It was an exciting week!
We had Zone Training on Tuesday--- the Appleton Zone is on Fire!
This is a picture of our district. The Sheboygan ward has a tradition of matching at zone training meetings. haha So we chose green this time!! Also- the Elders are not standing by their right companions so don't think that they are together.
(The Asian one is with the one with glasses- Elder Vang and Elder Stegner -Hmong-
& The Hispanic one is with the tall one- Elder CriSanto -our district leader- and Elder Casagranda -he came out with me and has been in Sheboygan for all 7 months! whoah. They are the Spanish Elders.)
The Appleton & Milwaukee North (my last zone) are the top two zones in the mission! I am so grateful to be with such hard working missionaries. It's fun having so many missionary friends now- I go to meetings and have something to talk about with almost everyone! As oppose to at the beginning of your mission when you only know your companion! haha
We have had a lot of great lessons this week with people who haven't been to church in years!
We pray that what we say might help them to recognize the spirit. And then we ask people questions that get them to think about when they felt the spirit... we ask them about their conversion to the gospel! Many of them open up. They tell us their concerns and then we address them by teaching simple truths.
We have return appointments with a couple of these people this upcoming week!! Whoot Whoot!
There was someone who spoke about this in church- he said,
"Think back on: WHEN YOU KNEW FOR SURE. If that memory is fading, read and listen to the experiences of others."
(The scriptures contain many conversion stories, Mormon Messages, the experiences of Family & Friends, etc.)
I am so excited that General Conference is around the corner!
Can you believe it's been 6 months again? Que en el mundo?!
The General Women's Meeting is on September 27th--- the day before my birthday &... DANIELLE'S BAPTISM!!
She's getting baptized in Arizona!! She just emailed me about it and apparently Sister Westra (my trainer) is going!
I can't wait to hear details- but what an awesome birthday present!!
Phew.
I couldn't believe it! :)
I love this quote.
"Take Heart. Pure Christlike love flowing from true righteousness can change the world." -Elder Jeffery R. Holland-
It changed Danielle's world.
& in turn, she changed mine!
It's pretty cool how it works.
Miracle Minute:
I have 2 mini-miracle stories!
#1. We had interviews with President on Friday! He brought with him- the spirit, a lot of great advice, and cookies from Sister Cutler!!
What he said I really needed to hear, "Sister Osmond... You can be diligent without being overzealous."
hmmm... It sounded familiar. (Like something my parents may have told me before!) :)
Because of my health I had been asking the question all week, "Am I doing enough for this area?"
What President said brought me a lot of peace...
I know that if "[We] have desires to serve God we are called to the work." -D&C 4-
& as long as we are putting the Lord first and doing our best- everything works out the way it needs to. So don't stress! Worrying is unproductive. haha
Whenever I am tired during the day and I say a little prayer that I will have the strength to do what needs to be done that day and every time I do I see a butterfly... No Joke!
It's been crazy!! It all started with us pulling up to our apartment for lunch and right outside our car door was a Monarch! (We named him Marvin, took him inside- he couldn't fly very well, it was a freezing day! notice the parka-, & taught him the gospel! -the How to Begin Teaching points on page 176 of PMG, Fun Fact: President Packer wrote those! haha
We set him free the next day, it was warm outside! I bet he's with his friends in Mexico right now- that's where someone told us they migrate.
We helped him to see his potential and then he flew off Strong!! :) We learned a fun little lesson from Marvin.
2nd miracle... Blue shirt guy. This is a story about how the tiniest of promptings are from our Heavenly Father! He wants us to have joy in this life! Okay? Get this...
We were driving down the street about 10 days ago and I noticed a random guy in a blue shirt sitting on his porch smoking a cigarette.
As we continued to drive down the street I felt like we needed to talk to him.
"But he's way back there!?" ..my mind said to me.
"But we need to talk to him!" ..was the answer to that.
So I said it out loud.
"Sister Milligan, I don't know why- but I really feel like that guy in the blue shirt needs to talk to us!"
*I've learned that it's so important to vocalize promptings because then your real friends will help you follow them!
She asked, "What guy? Should I turn around?"
I said, "Yes!!"
So we went back. & there he was!
But he was on his phone. & Just think about this: How receptive do you think he would be to us if we walked up to him while he was talking on the phone?
We would have done it but after we prayed we didn't feel like it was too urgent. So we wrote down his address and stopped by a couple days later... no one was home.
Then- a couple more days later we were driving down his street.. I thought, "Let's go see blue shirt guy! ...but maybe I'm just thinking this because we're driving down his street."
So I vocalized it. SO IMPORTANT. Because Sister Milligan had just had the same conversation in her head as well!
"...maybe I'm just thinking this because we're driving down his street."
I learned an awesome lesson that day!
Don't talk yourself out of promptings! That good thought popped into your head for a reason!
So we parked, walked up to his door, and I felt like we should start out talking to him about the Book of Mormon- which we never do!
We always start out with a Mormon.org card or a Family History card leading into the Book of Mormon. Nope. When the Spirit tells you to do something- you do it!
He answers the door!!
Blue Shirt Guy= Kyle.
His wife Kayla came to the door with their daughter Kadence. (This was perfect- the whole family was there. The reason why we needed to wait!)
I say to Kyle: "We are here to talk to you about the Book of Mormon and how it can help your family."
Kyle proceeds to tell us that he was given a Book of Mormon by his Mormon friend 2 years ago- but he lost it!
So we whip one out of our bag and he said, "You're just going to replace my Book of Mormon?"
Yes Kyle, We are. haha They are also looking for a church and are the nicest people! As we talked to them on their porch, we felt like we had known them our whole lives.
There's no way we would have found such a prepared person had we not followed Heavenly Father's guidance!!
& It brought us so much joy!!
AMAZING!! We said a little "Hallelujah prayer" in the car thanking Him for such a cool experience!
I can't wait to go and teach their family this week!!
REMEMBER: It's not "just you".... It's from Heavenly Father if it's prompting you to do a good thing!
& You'll never regret following it. :)
[ETHER 4:11]
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
Thank you for your examples!! I'm so excited that you are studying Preach my Gospel!
Tell me about one thing you learn from it for the week!! --- this is SO FUN we are doing this together!!
Steadfast & Immovable in Christ!
Love,
Sister Osmond
 |
| Marvin the Monarch |
 |
| Sister Milligan & I |
No comments:
Post a Comment