Power Statements Work!

Hard Work Pays off!  This week we went out contacting (tracting) a lot.  We had been studying ways to approach people in conversation on their door steps with something we call a 'power statement.' Just a regular "HI we are missionaries from the church of..." won't get you very far.  So we came up with a 'theme' you could say for that day's contacts.  This last week was the Atonement, and this week is about eternal families.  We are using short concise spirit filled statements that will hopefully catch peoples attention.

I can say that IT WORKED.  We found 4 new investigators this week!  Actually the Lord led us to them.  I love the quote, "Don't ask the Lord to guide your steps unless you are willing to move your feet."  So true!  This can be applied for all facets of life though.  I am glad to be learning it now when I can make it into a habit!

Last week was filled with so many great things!  First we had Zone Training.  Where all of us missionaries in the Stake get together to be instructed by the different leaders.  Our Zone's motto is Earn your Wings. (A scripture from Isaiah) We are working hard to find new people to teach and lifting the respective areas in which we serve to their highest potential.

 The next night Sister Toner took us out for Indian food at a place called Betel.  And it was FABULOUS!  I can say for sure now that I like Indian food...at least what I got. Ha.

The NEXT day, we got to go to the Temple and do a session as a Zone.  This is the first time I have ever gone to the temple with the Elders, and it was a great bonding experience.  I love the spirit that’s felt at the temple.  It is a place for us to reflect on how we can improve, and go out to make the world a better place.  After the session we had lunch together (Costco Pizza) and then had a small devotional with the Temple President.  He gave a great talk about the symbols and meaning behind the temple.   I want to study more and read more about the temple when I get home.  The Temple literally means the house of the Lord; what a privilege it is that we can visit and be so close to Him.

We went out tracting later that day and had some success.  We ran into a man who was part of the Jehovah's Witness church and I took TOTAL advantage and asked him every question I ever had about that religion. It was a good conversation and after politely declining his offer of giving me their Bible and trying to convert us we left.  The next place we went to was a grouchy, old gentlemen who opened and closed the door in one swift movement, no pause in between.  He saw us and said, "NOPE!" Haha.  I laughed.   When we knocked on the next door this little old lady hooked up to an oxygen machine answers the door and goes, "Oh my gosh! Ohhh myyy goshhh? It's YOU!  I just talked to you! You're here!"  I was very confused...Maybe she saw us in a dream and we were an answer to prayer? Nah. That was wishful thinking. Ha!  She thought I was her daughter and my companion her granddaughter.  She didn't hesitate to tell us that she was VERY disappointed we weren't them.  I felt so bad!  They said they didn't need anything and we could leave. So we did.  Ha.

Another funny thing this week...we were fed pizza 4 times.  I am very tired of pizza. Sister Petersen said that she was craving it and all of a sudden that week BOOM. The Lord provides.  So many carbs...

Sunday we were able to teach that family of 4 again at a members home.  We have gotten through the first 3 lessons, and are now teaching the commandments.  I had been praying to find a really good video or mormon message that would go along with our lesson about Church attendance, Prayer, and reading our scriptures.  I couldn't think of one before hand so we just went ahead to the lesson and I trusted that the spirit would take the reins. About 3/4 of the way through the lesson our member Brother M. made a comment and *WHAM* all of a sudden the phrase, "Daily Bread" came to my mind out of NO WHERE!  I had been praying for this and the answer came.  Daily Bread is a 3 part video given by Elder Christofferson about the need for physical sustenance as WELL as spiritual sustenance.  It was the perfect video for our lesson and the spirit that filled the room was so strong.  I know that the Lord provides, but not until we go forth in faith and start the work on our own.

“I think it’s not by chance God has created us in a way that we have to have daily physical sustenance. The children of Israel, coming out of Egypt, lived for 40 years, approximately, on something called manna. They couldn’t have lived from hunting, and their lifestyle was such that they couldn’t be planting. So they really didn’t have an alternative. God was, in essence, providing their daily sustenance. And I think at least one of His purposes was to teach them to remember Him, to think of Him, to look to Him, to have faith in Him, that He was the source of their life. He did it in the way of making it a daily thing. They couldn’t gather up manna and store it. It would only be good for one day. They couldn’t forget who was the source of their blessings. There’s a spiritual parallel in our day. We all recognize the need for physical sustenance. Hunger and thirst remind us very strongly if we forget. But the spiritual need for sustenance is equally strong. It comes not in drinking water and eating food, but in our constant, daily efforts of communion with God. We ought not to think that we can go weeks and months without spiritual sustenance and not suffer and not have a deadening influence in our spiritual life. Acknowledging the reality of our need for a daily spiritual administration, or manna, helps us increase in our courage to do the right thing and to serve others more than we would have if we ignored God. People sometimes think, “well, those are such small things. Prayer, immersing ourselves in the scriptures, pondering, meditating--how can that really produce a significant difference in a person’s life?” But it does. As small as those things seem to be-- as daily, routine, sometimes, they may seem to be--these are the kinds of things that, day by day, transform us.”

Love y’all!
Sister Golden:)

I love this family!