Thanks so much for the Pictures! That was so fun to see! I will try to send a few more to you after I finish writing if I still have time. Well it sounds like summer is in full swing with soccer tournaments, swimming lessons and house parties :) I'm glad you got my letter! I want to hear about how the FHE goes :)
Well this week has been an interesting one. Our roommates are Hermana Bishop and Hermana Dalley but this week Hermana Bishop went home. So our schedule was changed up a little this last week. Once Hermana Bishop left we were put in a temporary trio for 4 days with Hermana Dalley (who is spanish speaking) So this week we had to cover two areas with three missionaries. So that was interesting. When we went to the Spanish Branch and to their branch council and to some dinner appointments. So I was around a lot of Spanish this week! I was surprised by how much I could pick up from the conversation from the little bit of spanish I took freshman and Sophomore year. It made me want to learn!!
Ok random cool thing I discovered this week--New York has fireflies!! They are so cool! They only light up for a little bit at a time when they fly. I want to catch some :) Oh also, I was at a service project this week that was really fun. It was for a boy's Eagle Scout Project and the only people who came were missionaries! Which is kinda sad...but we had a lot of fun seeing some other missionaries and chatting. We cut back branches and laid down bark chips for a walking trail. The family's son fed us both breakfast and lunch! it was nice! They only bad thing is that I got poison ivy on my arms.... yeah. Not fun. I have been using some lavender on it to sooth it and I also have some hydrocortisone cream that I've been using. It only spread to my arms and that's it. So yeah. It's itchy, but it could be worse.
So something awesome happened this week. One rainy day a month or so ago sister Awerkamp and I went and wrote 2 letters to less actives in our Branch. They only had a PO box so there was no way of contacting them except through letter. We just wrote explaining who we were and what we did. We shared a quote from President Uchtdorf's talk from conference about the Hope of God's light. We promised that the gospel If Jesus Christ can help them with whatever they are going through and that it will bring them peace. We gave our number and the address of the church and what time we meet. So this week we got a call for the lady that I wrote! Her name is Angela and she is from Jamaica. She called us tell us that she got our letter and that she was going to be in church on sunday! Apparently she had been offended from a Sunday school lesson at church. It was on a documentary about when the First Presidency announced that any worthy man could hold the Priesthood. But she told us on the phone that she missed coming to church and that she wanted to come back. And we saw her this sunday!! She told us that she received our letter 3 weeks ago but that she did not want to open it. But then her son from Colorado visited and told her that she should read it. So she did and here she was at church! We are meeting with her on Friday so hopefully we can help her to start coming to church again regularly.
This week our branch President was released and Bob Autrey was called. I felt the spirit so strong as the Stake President talked about how they all discussed and prayed together and felt that President Autrey should be the new Branch President. We are diminishing as a Branch. It is tempting to look at how everyone is leaving and to doubt and question how it will all work out. But I really felt assurance and at peace as President Autrey was called to lead our small little Branch. I felt the Spirit testify to my heart that God is aware of us and aware of what we need. I know that God sees the bigger picture and that he has a plan. I have already seen how the timing of Vasu's baptism has been perfect. He is on fire right now and he is so excited to receive the Priesthood, be a home teacher and accept a calling. He is willing to go out with the missionaries to help teach and he has just been awesome. I know that the Lord will continue to provide for our branch. And I am so excited to meet with President Autrey and to hear about his plans for missionary work in the Branch :)
This week Jessica came back from her trip and we were able to teach her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a great lesson! We taught her last time about the plan of Salvation and how the only way that we can return to be with God again is because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Christ suffered and paid for our sins on the cross and then on the third day, He overcame death. Because of this we can 1. be made clean of our sins and 2. we can all be resurrected and live again. Then in this lesson we got to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how we can gain access to the atonement. How can we be made clean of our sins? How can we receive strength in our lives? When Christ suffered for our sins, he paid the debt of our sins in full. But now he has set new terms. And that is for us to 1. Exercise faith in His name 2. Repent of our sins with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. 3. Be baptized as Christ was. And for those who have entered into the covenant of Baptism--to keep those promises that you made to God by renewing your baptismal covenants weekly through partaking of the sacrament. 4. Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and 5. Endure to the end. These are the terms that he has set. And there is no other way, nor name by which we can be saved. As we talked to Jessica we helped her to see how she has already exercised her faith (being willing to have us teach her, coming to church, praying occasionally, reading the scriptures occasionally) and we taught her how she can exercise even more faith. We told her to continue to do what she already was and then to strive to pray and read from the scriptures daily. She also never realized that repentance should be a daily thing. We helped her to understand that we all come short and that we sin every day when we go against God's will. We taught her how asking for forgiveness and repenting daily will bring an enabling and sanctifying power into her life. In humble prayer as we repent, that is truly how we gain access the atonement of Jesus Christ. He has the power to forgive us and he can also grant us enabling power to strengthen us and our capacities so that we can do more than what we could on our own. Then we talked about how she has already been baptized and that her sins have been washed away. But we sin daily, so how can we be made clean again? As she partakes of the sacrament, she can be made clean weekly by renewing her baptismal covenant to God that she will strive to keep his commandments and always remember Him. It was a really good lesson. We taught her right before church on Sunday and she was able to go into sacrament meeting with a new understanding of what the sacrament bread and water represent and why we partake of it. It was a really powerful experience as we saw her partake of the sacrament for the first time in years. :)))
Oh man, it is so great to be a missionary! There really is no greater joy!! I love sharing the Gospel with others. I love watching it click for them when they finally see the bigger picture. I love sharing my testimony with others. I just love it! It is hard work with plenty of disappointment and frustration but the joy you feel as others come into the Gospel of Christ is amazing! I wouldn't trade it for the world! The most important thing I have learned so far on my mission is that I need to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my own life and allow it to change me. I am learning more and more each day :) I love you all so much! I hope that all is well!
Love, sister Lounsbury
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