Why Heavenly Father chooses to bless me so much I'll never know (at least until eternity), but I'm definitely feeling loved to have the chance to have 2 baptisms this weekend!! So stoked for these awesome guys:D:D can't wait to tell y'all all about it (by the way, we met this Russian family who pointed out how much I say y'all and I've begun to realize how the word manages to bound into at least every sentence. I can't really remember the last time I said "you guys"---love it!). But since that blessed day hasn't happened yet I'll let you in on some of the recent blessings/miracles we've seen this week.
Had my first ZTM in the Greenville zone and Elder Daegen Oviatt is actually one of my Zone Leaders (I went to high school with him). President combined most of the zones so our gathering was much bigger than any other ZTM, which meant that taking a zone picture at the end took waaaay longer. It’s quite the feat to try to take timer pictures with at least 15 different cameras. It involved lots of pushing buttons and running back and forth.The trainings are always really great-and the thing is I might have to find ways to infiltrate ZTMs when I get home because everything taught applies to life in so many ways such as....being unified, personable, positive, being on purpose, being doers not tryers and not becoming content, working towards something greater, setting expectations (during this one Elder Oviatt kept referring to a talk called “the 8th string quarterback” by Steve Young and I reeaalllly want to read that talk now.)
We spent the beautiful morning knocking and actually met a couple people who were interested. One was Linda, a sweet Baptist from DC who was visiting to help some family out. She said she had a Book of Mormon and some guys had stopped by before. As we were talking she told us how she used to study with Jehovah Witnesses until they shared their beliefs that God and Jesus Christ weren’t the same person. Immediately in my head I was like, well yeah we believe they’re separate as well. Normally I would just come out with it so she’d know what our beliefs were, but for some reason I felt the need to not share but to continue discussing it. Neither Sis Godfrey or I came right out with it, but we talked about it in a general sense and how the bible can make it confusing for someone to figure out. We quoted the different scriptures where Christ talks to his father, but then relented to the argument where Christ says that he and the father are one. By the guidance of the spirit we were able to get her to start asking questions herself. We eventually guided her to James 1:5 and said that God would let her know. By the end we shared what we believed about the God Head and invited her to find out the truth for herself. She said she definitely would. I could tell this really struck her as she explained why it would be important to understand who exactly she’s praying to. We may not have gotten to the first vision; well hey we didn’t even get past the first teaching point but I know we were guided to help her understand a foundational doctrine, and it was amazing to have the spirit work through us and be able to witness someone truly “getting it”.
*Sigh* today was like a really awesome preview before a big movie. Omari, Chris and Toby were all baptized. They’re all sons/nephews of Marlin a recent convert who the elders have been teaching. It just made me so giddy for Dave and Bro. Tate’s baptismsnext Saturday!! Today was just one of those days where it’s so good to be a missionary. Toby’s only like 11, Chris is 13 and Omari is 10. I can only imagine how much this decision can change the course of their lives if they endure to the end. It was neat to have some of the scouts there supporting them as well, makes me wish I would’ve made a bigger effort to go to other baptisms at home. They’re so common in Utah I think we take for granted how huge of a step Baptism is. I mean it’s the gate that gets you on the path to eternal life we’re talking about here!! Few things are more beautiful than the view I had at their baptismal service. Sis Godfrey and I were sitting behind the elders and the 3 boys, they had their arms around each other and were just beaming dressed in white.
well, I love y'all much much and hope that you enjoyed this weeks summary from the blessed-lovely-toogoodtobetrue life of Sister lindsay smith:D
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