Peter found he could walk on the water not by sitting on the boat

The ward here is really coming along, from when I first arrived to now I can totally see the work of the Lord hastening. It's a slow process-but I know it's just going to snowball. These baptists are so committed and devoted....just to the partial truth. As the work progresses and we're able to baptize more families in tight-knit communities like Hartsville, people will start to ask questions-theeennnn, WHAMO-when people ask questions their hearts are open and the spirit can come in. I believe it'll just snowball from there-and people will be so eager to get baptized, they just might....miss a football game to do so (crazy eh??)

welp, this week was fantabulous-here's why...

Our first go at the challenge (to invite 2 people to be baptized on a specific date everyday), even though it was p-day and we only had 3 hrs to proselyte was a huge success! Raven agreed to be baptized on dec 14, and the lesson just seemed so spiritual. She was getting involved and asking questions, and agreed to read and pray about the BofM. Lesson of the night, where there’s a will there’s a way-especially where it’s the Lord’s will.

So crazy little thing happened...Elder Bednar came and spoke to us! nuts right?? I so wish I could tell you everything that happened in the brief 3hrs we had with him, but hope this suffices.

One of my favorite analogies that elder Bednar shared was in regards to when peter walked on water. He said that Peter found out he could walk on water not by sitting in the boat, but by jumping out. He had to act in faith first and only when he kept his gaze firmly upon the savior was he able to walk on the water. As soon as his gaze faded he began to sink. Bednar explained that’s how we need to be, we need to jump out of the boat and trust that the Lord will be there and that the Holy Ghost will guide us. He will never let us drown, we may choke down a lot of water, and struggle sometimes-but we will never drown.

Tammy’s faith and diligence never cease to amaze me. I really wish I could just record some of the conversations and lessons that we have because the stuff she says is just so great! We sat down to help her figure out more of what she wanted to say in her testimony for the fireside and we had her just go for it and pretend like she was there. She didn’t ever look down at her notes, and stumbled a few times at the beginning asking if she should say that, or how she should say such-and-such. But once she got going and the spirit took over it was so powerful. I love her testimony of the Book of Mormon. She spoke of how she was reading it before she was meeting with the sisters because mark had been given a copy earlier. She bore testimony of by reading “the book” (which is what she always refers to it as) she has just found peace and felt whole. She said “I’m 45yrs old and I’ve never felt this way before”. She’s really upset that Mark isn’t baptized yet and doesn't fully support her, but she doesn’t let that get in her way. She said “if he’s not going to take me to church, I’ll make him pay for a taxi, so he might as well come along”. A lot has changed, she seemed so much more timid and shy when we first started meeting-now she’s bold, independent and confident-and just is full of that light of Christ-mmm, she's beaming!

well then, I hope y'all are remembering what's out there....lost souls who need the blessings of the restored gospel!!..oh and miracles. heaps of miracles, mmmm and some love coming from your south carolina sister

LOVE LOVE LOVE
SEEESTER SMITH!! :D