Now that
sounds pretty daunting, but it's actually not as hard as you'd
think. As we pray for missionary opportunities with a sincere heart and
a willingness to obey, the Lord will help us be ready to share the
gospel and help those who are searching for truth. I have found that
everything comes back to the things we learn in primary. We all know
what they are and I know that I used to take them for granted, go to
church, pray daily and read the scriptures. In Doctrine & Covenants
11:21 "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek
to obtain my word,
and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall
have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing
of men." As we are studying and continually doing the things we need
to strengthen our testimonies, the Lord promises that He will help
us share the gospel. But first we must do our part and prepare
ourselves.
As full time missionaries we have a purpose statement that we recite
when we meet together, it states: My missionary 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 Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
I wanna talk
about some of these points. First, that we are to invite others to come unto
Christ. Our job is to give others the opportunity to use their agency and
choose to follow Heavenly Fathers commandments. We do this through teaching the
doctrine of Christ, when we teach doctrine, the spirit is invited to be the
real teacher and testifier, we are the instruments and we just have to set up
an environment for that to take place. We must be worthy of the Spirit and be
prepared and willing to share. Second, repentance, baptism or renewing our
covenants by partaking of the sacrament each week, receiving the Holy Ghost
which includes, keeping ourselves worthy to have the spirit with us, are all components
of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. You may ask yourselves where can I find this?
I'll tell you. It's the Book of Mormon. I have come to know, especially from
sharing it, that the Book of Mormon has real power. It is true, it is real. It
is the word of God and it changes the hearts of men. It changes lives. It has
changed mine. I can feel my Savior’s love for me when I read it, it makes me
want to be better and helps me know how I can. And I can promise you that if
you will read it, that you will have peace, if something is missing in your
life, you will find it. When I want to talk to God, I pray, when
I want Him to talk to me, I read the scriptures. I am grateful for
this beautiful book. Third, endure to the end. Sometimes this is the
hardest one. We must be continually working to strengthen our
testimonies and apply the atonement in our lives daily. As we do this,
we will be coming closer to Christ ourselves. As a result, we will
have the desire to help others feel that peace and happiness that we
feel because of the teachings of the gospel. In Preach my gospel it
says; "What does the Atonement have to do with missionary work? Any
time we experience the blessings of the Atonement in our lives, we
cannot help but have a concern for the welfare of others. … A great
indicator of one’s personal conversion is the desire to share the
gospel with others.”
This past week there was a worldwide missionary broadcast. We were
given instruction on how we can be more effective missionaries.
Something that Elder Dallin H. Oaks said really stuck out to me. He
said "We are called to serve, to help people receive the ordinances
and covenants to reside in the Celestial Kingdom. We are teaching the
fullness of the gospel by priesthood power, no other church or
religion can do this." As missionaries, we aren't just sharing the
gospel so people can be happy or will gain a testimony, although that
is a result, we are preaching the gospel to help people make covenants
so they can dwell in the Celestial Kingdom with their families and our
Heavenly Father forever. We have a song that we sometimes listen to in our car
and it has snippets from different talks on missionary work.
One of them says "today is the day that eternity changes, for today is
the day that I walk with God." We are literally changing lives for the
better when we decide to follow Heavenly Father and help others do the same.
One of my favorite pictures is of Christ grinning from ear to
ear, embracing a young man. It's by David Bowman and it's entitled
"Home" and on the back of the picture it says; "Someday it will
happen. You and I will find ourselves face to face with the Savior. What will it
be like? What will his embrace feel like? I believe we will experience a love
unlike anything we've ever felt before. He will hold us tight as we smile,
laugh, and cry together.
Jesus knows us personally and perfectly. He has been with us through
every trial and triumph in our lives. He is the sure foundation we
have built our lives upon. And at last, we will be reunited. We will
finally be Home. And in that embrace, may we each one of us ever be
greeted with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make the ruler over many
things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord." (Matthew 25:23)
I know that this how I want to live my life and I want to help others
to come to know the joys of the gospel and the promised blessings of
following the Lord and enduring to the end. I am grateful for my
savior who makes it possible for me to be forgiven and clean of my
sins and that through him I can be with my family forever.
I am very grateful for my parents they were amazing examples to me of
member missionaries. My dad was always looking for ways that he could serve
others and share the gospel. He was very handy around the house and yard, so
when he noticed someone fixing the roof or shoveling their driveway or mowing
the lawn, he was always asking if he could help. No matter what they said he
would always try to have a gospel conversation with them. It did not come
easily or naturally to him, he honestly was afraid of embarrassing himself, but
he prayed for help and guidance, and as the opportunities came he was willing
to follow the spirit. No one has been baptized because of his efforts but I
know that seeds have been planted. I was reminded of this scripture in
Doctrine & Covenants 100:5-6 "Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift
up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put
into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;6 For it
shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye
shall say. As we pray for opportunities and trust in the Lord, our
mouths will be filled in that very moment. When we exercise faith and
are obedient, miracles happen. I have seen so many just in these two
short months.
One experience that I'll never forget is when we're trying to see a
less active member who had actually moved. We went back feeling prompted to
talk to the lady who now lived at the apartment. She wasn't home so we got back
in the car. We really weren't sure what to do, but I had this overwhelming
feeling we needed to get back out of the car. We didn't know who we would talk
to but we got out of the car trusting the Lord.
We hadn't even walked two feet, when a man approached us and started asking us
questions. We were able to invite him and his girlfriend to church and give
them a copy of the Book of Mormon. I don't know what came of it, but I am
grateful for that experience because it showed me that when we are willing to
open our mouths, they will be filled.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
