hello all my beautiful people!
this week was pretty "normal," as normal as it can get being a missionary...
this week we were able to work a lot with part-member families, which is awesome to get some serious face-time with the members of their families who are not members of the church because they usually have great potential.
the first family we visited was the family of one of our returning less-actives. her husband is pagan, and her daughter and other son are not members. in the past, the husband was always nice to us, but kind of like, "i'm here now please leave." monday night we had a family home evening with them and played a game that the family really loves. after that, everything changed! we called the home phone later on in the week, and after saying who we were, the husband said, "oh, this is BROTHER smith and when are you coming over?" our jaws dropped when we heard him refer to himself as brother and i think i heard the hallelujah chorus start to sing a little bit when he asked us when we were coming over again...
the other part-member family we visited this week was our less-active i talked about last week who received a blessing and was sad her husband is not a member. before our lessons, we always pray in the car. during our prayer we felt inspired to ask that her husband could be present for the lesson, even though he usually walks the dogs and does yardwork while we are visiting his wife. this time, while he did not sit with us at the table, he sat down on the couch in the same room to do some work on the computer (thank you cold weather!) but about 2 minutes into the lesson, he was actively participating! we were able to have a great lesson on how we should follow the example of Jesus Christ, even/especially when others around us are not. it was a really great lesson, especially because he had been having trouble with some people at his work. prayers are answered and miracles happen people!
i know i've expressed it many times, but i'm so grateful to be here in ottawa. it's weird being a missionary here compared to how it was in quebec city just because everything is different, but i know i need to be here. i've learned more here surrounded by the green pastures and farmlands, basically the middle of nowhere, than i could have anywhere else so far, and my mission has just begun. i know that Heavenly Father picked this place for me so i could learn to serve Him better through helping His people here.
I read a talk this week that i LOVE. it's called "The First Great Commandment" by Elder Holland. in the talk, elder holland describes the experiences of the apostles after the death of Jesus Christ and how they were unsure of what to do. when Christ was resurrected, He came to his disciples again and told them that once they were called as apostles, they were to always be apostles, disciples, and examples of Him. in my favorite part of the talk, elder holland describes how the apostles went fishing again, and again Christ tells them to cast their nets over the side of the boat, and then Christ asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him, and this is what elder holland describes in his talk,
" Peter said for the third time, “Lord, … thou knowest that I love thee.”
To which Jesus responded (and here again I acknowledge my nonscriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: “Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.”
"What I need are disciples, and I need them forever." it may have taken me many years to get to this point, to be here on my mission, but after all that i know, all the love i have felt from my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ, i cannot ever deny what i know. i will strive every day to be worthy of the name i wear on a little black plaque over my heart.
i love you all!
love,
sista e-paine
pictures:
1-3 parlaiment in ottawa
4. don't worry mom i was at a stoplight
5. sister dexter likes to take selfies in the car
6. thanks for the package mom i love the starburts
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