I Love Monday's!

Hello My sweet family! How are you doing this wonderful Monday morning? I remember I used to hate Monday's; now I look forward to them more than anything! Haha.

The Ward Chorister has very unique shoes!

Wow- it is getting HOT!  I don't know if I like it!
This week has been SUCH a good one for us.  We have seen the Lord working in the Pinehurst and Southern Pines area and feel so privileged to play a part in that work.  What I have come to realize through this week is that obedience brings blessings.  Now that I am training I am extra cautious of everything I do.  Making sure that I am in line with the Mission rules as well as following the Lord in all things.  So I have made a lot of slight corrections and alterations to the little details that come with missionary life- and I am seeing the sweet blessings that have come from it.

The Elders we serve with gave us some names of a few ladies they wanted us to go and see (we would be able to visit them easier since they are single women).  We were able to visit them that same week and OH my they were about the sweetest southern grown ladies I have ever met.  They let us in and talked with us about Christ, life, family and more.  One of them asked us to keep coming back to see her because she liked the way she felt around us.  It is neat to know that the spirit we carry can effect others around us, as long as we are worthy to receive it. 

Another day my companion and I went out tracting with a youth in the ward who is debating going on a mission.  We didn't have much success at first...but you ALWAYS keep going.  Just ONE more door is my policy.  We passed by a house with a stand up tin garage roof cover but there were no cars under it.  My companion and the youth said that we should keep going because obviously no one was home.  I felt otherwise; so off we went up the porch, through the 50 hanging chimes that were in the sun room and knocked on the door.

A little old lady came and answered and started chatting with us right away about all the little knick-knacks that were strewn across the room.  We eventually told her who we were and what we did and she thanked us for bringing more light into the world.  She was really sweet.  We had a good gospel discussion and shared a verse out of the Book of Mormon with her.  She invited us to come back the next week after she gets her eye surgery.  When we got back to the youth's home to drop her off she told us that she was going to go on a mission because she loved that little lady we contacted and wants to do that herself one day!  It was so great to see. 

Later that week we received some names to go and visit (usually this is in a text from the MTC or the church) and we can assume that the person isn't LDS.  So off we go to see this referral we were sent.  We knocked on the door and were ACTUALLY invited in by a dad and his daughter.  The woman we were meant to see was his mom and she asked us to sit with her in the living room.  We made small talk for the first little while and then she said, "You know, I used to entertain Mormon missionaries back when I was raising my kids." Then she looks at her granddaughter and said, "Someone must have known I was having a hard time and decided to send the missionaries to me."  We were the missionaries who showed up at her door and listened to her about her life.  She was very impressed by the video on the Mormon channel we showed her and told us to come back whenever we wanted. 

Another day we went out with a member from the ward to go and visit a lady who had just moved in and her records just arrived.  She wasn't too thrilled at the idea of us being there, especially unannounced, but let us in anyways.  One thing I am personally working on is letting the spirit speak to me, and tell me what the person we are visiting needs to hear.  We heard her life story, empathized, shared a really great endurance scripture from the Book of Mormon and just sat there.  It wasn't awkward silence, but the kind that is comfortable and un-rushed.  That's when the spirit came and I felt prompted to ask her a question...a question about what was holding her back, and why she felt she didn't deserve God's love.  She stared at me and then asked how we knew that's what she was struggling with.  We dove into a very touching conversation and after leaving I was really moved at how 'inspired questions' really work on people.  That is something we as missionaries in NC are striving to always work on for lessons.  Asking inspired questions.  They WORK. They are real.

The sweet part member family we are working with have also come to church twice in a row now and are progressing through the lessons. I have grown to really like them and appreciate the things I am learning each time I teach.  Each person is different and responds to different styles of teaching.  No matter the style however, the spirit needs to be present.  I love prayers, because I KNOW they work.  I know that the spirit will be there if we pray for it.  I know that the person will receive the message into their heart if it is the Lord's will, and I know that all the principles and doctrines I am expounding on are true.  By teaching other people and bearing testimony, I have been able to convert myself, and become a tool in Christ's hands here on the earth.  What a privilege.  It has taken me a long time to get to where I am.  A lot of blood, sweat and tears.  But ALL that I have lost has been magnified, made up, or received 100 times better because that is the pattern of our Savior. 

So here is a funny story for the week.  We have a sister who is staying in an assisted living home for a while until her health gets better.  We go and visit her every week and make sure she knows that we love her.  So we went in to go see her and were chatting with her and shared a message.  She then informs me that "Bong" the Filipino nurse always asks about me.  She says he has a crush on me and wants to know when we usually come and visit.  NOT 3 seconds later does BONG walk into the room to say hello!  I died.  He saw the picture of Sister Ibarra and I taped onto the closet and asked if he could have it since he was moving to Texas the next day.  When he was leaving he asked to give me a hug and I politely declined...but I was flattered!  The Sister we were visiting said he thinks I have some Philippine blood in me...HA.  That makes it 3 times this week someone has asked me if I was black, hispanic, and now Filipina. Antoinette our cute little recent convert is a black girl and told me she thought I was a mix when she first met me.  Then my companion Sister Burdette laughed so loud and said, "I thought I was the only one who thought that!"   And proceeded to tell me I would look great with dreads...

I know that the Lord is there to direct our paths, and all we need to do is listen to the spirit.  I am grateful for the good and bad times, the tough and easy, the highs and the lows.  Because before them, I was only a follower of Christ.  Now I can consider myself a full disciple of Christ.

Love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you soon!  <3
Love Sister Mallory Golden