First off, CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING. I just feel so blessed to have a living prophet and apostles. It wasn't until I got here that I realized that I had always just taken that for granted. Being a missionary, I have seen the excitement that come into people's eyes when they hear, for the first time, that we have a living prophet. This week we spent almost every lesson talking about prophets. Let me just share some expressions I've gotten when telling them we have a LIVING prophet TODAY:
>"Wait, he is alive??? The 'living prophet' is ALIVE!!!!!" From a lady that has been a member for a good year. Haha then she hit her daughter and said "ANAK!" Or "Child!" There is a living prophet!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!" Hahahahaha
>"We have a living prophet? Ah sister, THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! I FINALLY KNOW THE TRUTH!!!" - from our investigator of 2 weeks.
>Our less active that is around 80 years old: "There is a living prophet?" Me: "YES! Why do you think we have a living prophet?" Him: "Because God loves us? Me: "YES!!!!!"
>"There is a living prophet?? I thought the last prophet was Moses!" From a lady that we just started teaching.
>"There is a prophet that is alive?? Wow, God DOES love us!!!" Said by our new investigator who was so excited to hear about our living prophet!!!!!!
Needless to say, we are blessed to have a prophet. What do you do to show your appreciation? I have an idea for you....watch Conference! Watch it and watch it and watch it again. Then watch it one more time for me.
I especially loved how much they stressed scripture study. I know that there is power in the scriptures. They scriptures are the guide to our crazy hectic lives. The Book of Mormon is true. Read it, ponder it, and pray to feel of it's truth. I know that Heavenly Father will answer you.
Well, in other news, this week I have been blessed to witness the mercy of the Lord. He is real. Honestly these past few weeks have been a tad bit challenging for me for different reasons. I felt like there was something missing in the work and found myself blaming everything...but myself. I started blaming my circumstances, my surroundings, everything, but hadn't looked inward for the solution. I quickly realized something my dad had said to me long ago was exactly what I needed to apply. He basically said, in short, "Sister Reategui, don't let other things keep you from being the best missionary you can possibly be." S/O to my Papi for his wise words. So, I quickly realized that I need to change my attitude. I can testify to you all that Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. He knows us and just wants to help us. We must rely on Him.
Since I've been out here, one of my favorite scriptures has become Ether 12:27, which says:
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."
HIS grace is sufficient for all. I have felt that as He has helped me make my weaknesses strong. We must come unto Him, as He teaches, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Well in other other news, we had a really great District Meeting/Interviews with President. In District Meeting, we focused on asking questions more when we teach. The Spirit was so strong in our District Meeting and was a testimony to me that we needed to really apply the things we learned. So, we did! In our lessons, we have been really trying to focus on the Spirit and ask questions that are from our Father in Heaven. I've really seen the power of this, as it helps those we teach really understand the things we share with them and apply it in their lives themselves. "People won't remember the things you say, but they will remember the way they felt." Tama talaga. NOt only in our teaching, but I have also seen the power of asking questions to myself as I study the scriptures. This is what Christ did as He taught, and He set the perfect example for all in all that He did. Well, we had the COOLEST lesson on Saturday when we fully relied on the Lord and only asked questions and testified!!!! We got there to the house of our investigator and planned to teach prophets. She hadn't really been progressing much, but had been slowly gaining a desire to read and come to church so we were still working with her. BUT, we got there and followed up on her reading and she was in 2nd Nephi chapter....31! Which is the amazing Doctrine of Christ. So we asked her about it and how she felt as she was reading it. She shared with us how much she loved it and we just kept asking questions about it. I don't even remember the exact questions we asked her because they really came from the Spirit, not my words at all. Then, all the sudden our investigator looked at us with tears in her eyes and said "Sisters, I really want to follow the example of being baptized. I think that will make me feel better about my life." OKAY PERFECT. So we extended baptism to her and she totally accepted! It was a really cool experience to say the least.
My interviews with President were really super great too. I know that our Mission President is inspired in all he does. As I told him of the things I was feeling, he said "Sister Reategui, I want you to continue to focus on being cleansed, purified, and changed by your mission. You will be used as a tool to help others time and time again. You are doing an outstanding job and I thank you for your service. I always feel safe no matter where I feel you need to be put here in the mission." AH. Exactly what I needed to hear. President Guanzon is great.
Ah, I wish I could share so much more with you all, but time is short. But here are some thoughts I loved from Conference:
--He suffered for us collectively, but also very, very individually.
--ALWAYS strengthen your conviction in Christ.
--Obedience brings us POWER
--What things does Christ's enabling power help me accomplish?
--Agency: God given gift to help us find our potential
--We must pray, then LISTEN
--Followers of Christ must be followers of His gospel
--Do the right things for the right reasons
--BE A SEEKER
--He who serves for something, is good for something. But he who serves for nothing, is good for nothing.
--Observe, then serve.
I hope you all know that you are each loved so much by our Heavenly Father. Do you feel that? Do you recognize Him in your lives? I pray that you all do.
I love you all and hope all is well with each one of you.
Nagmamahal,
Sister Reategui
pictures:
with my favorite tatay here, tatay Pablo. He is one spunky old man.
wahoo!!! one year in the field! the sisters totally surprised me with cake and carbonera pasta, my favorite!!!
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