Noh, TERE!! How was everyone’s week? I sure love you all :)
The work:
- Last week, we promised one of our investigators a pretty big promise...her pastor from her previous church had been harassing her horribly, and it was really starting to hurt her. We promised that if she read the Book of Mormon every day, he would leave her alone. It was definitely one of those moments where I felt prompted to promise that in the lesson, but I said in my head, "How on earth is that going to happen??" Hahaha but we promised it, and sure enough, this week he just miraculously stopped. She has been reading the Book of Mormon every day. That is not a coincidence :)
- We had a powerful lesson with our other investigator about the power of the Book of Mormon. We showed one of my favorite church videos of all time, Jeffery R. Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon. (Link to video: https://youtu.be/SHY-Y9yraR8.) I love the Book of Mormon, and I have realized how miraculous and powerful that book really is. I love sharing it with people every day. :)
- We were in a city called Sindi visiting some less actives, and randomly I felt like we should knock on a certain door we were passing. And not only knock on the door...pick flowers first and bring them to the door with us. So, I picked some flowers and we went to the door. No one answered the door, but we saw a super old lady sitting out in the sun, so we went over to give the flowers to her! She could barely stand up she was so old, but we ended up talking with her a little bit about God. She talked about how she prays for forgiveness and she knows she does not have much time left on the earth...it was heart-breaking, but heart-warming at the same time because I knew God had sent us to her to let her know He had not forgotten her. Very tender, sweet moment giving her those flowers and seeing her face light up. We truly are on the Lord's errand, even in a little town called Sindi.
The culture:
- Pretty much all the pastries here are either cold or lukewarm. When I got here, I was expecting bakeries to offer warm croissants and other warm pastries, but it’s a little different here in Estonia! But I had my first warm pastry this week...we went to a less active’s home to share a message, and she fed us cheese pastries right out of the oven...my mouth is starting to water again even thinking about it hahahah.
The funnies:
- FUNNIEST MOMENT EVER!!! We were walking near the beach, just talking to people, and I saw a group of Asian women trying to take a picture. I offered to take their picture for them, and when I heard they were from Korea, I said the two words I knew in Korean (just "hello" and "thank you"). They FLIPPED OUT hahaha. And seconds later, they swarmed us both and asked to take a picture with us hahaha. Next thing you know, we are sitting on a bench, surrounded by Koreans, holding up peace signs!
They couldn’t really speak English, and we couldn’t speak Korean, but it was still an amazing experience because when they pointed to our name tags, really all we said was, "Jesus Christ." And they said, "Jesus Christ!!" really excitedly, and somehow we understood that they were all Christians!!! They were all so excited that we were Christians too!! It was so sweet. We gave them a card and everything! Huge reminder to me that you don’t need to speak someone’s language to share Christ’s love with them. It also was a very comforting moment for me. Fun fact - Estonia is the least religious country in the world. Being surrounded by atheism makes me feel very alone as a Christian at times. But that single moment of seeing a group of 12, excited Christians reminded me that I am not alone! Other people love Christ too! Other people see the need for Christ in their life too!! So grateful to have seen that :)
Spiritual thought:
Today, I would simply like to share my recent thoughts and feelings with you all. I am so happy. I love the people here in Estonia. I love the opportunity to wear this name tag every day and be mocked and admired for Christ's sake. It is a privilege to feel all the feelings He felt, even the painful ones. There is a picture of Christ next to my bed, and every night, I go to bed grateful that Christ suffered for me. He suffered for you too. He suffered for all of us so that He could understand us. That truth is so simple, yet so powerful. Like Jeffrey R. Holland said, “My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength . . . . But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength.” I know...I don’t just think...I KNOW that God loves me. He loves all of us. He is my best friend.
I am so grateful for the scriptures. They are our lights here in life. Our primary source of direction. The scriptures are a power source and instruction manual. I know they are God’s words specifically for us. I am SO grateful for God's guidance at every moment. I am grateful He gives me the strength to do the things HE needs me to do, not necessarily all the things I want to do. I have experienced that, and I am grateful to re-learn that every day.
I know that He has placed me and Õde Tullis, my dear friend, here together in Pärnu, Estonia right now so we can learn from each other every day and help each other along as we seek to grow and learn. We invite each other to come unto Christ every day, all the while coming unto Christ more ourselves. :)
I am so grateful for this small window of time that I get to dedicate completely to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I feel so close to Him and my Heavenly Father. I am still growing my relationship with them every day, of course! And how grateful I am for the opportunity to do that specifically here in Estonia right now. :)
Family and friends, I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and examples to me. This week, I invite you to just take 5 minutes and think about Jesus Christ. Think about your relationship with Him. He wants a deeper relationship with you, and I know that you can continue to grow that relationship with Him by simply reaching up your hand to Him. Once you reach up, He will grab it so tightly and will never let you go! :)
Trust in the Lord. Choose joy! Find peace.
Õde Smith-Driggs
Proverbs 8:1-35
No comments:
Post a Comment