"You Say" - February 21, 2022

Oh, hello, hello, everyone!!! It was a wonderful week and the Lord is so good to us!

We started the week off with some tracting on Tuesday! We met a lot of very nice people who asked us to come back the next day. So! What did we do? We went back on Wednesday! The first person we had a lesson with was Paul. He has just recently wanted to have God back in his life. He attends a few of the local churches. We began teaching him the Restoration and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. We then set up to come again on Saturday! When we went by on Saturday we invited him to church! He said he wouldn't be able to come because he was getting baptized the next day. We were very bold in telling Paul his baptism would not be done by the proper authority. We invited him to pray that night about what we had told him and again invited him to church if he chose to come. I know the Spirit was speaking through my companions and I as we testified to Paul about the Priesthood Power and Authority that was restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Paul did not come to church yesterday. We are meeting with him again later this week! We are excited to teach him more about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

While we were knocking on Tuesday we met a nice man who wasn't interested but told us to knock on one of the homes next to his. So we did! A nice boy answered the door and asked us to come back on Wednesday! When we went back we were welcomed in! And that is how we met Eva and Landon! Eva is a very sweet grandma and Landon is her grandson! Eva talked to us about her background and how she was always very impressed with our religion. She said that if she was to join a religion it would be ours! We were very excited to teach her! The Spirit was definitely present as we began with the Restoration. When we got to Joseph Smith we asked if they had heard of him before. Landon said he had! We were a little nervous because people often hear false things about Joseph Smith. BUT! Landon then said, "Isn't he a friend of Jesus?" OH MY GOODNESS! YES!!!! Landon was right!!! We then became very excited! We taught them the First Vision and how Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We invited them to read from the Book of Mormon and invited them to church! We are going by again on Wednesday this week! We are super excited!

Ok, a little thought from me. Part of being a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is also helping people understand that we are regular people. There really isn't anything super special about us! We believe in God. We believe that He is our loving Heavenly Father. We believe that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to show us how to live, return Home to Him and suffer, die and rise again on the third day. We believe in the Holy Ghost, also called the Holy Spirit. We are a Christian denomination. The only difference is in some of our beliefs. We know that after Christ and His apostles were killed the Priesthood Power and Authority were taken from the earth. This power is the authority to act in Christ's name and be His mouthpiece here on earth. This power was restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He helped bring about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a Restoration, not a Reformation. I would invite anyone who reads this to pray and "ask God, [our Heavenly Father], in the name of Christ, if these things are not true,..." (Moroni 10:4). I promise that if you do, the Spirit will testify of the truthfulness of this message. But! You must ask with a sincere heart, truly wanting to know. I know you will receive an answer.

Casey! We had scheduled to meet with him yesterday at 5 but during church he messaged and said he would need to reschedule. Later that day we were driving home from having dinner with the Bakers! I was driving and kept being directed to take the back roads home, instead of the main highway. So, I did! As I turned right onto one of the roads I realized we were going to drive past Casey's home! The thought, "Stop and knock his door" crossed my mind. But, me being a human, kinda laughed it off. As we were passing his home I told my companions in a joking way that we should knock it. But all the lights were off and we decided it was too late. We pulled into our driveway and were sitting there for a minute. I pulled out my phone and saw he had messaged 10 minutes earlier! He said we was available to meet if it wasn't too late! WHAT?! That is why you always listen to the Spirit! It was only 7 pm so we drove back and had a lesson with him! He has been reading from the Book of Mormon and wanted to know if he was supposed to be feeling something as he read. He again talked about his faith and how we doesn't feel he is getting anything. We opened up the Book of Mormon to Ether 12:6 which states, "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." If you hope to have faith, you have faith. Don't become angered that you can't see it yet! You have to show you have faith to see the miracles. If you are shown miracles without faith, would you believe in them? You have to have a "trial of your faith" and then you will gain the witness. Casey really loved this scripture. We also showed him Moroni 10:3-5 (partly quoted above) which promises that if you read the Book of Mormon, and then pray sincerely about it, the Holy Ghost will testify to you of it's truthfulness. We invited Casey to pray before and after reading each day and he said he would! He asked why we hadn't asked him too last week! Sometimes we just get very excited about people wanting to hear the beautiful message of the gospel that we forget things. Haha!

On Sunday we had a lesson with Jenica! She is so amazing! We talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We shared an analogy with her of how it works. We are all cups with water inside. Each time we mess up a little bit of dirt is added to the water. When we repent and ask for forgiveness our cup of water is poured through a filter. The filter is Jesus Christ's Atonement. He filters out the dirt and makes our water clear once again. The best part is that we can be poured through that filter as many times as we need! There is no limit! The Saviors Sacrifice is always there for us! He wants us to use it and become clean! Jenica seemed to understand what we taught! After the lesson we asked if she would be willing to say a closing prayer! And she did! So amazing!!! Please pray of her and her family, everyone!

Song of the Week: "You Say" by Lauren Daigle. We are going to change gears a little. I love this song. I hadn't heard it until I came out on my mission! Wednesday was a tough day for me but this song brought peace. It doesn't matter what others think of us. The only thing that matters is our standing before God. He loves each of us and if we are following His commandments and living good lives then others opinions don't matter. Heavenly Father loves us! And so does Jesus Christ!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Talk to y'all next Monday!

-Sister Sariah Francis

Pictures!!!