I hope you had a lovely week :)
We certainly did & ended it with the wonderful surprise that I am staying in Beaufort! I feel like there is still work for me to do here, so I wasn't caught of guard when I found out. Fortunately, I have at least 6 more blessed weeks serving with Sister Stacey in South Carolina!
This week we met a returning member for the first time. She is wonderful! When we arrived she immediately came outside to greet us with a huge smile! Haha she is so cute, she is from the Philippines and she always says, "yaaas seester" haha I love it! After we went in and sat down, she began to express her gratitude for the gospel and the blessings she has received from living it. Earlier that morning, I studied about Christ's Atonement, and God's justice and mercy. I thought about how He blesses each of us on condition of our obedience to His laws. She recognized that the gospel has made all the difference after she was baptized at the age of 27. She shared a story, about a boy she nannys, which really touched me. I will share what I remember from her story with y'all :)
Recently she received a 3 page letter from her sister that was full of lies and accusations. She couldnt understand why she wrote such things, but as she responded she noticed she was full of anger. After writing quite a bit, she put it away and decided she would finish later. (I find when I compulsively respond to conflict, I leave no time to understand from heavenly Fathers perspective. I imagine she considered what the outcome of her action would be and subconsciously made that decision.) One day while she was nannying, the boy waved around an inflated balloon with an eraser bouncing around inside of it. He approached her with it and asked her to watch. He then popped the balloon revealing the eraser and handed it to her. He proceeded to explain the eraser can fix any mistakes she has made! She did not want to take it from him, but he begged her to keep it. Still feeling wrong about taking it, she placed it on his desk before leaving. Later on she noticed something in her purse and realized he had snuck it in. She decided to keep it, she really loves that boy, and she knows he loves her.
As she shared her story, I imagined the balloon as each of us when we make mistakes. If we keep inside the shame we feel, eventually the effect will cause us to burst. The eraser reminded me of Christ's Atoning sacrifice. Each of us is entitled to the healing power of it and it is only our humility that will allow us to access its cleansing effect. The best part of her story was how badly he wanted her to have it, for no other reason than that he wanted to help her because he loves her! I think of the picture of Jesus Christ patiently waiting outside the door for us to let him in. If you have any doubt, I encourage you to read the scriptures. How many times is it recorded that the very hour a person turns to Christ, they are healed? No person can stray so far, that they may not be changed.
We discussed agency and the Sacrament and invited her to come to church! She invited us back to feed us real Phillipino food, so we went over last night and y'all she definitely knows how to cook! Last night I experienced a fraction of what it must feel like to serve in another country. She made so much food and kept urging us to "eat seester! Eat more seester! Seester eat!" Haha.
On Sunday I looked around for a recruit I invited to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon. When I saw him I noticed he was holding the Book in his lap between his hands and I felt so happy. It was so cute! I walked over to him and found out he actually read 2 chapters beyond what I invited him to! Recruits have about 5 minutes of devotional time a day, needless to say I was impressed. Later we taught him the Restoration and I felt the Spirit so strong. There is a love I feel when teaching a person's soul that I hope will stay with me beyond my mission.
We are teaching a 10 year old girl and she is seriously so intelligent. She always has so many questions and we are excited because she accepted November 3rd to be baptized :)
Matthew 8:13
"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."
I love y'all! I pray God is keeping you safe, I know He is mindful of you.
Love,
Sister Morrill
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