GOD TAKES CARE OF HIS WORK

TERE!! Merry Christmas wonderful friends and family :) I am grateful to spend this Christmas in the service of the Lord. It is my first and last Christmas as a missionary in Estonia, so I am trying to make the most of it!! (Also fam bam...can’t wait to see you all tomorrow over Skype!)

District pic

The work:

OK WOW FRIENDS. The biggest lesson I learned this week was that God takes care of His work. He always has and He always will. This week, I did what God asked me to do - re-focusing in areas that needed spiritual strengthening and prayerfully re-aligning my priorities. In return, God took care of His work. For example, we met with a woman that I had met in Pärnu the same day I find out I was moving to Tartu (I think I talked about this in my email last week). Well, turns out we were both going to be in Tartu, so we set up to meet. We went to dinner with her and one of the young members in our branch. At the beginning of the conversation, she talked about how much she didn’t believe in God. She said she wanted to meet so she could hear the way I view the world. We then talked about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how that applies in her life.  By the end of the conversation, she was talking about how merciful God is and how much He loves his children. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?? God has already started softening her heart to hear about His existence and His love! We prayed together, and she said she had never prayed before. Well, fast forward one day...Õde Nelson and I get on our bus that goes from Tartu to Pärnu (3 hour bus ride). Guess who is sitting in our seats? That very same woman we met with the day before! SUCH A MIRACLE. That has never happened to me before. We talked for the whole 3 hours! She told us then that after we met, she had remembered one time where she HAD prayed, and a miracle happened (long story). That is not the first time this has happened...after we meet, the people we meet with tell us of experiences and stories that "come to their remembrance" when they actually noticed God’s hand in their life. So cool. Wow, being a missionary is such a blessing.

SO that is only one example of when God took care of His work - by placing her on our 3 hour bus ride. Another example is this - since the beginning of November, I and my companions have been giving out roughly 40 invitations a day to the Christmas church service for December 23rd. Well, we finished giving out ALL our invitations the night before the service. We were so excited to see all the people that would come from the invitations we gave them! .... Well here’s where the miracle happens. No one (I repeat...NO ONE) showed up from an invitation we gave them, BUT THERE WERE 50 PEOPLE AT CHURCH (normally there are about 30), 9 of those newcomers being potential investigators!!! AND THEN that night, a man called us. I had talked to him really briefly and given him an invitation. He called and said he was sad he couldn’t make the service but still wants to meet up. We are meeting up with him tonight! SO, because I and my companions showed our faith in giving out hundreds and hundreds of invitations over the course of a month and a half, God sent many new people to teach our way. So so grateful :) (Seriously, God has sent us SO MANY PEOPLE. We have 8 first lessons set up for this week...8 FIRST LESSONS! 8 new people wanting to meet and talk! God is so good. God is soooo so good. He takes care of His work.)

We also met with a really cool guy from Malaysia this week. He asked us to take his picture in old town last Monday, then he took our picture. We ended up teaching him about the Book of Mormon on the street right there, then he came to meet with us and the elders in the church. He had lots of great questions and is excited to come to know if the Book of Mormon is true. He prayed at the end for the ability to "decipher" if the book is from God. Such a good question that everyone needs to find out for themselves. They can’t just trust us! People can find out for themselves that God is real, that He loves us, and that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are true! The man said he respected us and what we do, and thinks it’s really cool that we are all out here on missions. That’s always fun to hear, especially after being persecuted and hated by other people a lot every day because that’s the nature of being a representative of Jesus Christ. “But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore, they shall not hurt [her], although [she] shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal [her], for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.” (3 Nephi 21:10) I’m grateful that Christ heals my heart when I am "marred." :)

Funnies:

The funniest moment happened this week when Sister Nelson and I laughed SO HARD for about 35 minutes straight quoting "Hot Rod." Good times, good times :)

THE SUN CAME OUT!!!

We were broke, so the elders made us 

sandwiches for lunch. They are awesome!

Culture:

Christmas is 3 days long here in Estonia! It is marked on the calendar as December 24-26, but the biggest day they all celebrate is December 24 (so today!). It’s been super fun to just tell everyone, "Häid jõule! Häid jõule! Merry Christmas!" I even yell it across the street at people! Hahaha. 

Old Town

Spiritual thought:

This week is the #LightYourFaith week for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' #LightTheWorld campaign, and I am so excited!! This week, I invite anyone who wants to join me to wake up 15 minutes earlier to study the scriptures and pray a little bit longer. I know that as we each strive to light our faith just a little bit brighter this week, we will feel Christ’s spirit and love filing our lives even more. 

You know, sometimes in Estonia being surrounded by atheists who tell me I’m crazy for believing in God makes me doubt. Sometimes Satan tries to tell me believing in God is like believing in Santa Clause. 

BUT NO.  When those inevitable moments of doubt come, I "doubt my doubts before I doubt my faith." I recall all the moments I have prayed to God and felt Him talk to me. I recall the moments like this week when He has placed certain people in my path to talk to. I recall all the moments I have felt the Holy Ghost testify to my soul that the Book of Mormon is true. I recall all the moments in lessons that I have testified as a representative of Jesus Christ that Christ lives and He loves us. 

Nope, God is not like Santa Clause. God is a real person with flesh and bone. He know us, He loves us, and He guides our lives. He is our Father, and we are His children. I know that, and I am seeking earnestly to share that with as many people who will listen here on the streets and busses of Estonia.

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace. (And Merry Christmas!)

Õde Smith-Driggs

Mormon 9:21 - Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.