hello loves!!
this morning i was thinking about the principle of faith and how faith in Jesus Christ is the first and most foundational step in anything we do in the gospel. and in thinking about how we show faith, one of the things that came to mind was gratitude. when we have faith in the Lord, we're able to do what Christ did when He fed the 4,000 in Matthew 15--He asked for the simple things those around Him could give, for the benefit of the people He'd been called to serve, and then He did something interesting. instead of living the life of Sister Hansen and being like "OOOKAY WE ONLY HAVE SEVEN LOAVES HERE WHAT DO WE DO. Peter why didn't you bring any money today eh?! HOW CAN WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN SOMEONE SOS PLEASE HELP, HEAVENLY FATHER HOW CAN WE HELP YOUR CHILDREN WHAT DO WE EVEN DO", He accepted their tiny sacrifices and He "gave thanks". In the chapter before that when He fed the 5,000, He just looked up to heaven, blessed and gave. He never focused on what was lacking or imperfect in situations, but instead expressed gratitude to the Father for the stream of tender mercies He poured out and then repeated one of the crowning acts of His ministry--He put His hands on weak things and made them strong for the goodness of those around them. And throughout my mission, I have seen that through the principle of gratitude to the Lord for all He IS doing coupled with the faith that in giving things to Christ to give to others, relying on His power that is mighty to save, miracles happen. the Lord is with us and we see His very own almighty hand where other people might see lack. it reminds me of an email I got from a certain Ben Brown
Mr. Ben Brown, one of Sis. Hansen's mentors in high school
at the beginning of my mission:
I really resonated with what you described about cherishing. I've recently become fascinated with the book of Job, and there's an interesting line in there about the fleeting nature of things, and how that should give us gratitude. Right after Job loses everything he says, "[T]he Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Now, I don't actually think that God goes around taking things we love away from us, but I don't think that's what he's saying here. I think he's hinting at a deeper truth, one that you described when you talked about learning to cherish. Everything is fleeting, everything is changing. This may seem rather grim, but it offers us a choice: to be bitter for the inevitable end of things, or to be grateful for the journeys.
And I guess I just wanted to say today that life is joy. Life in Christ is a joyous experience, because through our heartaches and peaks, He carries us. We find out that we really CAN do things through Christ which strengtheneth us. And even though most days I get really caught up in that journey of learning to work with our perfect Savior, today I'm just really grateful that He is who He is and that in His mercy and love, He did what He did. Lots to do but we have the best news in the world--Christ lives, He is our Savior and that in His strength, we also can overcome. what a ride, eh?
the church is true my dears. the Book of Mormon is the secret to peace and the safety of a foundation in this crazy world because it's Christ's book. His words are written there and i know we can ALWAYS trust Him. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and President Monson is the Lord's prophet today! if we will trust Him and follow Him, i know we will find ourselves happy in any circumstances. the Lord is good and has provided the means for us to be joyous and strong in these very days. and it's all because He loves us. how sweet it is.
LOVE YOU SO MUCH. and pray for you. and grateful for a loving God who looks after you every day.
love,
sister hansen
p.s. you'll have to edit out names but here are some actual events that happened this week heh heh my emails are the worsssssst sozzz
We met with I this week! M was on the lesson with us and it was honestly so good. The Spirit was really strong and we were all open and sincere, including I, and because of all the love in that environment, we got to use some "sweet boldness". We talked about the role of the Spirit and times it's helped us or led us and described how we've felt it. She did the same...and then we asked her if she ever experienced that while she met with us. And she said yes. And we invited her with all our hearts to come back and to do it again because God loves her, wants to help her and has given her the means for that here in His church as well as confirmation of those truths through His spirit...and she said no. In a roundabout way (because she's really busy). And it actually broke my heart a little bit. There are so few people I've loved to that extent and knowing that she's felt it and and still chooses not to partake of it right now is very sad. But we know that the Lord is truly working with her and that she will be ready someday and in the meantime, we will continue reaching out with love and encouraging her member friends to do the same.
Yesterday we did some member splits with M and N, the two young women who are preparing for missions, and it was amazing!! M and Sister Symons were led to talk about the Restoration with a sister that used to be super active and now hasn't been to church in years...and she herself asked if she could be re-taught all the lessons! She really wants to come back and just needs some help. And with N, we visited G, a woman who's married to a member here but isn't a member herself. We got to share some experiences we've had with the Atonement in the church, and she told us that she's felt the spirit in church since day one. She said she walked in that first Sunday with her husband, K, and immediately felt something different and felt so strongly that God truly existed and that this is His church. She also explained that right now she's not interested in becoming a member, but she really listened, and it was amazing how she and N--who see each other almost every Sunday at church but rarely talk--connected. It was a testimony builder for me that members are the key and I think it built N's understanding of the power of reaching out and the beautiful things that can happen when the members are confident enough in Jesus Christ to share His gospel, even in little and simple ways.
Lastly, there was a little moment this week that was really instructive. We were coming home in a taxi from a meeting and the driver wasn't very talkative. He just seemed indifferent to our questions and to the fact that we were there. We asked about his family and he told us he was divorced. After some silence, we felt prompted to ask what he thought the meaning of life is, which led to silence on his part. He then said that he didn't know the answer to that right now. He explained that the divorce had been really hard and that he was having troubles with work and at this point, he was just living because he hadn't died yet. And we just bore really humble and sincere testimony about a loving God that is aware of His struggles and that wants us to have meaning in our lives, and about how that's available even in those dark valleys when it seems out of reach. He wasn't interested in hearing more, but he thanked us when we told him we would pray for him. Even though it was an "unsuccessful" interaction that didn't lead to anything I could mark up when counting statistics, we really felt the Lord's love for that man and a witness of the individual nature of the gospel. And I hope that man felt His love, too.
WAIT ALSO GOT TO SING A LOT THIS WEEK AND THAT WAS JOY. even the paul simon song from the wild thornberries.
people cried. the spirit was there. and it was joy. more details to come.
Other than that, Sister Symons is wonderful and teaches and pushes me every day. It's a privilege to serve together. We really see the vision of what might be here and are seeking with all our hearts to make it so. We've been working a lot on doing that through the members and finding people to teach while helping them be active and strong, but we're also getting to a point where we're having to improve our contacting approaches...and it's crazy how sometimes it's still hard to be brave. You would think that it would be easier by now, right? But I'm so grateful for a gospel of progression and how the Lord helps me learn every time I humble myself enough to be taught. Learning to continue to be myself and to be a real, sincere person, but also to put His will and His message above my own comfort zone in every situation. "He must increase, but I must decrease." And I'm deeply grateful for this time to rejoice in His strength and to be His servant. How great is our calling.
happy monday :) love you love you love you!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment