Well,
this week has been quite interesting to say the least. It felt like an
eternity, but at the same time it feels like i was just writing a
weekly email yesterday. Time is strange on the mish. We had a Zone
Training this week. That was super good. Elder and Sister Harris gave
Sister Peterson and I a ride. Before the training, they took us out to
breakfast at the Waffle House. That was super good haha. I have not
had a good breakfast like that in a long time. Unfortunately, Sister
Peterson was feeling ill. During the training, she was fevering, and
vommited a few times. She recieved a priesthood blessing during a
break. That was a special experience. She was getting chills, and
still vommiting, so she just stayed in the foyer for the rest of the
training, because she was so ill. We went home from training, and she
just went to bed. I called the mission nurse to see what we should do.
All her symptoms led to the conclusion of food poisoning. So Sister
Wright called a doctor to call in a prescription for her. Later that
night we were able to get a prescription for her. We stayed in the
apartment all day wednesday and half of thursday. Friday was the first day that we were actually able to go out and see people.
Friday
was a great day. We had a few set appointments that we were excited to
go to. We visited a less active sister, Sister Knight. She is one of
my favorite lady's ever!! I told her that i was speaking in sacrament
meeting, and she automatically wanted to come to church. So that was
pretty awesome!
We then had an appointment with a former
investigator who we kept randomly seeing all of last week. We finally
met up with him. He is an international reverend from Ghana. I think
he thought our meeting was so that he could teach us, but all he was
teaching was doctrine of the gospel. So that was super cool. I felt
very impressed that this is his time to recieve the Gospel. He has a
wife and four boys. He is such a faithful man and has so much
potential.
We also got to see some other less active sisters on friday. Sister Schmitt, and Sister Robertson. I love them so much!! The are both incredible women!
Saturday
was a great day as well! We visited a less active family, the Lott's.
They are super cool. He is a recent convert of about two years, and
they have three kiddos, with a fourth on the way. Super cute young
family!! Young family's are hard to come by in the P-Cola haha. We had
two great lessons with our investigators, jen, and Marilyn. They are
both pretty great! We commited Jen to coming to church on sunday to hear me speak :) That was super exciting!
Sunday
I was able to give a talk in sacrament meeting. It went pretty well. I
usually am super nervous when speaking. But it went really well seeing
as i didnt word vommit all over the place like i did at my farewell
talk. haha I love how the spirit just takes over and gives me the words
to say :) I spoke about the gifts of the spirit. I learned a ton
while preparing for this talk. here are a few main points i feel
impressed to share from my talk.
When we are baptized we are
cleansed from all sin. We are then able to be confimed a member of the
Church and recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Gift of the Holy
Ghost is what sanctifies us, or makes us holy. It is when we recieve
the Gift of the Holy Ghost that we "experience a mighty change of heart,
and have no more desire to do evil" ( Mosiah 5:2) People often wonder
what it is that makes Latter Day Saints different from other people. It
is that Gift of the Holy Ghost we recieve after baptism that sets us
apart from others. We recieve peace, joy,answers to prayers and comfort
when we are worth of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
The
Gift of the Holy Ghost is one of the greatest gifts we recieve from our
father in heaven. When we recieve the gift of the holy ghost, and
remain faithful and obedient to the covenants we have made with Heavenly
Father, we are then able to recieve more from the spirit. These are
spiritual powers, abilities, or talents known as gifts of the Spirit.
D&C 46: 26 "All these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God."
Because
these gifts are for our benefit, they help us know and teach the truths
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are given these gifts so we can all
work together and edify one another.
In 1 Corinthians 12
Paul speaks of the body of Christ. He explains how a body has all sorts
of appendages and groups. Yet they all work together to make up one
body. We can apply that same message to the gifts of the spirit. We
are all given different gifts of the spirit. If we were all given the
same ones, we wouldn't be able to fully function as a church. There
would be missing pieces. Therefore, we all have different abilities, or
gifts, so we can work together to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In
order for us to use these gifts the way they were intended is to 1:
Know what they are 2: How we can develop them 3: Recognize satans
imitations of them.
So what are some of the gifts of the
spirit? Well there are a lot more than i though there were, that is for
sure. Some of the most common ones we hear of are the gift of tongues,
interpretation of tongues, and translation. The gift of Teaching
Wisdom and Knowledge is one i was not familiar with. As missionaries,
we are blessed with this gift at times. Truths of the Gospel are brought
to mind, and we are then able to teach them clearly and powerfully to
an individual who is ready to recieve the gospel. Believing the
testimony of others was another gift of the spirit i was not familiar
with. Faith is one of the greatest gifts we can revieve from the
spirit. Everything stems from our faith. Without the gift of faith, no
other gift can be given.
So how do we develop these great
spiritual gifts? We must first know which of these gifts we have been
blessed with. The way to know is to sincerely pray and fast. Another
great way to know which spiritual gifts we are given is through a
patriarchal blessing. I am so grateful for my patriarchal blessing. It
has gotten me through some very hard and confusing times. It has also
taught me more about what is expected of me as a child of God.
We
must be obedient, and faithful to the gifts that we recieve. we need
to use them in the way they were intended. For the benefit of the
children of god. we show our obedience and faith through what i like to
call CPR. Church attendence, Prayer, and Reading our scriptures.
Now,
Satan knows how beautiful, and powerful these gifts of the spirit are.
Like always, Satan has to do his best to confuse us. There are many
instances in the scriptures that show us how satan uses his cunning mind
to lead others astray. The story of Moses and Pharoahs court is a
great example of how Satan can use our spiritual gifts to confuse us.
Satan also decieves us by letting us think that these gifts or abilities
do not come from god. They are just part of who we are, and that we
are to keep them to ourselves for our own benefit. When we have that
frame of mind we are definitely not using these sacred gifts they were
intended.
In return for giving thes gifts, the Lord asks us
to give thanks for any blessing we receive. When we are grateful, our
father in Heaven just blesses us even more.
Learning about
these many spiritual gifts, and how they are to be used really
strengthened my testimony of God's Love for us. He wants us all to be
successful. So he gives us all these many gifts in abundance. When we
use them to help eachother, we are happy and we get the most out of
them. But most importantly, it makes our Heavenly Father happy. He
doesnt just send us here alone to survive on our own. He gave us
eachother, so we can learn and strengthen eachother.
I know
that our Heavenly Father Loves each and every one of us personally and
individually. He has given us the Scriptures, and living prophets to
lead and guide us and keep us on the straight and narrow path. I am so
grateful for this Gospel and how simple it really is!
Hope yall have a great week!!
Love,
Sister Melissa Jean Wood
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