What an amazing week it's been!
We had splits with the Sister Training Leaders on Tuesday and I was with Sisar Crandall. We had a really great day learning to just slow down and take time where time is needed, which included camping out in the lobby of a kerrostalo (apartment building) and making phone calls for 45 minutes while we waited for the rain to stop. We also worked on avoiding the phrase "church representative" when we tell people why we're here in Finland, because that's not really why. We're here to share with people the things that are most important in our lives, such as the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the message that families are eternal, and that's what we focused on sharing with people when they asked why we're here.
On Friday we were in Tampere all day. We had a Zone Meeting in the morning, and then there was a language test for the whole zone. Then I had a language class for my MTC group (we have three kieli koulus, every 2-3 months or so, to gauge our progress with the language and go over things for which we might need help or clarification -- this was our group's last one), and that went until late afternoon. We didn't come back to Turku until about 8pm.
While in Tampere, though, Sisar Ross and I had interviews with President Watson. It was just such a sweet conversation where I could just be open and honest about things that were troubling me, which may not have been that serious, but it was really calming to just talk about them. There was a bit of a release of tension I didn't know I had been holding (missionary work isn't a cake walk -- it's hard, but it sure is worth it!). President Watson is such a wonderful man. He is so kind and full of the love of Christ, and he definitely lets the Spirit lead. It was just a really great interview.
Saturday was probably the most Spirit-guided day I've ever experienced as a missionary. We had a meeting with a potential, a young man from Africa, who has some very interesting views on the concept of Christianity -- for example, he really does't like the idea of organized religion, and he talked about how we put up heaven as a reward for ourselves for doing good, and he wants to take heaven out of the equation so that as he tries to live like Christ did; not for any ulterior motive. Which I guess is kind of the case, but if you take out heaven, you kind of take out God, and then what's the point? I have never felt so guided by the Spirit as to what to say as I did in that lesson. There is no way that the things I said could have come form me alone. A 20-year old girl doesn't come up with the things that came out of my mouth. It was amazing, and such a faith building experience that yes, the Lord will fill our mouths if we just open them and trust.
Later we had a lesson with a recent convert and we were talking about family history work, which transitioned naturally into the temple. I shared with him about how our family did my grandmother's temple work last year, and once again, I've never felt the Spirit testify so strongly to me about eternal families as it did then. It really brought tears to my eyes, and as you know, that doesn't usually happen for me. The Lord is really in our lives, and if I didn't know that before this week, I certainly do now.
How have you seen the Spirit guiding you this week? I'm interested to hear you responses :)
I hope you all have a wonderful week as you look for the hand of the Lord in your life. It's there, and it's guiding you! Stay shiny!
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
 |
| Biking with Sisar Crandall |
No comments:
Post a Comment