The Refiner's Fire.......January 11, 2016

Baby it's cold outside!

This week was pretty good but as you can tell, it was not without its struggles. As is with life. But that is okay.

Monday we had Sisters p-day and I am an idiot and didn't take any pictures again. I am a worm. A worthless worm. Just kidding but it was super fun. We did skittle bowling. Which is every skittle color is a different type of bowling. So you pick a skittle before you bowl and you have to do that, like granny style, backwards, under the leg, etc. It was pretty fun. Then we had a pretty upsetting lesson with one of our investigators that wanted to be baptized. Now she doesn't. But we saw her again and she is doing better. And she came to Church so that is something. We are probably going to start all over again with her and just try to help her remember why she wanted to in the first place. Life is just getting in the way for her and she cant really see the good. This has been happening a lot with everyone in this area right now which is a little interesting. But it just makes me think about how we need to remember our Savior always!! Remember Him and put God first and everything else will fall into place. It is not going to be easy but it will be worth it in the end, if you truly love God and trust in Him.

Tuesday was pretty good. We did some service and had a pretty good lesson that was not planned with a less active member. And it really got me thinking about putting our burdens on Christ. He wants to take them from us. I shared in Matthew 11:39, I think, where it talks about that. He knows everything we are going through. Let Him take those from you.

Wednesday was great. We found a new investigator and had a pretty good lesson that was super simple so it was good. He is Catholic right now and we are not too sure he is super golden or anything but there could be some potential. We also saw John Sepp and he is just the funniest old man. I just love him. He also is trying to get me to be a cop after my mission... yeah, that's not happening. But then he said we were the cops for Christ and it was kind of funny to think about. We are going around trying to make the world a better place and bring people the truth so it kind of makes sense. 

Thursday was a very good day. Very spiritual. We had an amazing zone meeting and I learned a ton. We talked about confidence in our calling and having a vision for the future of who you want to be. Then we talked about how we need to give people a clear choice so that they understand our purpose. It was very inspiring. So much work to do. Then we talked with a less active member and he is so cool. He is from Ethiopia and just has so much love for God. And he came to church too. So cool. Then we got in contact with one of our other investigators, David. That was a very spiritual lesson. Everything he said tied back to the Restoration and we had answers for him. It was a very inspired lesson. It made me feel so good. Sadly he didn't come like he said he would but that is OK, next time.

Saturday we had a blitz in our area. So our district just came to work in our area for an hour. We found quite a bit of potentials and so that was super awesome. Then we had to drop an investigator. Sad... But its OK. There are other people that are prepared. We just have to find them. Then we went on an exchange for the rest of the day and that was so good. I was with Sister Ahokava in her area and she is just awesome. We almost lost our toes to the cold while tracting but it was an adventure. But we also had the coolest, most spiritual experience ever. We were teaching one of their investigators and the spirit was so strong during that lesson. And it strengthened my testimony so much. We were talking about faith to start cause that is what he read about and he told us that he just decided to stop drinking coffee. They hadn't even talked about that yet. He just said that it felt right and it was good. SO COOL!! I wanted to cry right there. But then we taught the Plan of Salvation and holy cow, that was awesome too. I learned so much from that lesson. I know that it is true. It just makes so much sense. But then we invited him to be baptized and he said yes before we even finished asking him the question. I about died. I was so overwhelmed with the spirit, it took all my energy to not cry like a little baby. It was just what I needed that day. It was such an amazing experience and just made me want to teach everyone in the world. But it also made me realize how important the Spirit is in this work. It is so good, I can't even describe!

Anyway the struggle boat is so real, but remember Jesus is the captain. 

I love you so much and miss you tons. Hope you have a wonderful week. I love hearing about all the wonderful things that are going on. God is real!!

Much love, Sister Richards