Testimony vs. Conversion

Hey Y'all!  I sure hope y'all are doing well and life is treating ya well!  This week has been super duper crazy.  Lots of interesting days, but in the end, the Lord always seems to help us remember that He is the Author of all that is great.  MONDAY was definitely and adventure.  After emailing, and cleaning the car, we headed out to Falling Waters State Park with Tammy.  We had a blast eating subway and going on a "hike" lol.  This waterfall is the tallest in Florida. A whopping 322 feet above sea level :) Oh how I miss the mountains haha.  We had a ton of fun though.  After falling waters, we had a yummy dinner with the Driscolls.  They are so sweet!  Brother Driscoll always has some jokes for us :)  They only make sense to southerners though lol.  "What was the Three wise men's occupation?  Firemen, because they came from a-far."  haha good times.  Never a dull moment with the Driscolls :)  We also had an awesome lesson with our investigator, Pete.  He is just the sweetest man you will ever meet.  He lost the love of his life a while back, and just continues to do his best so that he can live with her again.  It is going to be so great to have the opportunity to teach him the message of the Plan of Salvation.  We will be teaching him that tomorrow.  TUESDAY was all sorts of fun :)  We had another zone training.  So Sister Richins and I picked up the Greenhead Sisters, and we carpooled to Panama City for the meeting.  Fun times :)  This zone training was pretty random, seeing as we had already had one the first week of the transfer.  But the things that were taught were awesome.  We learned about the "Prayer Technique."  It is basically making it so the investigator feels the need to say they prayer, because it would be more awkward for them not to since we are already folding our arms, bowing our heads, and waiting patiently for them to say the prayer.  Lets just say that things can get real awkward real fast in missionary work.  But I was always taught that if its not awkward, its not missionary work :)  After our Zone training, we ate at Barbaritos.  Apparently its supposed to be like café rio..... but nothing compares to café rio lol. It was still pretty good though.  We saw a less active sister on our way home from panama.  It was great to see her reaction to us coming out to see her.  (she lives right smack dab in the middle of no where)  But it was great to see her and we plan to see her again soon.  After a short dinner, we headed out to have a lesson with another investigator, Robert.  He is an awesome guy.  He is taking things slow, but I love it because it helps us to remember to teach simply and powerfully.  We used the prayer technique to get him to pray :)  It was great!! We also had a great lesson on the plan of salvation with Tammy!  It so great to get a refresher of the simple doctrines in the Gospel.  WEDNESDAY was a busy day.  We had a great lesson with Ariel that morning.  We read 3 Nephi 11 with her and talked about how the savior loves all of God's Children.  We also got her to pray using the Prayer Technique.  Which is a huge milestone, because she always refuses to pray in front of us.  We volunteered at the thrift store and bagged up some pizza.  While we were there, we met our new Investigator, Tina.  She is such a sweet lady that is going through such a difficult time in her life.  Heavenly Father definitely placed us on her path.  We had a great lesson on Family History with a Less active brother, Steve.  He is pretty interested, and we hope to help him get started this week!  THURSDAY was another one of those dear weekly planning days.  We ended up dropping a few investigators that just weren't progressing.  We know that the Lord has a time for everything and everyone.  We just need to do our best to find those people who are ready and willing to change now.  We went to the nursing home to help serve ice cream.  It was awesome because it was national CNA and Nurse Appreciation day, so they had Banana Splits.  It was fun to see all the residents and staff having a good time.  Later, we had a great dinner with Tammy!  We even made s'mores for dessert.  Tammy had never had a s'more before, so we had to convert her :)  FRIDAY we were able to once again volunteer at the thrift store.  We met our newest investigator there.  Her name is Gayle.  She came to the back and said hello, and began working on tagging and hanging up the clothes.  We asked her her name and how long she was going to be volunteering there.  Then when we told her that we were "sister wood, and sister richins"  she stopped right in her tracts, and said " Your with God! God has answered my prayers today!"  It was awesome.  We later had dinner with the Holley's at the Waffle House.  That was an exciting experience for sister richins :)  SATURDAY we had planned to see like a million people (okay, like thirteen..)  And it seemed like everywhere we went no one was home, or they weren't interested.  Finally we decided to go see Tina, who wasn't an investigator at this point. We get there, and her kids tell us she isn't home.  Then, discouraged, we walk back to the car and begin to drive away. All of a sudden we see her daughter running towards us yelling that her mom was home. So we parked the car and headed back to the house.  Tina said she had been in the back yard behind some trees praying, and so that is why her kids did not know where she was.  We shared a message about Christ, and committed her to read through the Plan of Salvation Pamphlet, as well as the introduction to the Book of Mormon. She said she would, and is excited to learn.  We said a prayer with her.  In which the spirit bore a powerful witness that heavenly father was very mindful of Tina.  It was amazing.  What made it even better, is that we had Tammy with us.  She is just such an awesome member missionary.  She shared her testimony with Tina, and helped Tina to feel loved.  SUNDAY was just awesome.  I always love Sundays.  We had a lesson with Mikayla, a recent convert. We talked with her about temples and family history.  She is excited to get started.  Sacrament meeting was insane.  I love when the talks seem to be just for you.  Everything that was talked about seemed to help me with the things I have been thinking about lately.  They all talked about Conversion.  The last speaker, brother Carroll of the high council, spoke on Conversion vs. Testimony.  It was so neat.  I loved it.  After church we spent some time doing family history with tammy.  I love family history!!!!  we later went to see Gayle.  We visited with her and showed her the Hallelujah video.  She is such a strong woman.  We can't wait to meet with her again this week!  The highlight of my week though was the epiphany I had during sacrament meeting that carried over into my studies this morning.  I had the chance to study in Helaman 15.  It talks about the process that we have to go through continually to receive conversion.  Conversion is not just a single moment that takes place in our lives.  It is happens "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little."  What is neat though is that it all starts with our testimonies.  But our testimonies can only get us so far.  If we are not converted to Christ, and His gospel, there are ways and means that we are capable of losing our testimonies.  But if we strive to be diligent in repentance, prayer, studying the scriptures, and relying on the lord, our conversion will begin to take place.  I love the verse in Luke that talks about how once we are converted, we are to strengthen our brethren.  Our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, place a sacred trust in us all to stand as witnesses, and strengthen each other.  I absolutely love participating in this glorious and divine work.  It is amazing to see people change their lives as they accept Christ into their lives.  There is no greater feeling in the world than seeing someone have faith, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost.  Heavenly Father loves all His children, and I get just a small glimpse of how.  We all can feel that love as we strive to be diligent in our personal prayer, scripture study, and church attendance. Y'all have a blessed week! Love, Sister Melissa Jean Wood  9 Attachments Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward 0.65 GB (4%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 3 days ago Details