Good morning!!
Happy almost Valentine's Day! Tomorrow will be the best Valentine's Day ever for us--because Ravyn's baptism is tomorrow! She is the cutest little 9 year old, and she specifically requested to be baptized on Valentine's Day. Cute. :) I've really seen the hand of the Lord and the power of prayer in our work with her--it's been challenging to schedule appointments and teach all the lessons in time so that she could make her baptismal date--but when we remember to pray constantly, it has always worked out. I'm really grateful that I'm not the only one in this work--that we have Heavenly Father's help. We definitely couldn't do it by ourselves. :)
We are definitely excited to have so many new missionaries coming. I don't know where we'll put them all..haha. But I'm very excited to see how much the work accelerates! I know that there are people in this mission who have been prepared by God to receive the gospel--we just have to find them! I think that's the hardest part sometimes. Yesterday we spent almost the whole day finding, and no one seemed very interested, except for one girl. But one is more than zero! And I know that we will be blessed in our finding efforts as we continue to work hard and pray. Maybe I just need to learn how to be more patient. :) It's a slow process, and sometimes I get impatient. Elder Bednar gave a talk at the MTC where he called that the "cookie monster syndrome". I think I've mentioned that before--the "I want investigator now!" mindset. I'm trying to learn to trust the Lord's timing and not worry so much about what I can't control--but to just do everything that I can.
We've also used Elder Bednar's talk about conversion (from last Conference) several times this past week. I love being able to draw parallels between the gospel and music because it makes it easier for me to understand and relate to. The parallel I found with Elder Bednar's talk relates to practice. In his talk, he says, "Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. We must know that the gospel is true and be true to the gospel." That reminds me a whole lot of practicing. In order to be converted, we can't just bear our testimonies on Sundays--we must practice being converted each and every day. When I was studying the flute, I had to practice every day--it's not enough to practice 8 hours on Saturday and not touch my horn for the rest of the week. Consistent, daily practice is what brings true progress and improvement. And it's the same with spiritual conversion. As we practice being Christlike and practice feeling/listening to the Spirit, we become better and better at it--but only if we're consistent. Brad Wilcox's talk "His Grace Is Sufficient" has a lot of great things to say about the Atonement and practicing. I reread it this week and really loved it. Give it a read if you have time. I learn something new each time I read it. :)
xxx is doing well enough. She goes up and down a lot, and sometimes I don't know how to help her...but I do love her dearly and I know I was sent here for her. I don't know exactly what she needs, but we will keep doing our best to help her. We are trying to meet and work with all of the less active members in our area (there are a lot), but it's proven to be challenging. It makes me so sad when people don't want to come to church! Especially when I don't know how to help them. But we will keep trying. :)
A favorite quote from the week:
"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." --Albert Schweitzer, quoted by President Monson in the August 2008 Ensign. You're a wonderful example of that to me. :) Love you!!!
Love,
Sister Lyndsay Wygant
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