September 11, 2012

Sister Dransfield, my wonderful companion, had to get oral surgery this week and we traveled about 45 min to get there. While we waited though, we talked to this wonderful man. He is in the Army and has a wife and daughter. We were both scared to start a conversation with him and didn't know quite how to do it, but I couldn't handle not listening to the Spirit, so I started with "how are you?". And he was very open and kind. We somehow got to religion. He is Protestant and is so excited about his first daughter. We wrote him a little note and gave him our Article of Faith card.

Anyway, the Song we sang was special because Sister Dransfield invited a man to come listen who has been trying to come back to church and just moved to Nauvoo, and he came! He said it was beautiful and he wanted his daughters to grow up and have the faith that we 12 sisters showed as we sang in dressed in white. :)

Oh, I was so surprised to see Serena, Lex and Lily. The thought crossed my mind that Minn was close enough that they could make the trip, but I didn't think they would because of cost and time. It really meant a lot to me for them to come. Lily is HUGE! And so different, but still her. I could hardly recognize this large kid in Lily's body sitting in the stroller. haha! It was a wonderful surprise.

Well, something new we started last week is called: "Angels in the Outbound". This is to help prepare us for the outbound where we will be teaching lessons. We have one or two appointments set up each night with the Senior Couple missionaries in their home. They take on the pre-selected role of an investigator and we young sisters teach. Last week it was all the Restoration, this week it is the Plan of Salvation, next week is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are encouraged to teach the lesson, but also teach according to where the Spirit leads us and the need of the investigator. We are to teach people not lessons. I have come to realize how very important it is to have the Spirit with you. This is great practice.

I was teaching with Sister Mitchell, one of my FAVORITE sisters here. She is hard-working, selfless and super obedient. And I was doing the 1st Vision and she stopped me right before I was going to recite Joseph's own words and said, "And Sister Zibetti is going to sign it for ya." I looked at her and said, "As Sister Mitchell recites it." She recited some of the most powerful words in this Gospel as I interpreted the 1st Vision.

Maricela--the missionary who was playing an Investigator--had tears streaming down her face when we finished with "This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him."

It was a wonderful experience and I actually felt useful and like I can kinda follow the Spirit in teaching, because the lesson before, I didn't feel very useful. Sometimes ya just don't know what to say. But when you act, the Spirit directs and helps. He never leaves you without help if you go forth with faith and are worthy of Him.

On Friday I was paired up with one of my old companions Sister Brown. We were both very scared because we were to teach President and Sister Gilliland! I was quite nervous because we all KNOW how much they'd get into character and make it real for us. Well, they did, and it turned out to be a really great experience. In the lesson, I likened the importance of going church to going to the store. If you want pickles, you can't just sit around in your house and expect them to show up without you doing anything about it. What do you have to do? Go to the store. It is the same with going to church. If you want to receive the Spirit and happiness, you've got to go to the Lord's house where he is and come with an open heart and you can receive. So we committed them to going to church with an "open jar of pickles". haha. It worked and they said they'd try.

The President and Matron of the Nauvoo Temple, the Condies, did a sociable, like a fireside, on Sunday. It was amazing. Sister Condie grew up in Germany and lived through World War II. When people ask how old she was, she responds, "I was old enough to remember". She explained and demonstrated to us that although hard and awful things happen to people, God is still and forever will be more powerful than the destroyer.