I hit the one month mark!
Hello one Hello All! How is everyone? A lot has
happened this week. We went into London...Ohio for exchanges which was a pretty
neat experience. One of the sisters I went on exchanges with went to BYU-I and
we are going to be best friends when we get back home. We also had a zone
conference which actually combined a few zones in Huber Heights, so we did a
bit of traveling. I thought of you Mom when we had the luncheon at the zone
conference and the time I went with you to feed the missionaries. It was a very
powerful conference and I came out feeling like I was ready to conquer the
world, our leaders do a good job of making you feel that way. President on the
way out said to me, "You get stronger and stronger evertime I see
you." I felt such comfort when he said that, because often times I
feel so weak and inadequate. I know there is always room for growth. I
remember the first time I saw him I was a wreck. Running on two hours of sleep
and completely nervous for what was ahead of me. I have felt myself grow slowly
but surely.
The coolest thing happened this week. While I was
in London with a companion who was not mine I was actually able to teach my
first lesson!! It was to a man named Jody. He lived in some pretty scary
apartments with some pretty scary people. I was terrified walking in. Don't worry
mom we had a tough member with us to protect us. We began the lesson of the
restoration and my head was not in the right place because I was a little
nervous about where we were. As we got to the middle of the lesson the
spirit was insanely strong. Words came to me that I had not prepared. We were
able to connect to Jody and the things we said reached out to him. He
told us, "You sisters don't know how long I have been looking for these
answers." By the end of the lesson I felt prompted to invite him to
baptism. It was the very first time I had ever extended. I was nervous but it
felt right. I said to him, "Jody we know you are not perfect. No one is,
but as you come to realize these things are true by praying and reading the
Book Of Mormon we gave you, will you be willing to follow the example of Jesus
Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?"
He paused for seriously what seemed like an eternity and then he looked me
directly in the eyes and said yes, that is something I want in my life. It was
incredible. We explained to him that baptism is a process and it would take
time to prepare himself for that day but he was willing and ready. Definitely
one of my favorite parts of the week.
Another awesome experience. We went a visited a
family in our ward that is facing a ton of challenges in their life right now.
The dad is terminally ill, and we felt prompted to share with them the Mountains
to Climb mormon message. We were all emotional by the end of it. The family
looked at us with tears in their eyes and said, "You have no idea how much
we needed this. You guys are angels." Those are the moments that make it
all worth it. My companion and I both came out of there crying knowing how the
Lord always has a plan, and how he can use us to carry out that plan. There are
no flaws in the Lords plan. We are flawed, but He is perfect. We
didn't know what we were going to do going in there. We honestly
just shared a video and bore testimony, but it was exactly what this
family needed at that time. We may not be teaching tons of lessons, heck
we may not even have any investigators, but we are still seeking out ways to do
missionary work. We are working a lot with our less actives and part memebers
which has been an awesome experience. We are continuing to pray to find
those investigators to bring them to the fold, but are patiently waiting
because God always has a perfect plan in store. Yes it has been hard, yes it
has tested my patience, but it has helped me grow immensely.
On a funny note I think I'm going to gain a
bijillion pounds while being here. The members take good care of us and go all
out when they feed us. My companion is hilarious, she told me she feels like
she has to take seconds or she thinks the people will think she doesn't like their
food. The other night we went to a cambodian lady in our wards home for dinner.
You should have seen the pile-up of food on my plate, but you don't want to be
rude so you eat it. Pray I wont come back obese. And our pentacostal minister friend
loves taking us to the buffet. Let's just say I was grateful we were able
to fast two weeks in a row.
It's been a great week, and I look forward
to this week. I get to go to OSU campus! So excited for that. The
work truly is marvelous. How grateful I am for it and to be a
missionary. Take care!
Love, Sister Mathis
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