Hey Yous!

Hey Yous!

 

Since quite a bit has happened this week, I'll just get straight to the good stuff.

 

There was a special missionary meeting in Newark, Delaware this week, but we were too far north to drive down. So instead our zone was invited to go to a broadcast of Scranton's Stake Conference, so we did. Elder Bednar spoke, and it was amazing! These are some highlights from his talk:

 

Why do we share the gospel? Why, to other people, do we seem almost annoying about sharing it? Elder Bednar told a story about how his sons were playing outside on their little bikes when one of his sons crashed into the side of a car and got scratched up. His older brother took him inside and brought him to the kitchen sink. Elder and Sister Bednar watched as the older son poured dish soap down his arm and scrubbed. "What could only describe the sound was 'weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.'" After the older brother scrubbed the wound, he got a tube of Neosporin and bandages and put them all down the little brother's arm. Right after, the little brother ran outside and put bandages and Neosporin on his friends.

 

Why did he do that? It's because he knew that the Neosporin and bandaids fixed his "owies." It was instinctive of him to want to share the relief of pain with his friends because it felt so much better. And that's exactly why we share the gospel-- "we all have spiritual 'owies,' and we know that the fullness of the gospel heals those and it makes us feel better. So that's why we try to share it. We may seem a little annoying at times, but we do it because we know it can help everyone."

 

 

"The days for praying for missionaries is over. Stop praying for the missionaries to find people to teach-- you find them! Get the faith to find people!"

(To which all of us missionaries cheered.)

Along with that he said, "Stop praying for the people who weren't at church to come back. Go get them. Go-- right now-- and get them back."

I don't want to try to shove it down your throat, but missionaries hear a lot of members complain that their neighborhood hasn't been worked in. That's not our job-- it's your job. You're the missionaries in your own neighborhood, so go out and find and invite people.

 

 

And last, but not least:

"Agency does not mean the ability to choose. Too often I've heard teenagers say, 'I have agency, I can do what I want.' That's not what it means. Agency is the ability to choose the right. It's not choosing what you want, it's choosing what God wants." He then went on to explain that "before you were baptized, you had individual agency. But when you were baptized you chose to have representative agency. That means that your choices are representative of what Jesus Christ would do. We choose what He wants, not what we want."

 

 

Amazing, right??

 

 

As far as everything else this week goes, it rained for an entire day, which was super new to me since Utah's a dry old desert.

 

Sister Hall and I have been taking violins around and playing duets for people, which has been fun and interesting. We only have hymns as of now, but we're able to play and share a quick message for people. We actually stopped by a house that didn't have time before, and their college-aged daughter was home. We ended up teaching her the Restoration and leaving her a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was a miracle!

 

One of my favorite moments this week was when we hunted down the ice cream man. We heard the ice cream truck playing, and I was determined to talk to whoever was driving it. So we searched for the ice cream truck and tried to wave him down. We eventually found a park he was going to drive by (do we sound creepy yet?) and waited for him. I totally bought a Batman popsicle and shared a quick message about the Book of Mormon. It was really neat!

 

Well, I love you all! Don't forget that you can email me... *cough cough*

 

Love,

Sister Singleton

Me and President Schaefermeyer

Popsicles!