Hello!
Another amazing week! Once again--a week full of tender mercies, so many blessings, amazing studies, and one of the best Sacrament Meetings I have ever attended!
Sister Cox and I started the week off with three investigators and ended with seven MIRACLES. We saw the Lord's hand in the work so much this week and just felt so blessed. We received an awesome referral from one of our favorite families this past week. We were able to visit with the lady, discuss the Book of Mormon, and answer so many of her questions. We love her and are so excited to meet with her again this week. We were able to answer some of her questions about Joseph Smith, and I was able to recite the first vision for the first time in a long time. Wow! I have never felt the spirit so strong. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and he DID restore the Gospel to the earth.
Earlier that day we were able to visit with the family that we creepily hopped out of the car and ran up to the window as they were backing out last week. We had such an incredible visit. The spirit led us there for a reason. They are probably one of the greatest families I have ever met! I love them! AND, the father asked us to start teaching his kids. Sister Cox and I walked out of that lesson with the biggest smiles EVER and a huge testimony that the Lord knows who is prepared to hear the Gospel.
Then, we visited with our investigators, Heather and Airilynn, and had an incredible lesson with them. We were told that Airlynn's brother would like to be taught as well. Another miracle! It felt so good being able to teach people the Gospel and see how the little knowledge that has been shared with them has already helped them tremendously. I know I say it all the time, but this Gospel is so true! I am very excited to continue to see what happens; the Lord has blessed us so much, and I am so thankful for that.
This week I also was able to have some time for incredible studying. I was reading in Mormon 5:23 where it says, "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?" And, I was able to study in more detail, ... what "in the hands of God" really meant, and I want to share what I found: Hands are one of the symbolically expressive parts of the body. In Hebrew, "yad," the most common word for hand, is also used metaphorically to mean power, strength, and might (see William Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies [1978], 205). Thus, hands signify power and strength. ... "To be in their hands of God would suggest that we are not only under His watchful care but also that we are guarded and protected by His wondrous power."
"Throughout the scriptures, reference is made to the hand of the Lord. His divine assistance is evidenced over and over again. His powerful hands created worlds, and yet they were gentle enough to bless the little children. ... "Every one of us needs to know that we can go on in the strength of the Lord. We can put our hand in His, and we will feel His sustaining presence lift us to heights unattainable alone. ... "...How do we learn to extend our hand and connect to the comfort provided by the Lord? ... "Here are four keys: Learn, Listen, Seek the Spirit, Pray Always. "The Lord will provide sustenance and support if we are willing to open the door and receive His hand of divine assistance. ... "Imagine the wounds in his hands. His weathered hands, yes, even His hands of torn flesh and physical sacrifice, give our own hands greater power and direction. "It is the wounded Christ who leads us through our moments of difficulty. It is He who bears us up when we need more air to breathe or direction to follow or even more courage to continue. "If we will keep the commandments of God and walk hand in hand with Him in His path, we will go forward with faith and never feel alone."
I have been studying a lot, and trying to become closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ; and, as I read this, I felt this immense love for my Savior, and an immense love that he has for me and each and everyone of us. He loves us. He atoned for our sins so that He can guide us through those moments of difficulty and pain, and He will know how to help us and give us that courage to continue to press forward, even if we don't think we can.
Our Sacrament Meetings this month have been focused on Jesus Christ, and yesterday was probably one of the best Sacrament Meetings I have ever attended. The spirit was so strong! The talks that were given were about Jesus Christ and very powerful. I love this ward so much! One of the speakers said, "We become more like our Savior Jesus Christ as we spend more time with Him." That is something that I have thought about a lot, and am looking forward to coming closer to Him as I spend more time with Him.
I know that as we put our faith in Him, study concerning Him, come to know Him on a more personal level, and try our hardest to become like Him, we will feel of His immense love and have the courage and strength that we need to keep moving forward. This church is true, and I am so thankful for this opportunity that I have to be here on my mission. Hope you all have a great week!
Love, Sister Lake
P.S. A funny story for the week: We lost the key to our apartment and then broke the garage. In order to get in, we have to manually open the garage door each time, and with a huge dent in it you can imagine it is kind of hard. Anyways, so we returned home, and the weather was -20 degrees. We were trying to open the garage, I got into one of my uncontrollable laughs, and Sister Cox started laughing and peed her pants.
Tracting on Lake Dr....Everybody thought my last name was cool!
When Sister Cox falls so hard!
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