More work, more blessings


This week was chalk full of miracles. Elder Smith and I kept having to bike up the hills in our area for lessons and to go finding, so we were dead tires every single day. For every dinner and lunch time, we eat as fast as possible and then take a short nap if we can. Even with how tired I was, every awesome spiritual experience kept giving me energy and getting me through the day. 

Elder Smith and I had a few conversations that started off with the people saying they don't want anything to do with us or just didn't seem interested, but we were able to share a message with them, and seeing their eyes light up and smiles come to their faces was awesome. One specific one was when a lady told us she didn't want to talk about Joseph Smith when she answered the door, but we were able to share what our church is about and clear up things she had heard from other churches, and she got so much more excited and happier, and now we have a lesson with her next week! 

Something that was a little hard was a family moving out of our ward we were teaching, and a referral that wanted to be baptized ended up not being in our ward, so we had to refer him to the ward next to us. I love those Elders, but they're pretty much getting 5 baptisms from us. I'm really excited for those people, but not being the one to help them reach baptism can be a bit hard. Something I've had to think about is that this is all the Lord's work and that we should be happy to help all the other areas around us and all those we see in any way we can. I'm still trying to develop those Christ-like attributes and treat others as he would and being a missionary has already helped me see and love so many people more like he would. After seeing some other parts of this area, I question why I've ever complained about anything in this life. Seeing the gospel light up these people's lives truly is amazing. 

When I first got to this area, Elder Smith and I were teaching maybe 2 people, and now we're teaching 15! The Lord works miracles with his servants, no matter where they are. I've seen for myself that no area is a "dead area" and that there are always people to teach and serve and love. Dale loves meeting with us and is preparing to be baptized, and he wants his wife to meet with us too. The members in our ward are awesome at welcoming those we teach at church and activities and have helped us in meeting and teaching these people so much. They have really made me realize how much better a missionary I could have been before I left on my mission. The love our ward has for everyone they meet is so apparent, they are missionaries just as much as we are. 

Something that came to my mind a lot this week was charity, the pure love of Christ. Focusing on how I am loving and being charitable to those around me has really helped me get through tired days and to get excited about this great work. Many of the people we are teaching said that they were interested in our church because of the charity their friends that were members of our church had for everyone they knew. We are always examples to those around us, sometimes being a good example can be the best kind of missionary work to someone watching us. I know that I have had so much more success as I have tried to love those we teach and see them as Christ would see them. Everyone on earth is a son or daughter of God, and we should be striving to always treat them as such. 
 
T'chau! Eu amo voces!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Fletcher.madsen@missionary.org
https://fletchermadsen.blogspot.com/


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