Another week down in the Nyssa Oregon stake. It was an interesting one to be sure. It started out pretty great with finding a new investigator, Deborah, on Monday and helping her move on Tuesday and Wednesday. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and she was really excited to start reading it. We will be going back tonight to teach the Plan of Salvation. She is really interested in finding out what her purpose is here on earth and what happens after this life. She is pretty great. She is really kind and a little quirky. We had a ton of fun helping her move and are so thrilled to be sharing the gospel with our new friend! Thursday we had a lesson with one of our favorite investigators, Paul. He is an 80 year old Mexican man who is hilarious and smokes like a chimney. He just lost his wife in January is is feeling pretty lost. He is a little skeptical about the things we are teaching him, but he has been feeling the spirit, which is great. As we taught about eternal life, he asked us to do him a favor. So we told him we would do his favor if he would read a chapter in the Book of Mormon. He said he would, so we accepted his challenge. He asked us to go up to the cemetery (it is on the top of a hill just outside of town) and find his wife's grave and read the scripture on it, and come back and talk to him about that scripture next week. So we headed up to the grave yard and tried to follow his directions to where he said she would be... Of course we parked on the complete opposite side. We traversed the entire cemetery (remember, giant hill) until we finally found her stone. Literally the last one in the entire grave yard. It was quite the adventure. The scripture was 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Thoughts? Anyways, we got a tan and a workout...
And then there was Friday. We had an awesome zone training in the far off land of Weiser, Idaho. We talked about applying the doctrine of Christ in our lives and in our teaching. I learned a lot. Then we went to lunch. Remember when you all went to Canada and ate Chinese food there? Well, we went to a Chinese restaurant in Weiser. Same principle applies. It will be a LONG time until I can eat Chinese food again. And that was the end of Friday. We were both so sick that we barely made it home. It was rough. Saturday was a good day, though. We had Stake Conference in the evening and it was an awesome meeting! We had the temple president and his wife, President and sister Cannon, and Elder Paul B. Pyper of the 70 there to speak to us. Everyone gave really wonderful talks on ministering to others. Elder Pyper opened up the end of his talk to questions. This is where things get interesting/slightly sketchy. The first question goes something like this "Do you know when/how we will know where the final gathering place will be in Missouri before Christ comes?" Answer: "No... Don't ask Prophet questions to a 70." Next question: "What is the church's stance on teaching the gospel to Muslims?" Answer: "Teach them the gospel. It is true." Next question: "why can't I pull records from (some random country that sister Baker doesn't care)?" Answer: "I don't know". Welcome to the Jell-o Belt, my friends... This is where Sister Baker raises her hand and simply asks "How can we better serve and share the gospel with one another and the non-members around us?" To which we received a great answer. Elder Pyper talked about creating friendships and helping people feel loved. Members and non-members alike. Doing what your friends like to do and then inviting them to participate in things that you like to do (going to church, activities, FHE etc..) and then allowing them to make the choice to accept the invitation. Sharing the gospel with friends and neighbors is in love and actions, not in forcing something on someone. When people see and feel of the happiness that the gospel brings, they will naturally be drawn toward it. It was pretty cool to have a general authority instructing us to simply love one another. It helped me to realize how important it really is to just love people.
On Sunday, the meeting was all about "The worth of souls" D&C 18:10. The best talks were all given by the youth, of course. One young man talked about being able to bear his testimony by the spirit. It was extremely tender and sincere. The spirit abounded in this meeting and the presence of the spirit and even angels could be felt. It was amazing. We had some more fun Sunday evening as we went to visit the Ford family. Their cat/the neighborhood stray cat that lives under their porch was having kittens. Kinda gross if you ask me, but Sis. Aamodt loved it. She even helped deliver one. It was weird but kinda awesome. Afterward we went to have dinner with the Wheeler family. They are great and a ton of fun. Brother Wheeler really likes to build things, so he is building a mini Disneyland in their yard, just for fun. It is pretty cool. He built the train and station in the pics that Sis. Wheeler sent (Note from Meredith: I can't figure out how to get the pictures from my phone to the computer...hopefully they will be up soon). Kinda crazy, but I guess when you live in the middle of nowhere you have to do something to keep yourself entertained. Anyways, it was really a wonderful week. The gospel is still true. I still love it and love teaching it. God Speed.
Sister Baker
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