I learned a good lesson this week about being humble. We had a zone conference (a meeting with our mission president and about 36 other missionaries) and we were trained on some more of the new material from Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel (our guide to missionary work - new and improved :)
We spent the morning talking about goal-setting, and I was humbled to say the least. Many of the things President Howes talked about seemed to be a direct chastisement for me. It kind of brought me to a low, and made me realize a lot of the things I needed to do differently. It was eye-opening to say the least and kind of painful to hear.
The best part of the experience though was that during the afternoon session of the training, my heart was softened and my mind open for revelation. I received many promptings from the spirit to enable me to set some new goals for myself, and for my area. I received specific inspiration for some of our investigators, as well as promptings concerning some things that I need to do more diligently (some not even directly related to the training).
Sometimes the Lord brings us down to the depths of humility so that he can raise us back up and tell us the things he needs us to hear. I also saw this pattern this week in my Book of Mormon reading in Ether 2. The brother of Jared was chastened by the Lord for three hours because he had forgotten to call on his name. My chastening was rough, but I think it's safe to say it wasn't as intense as this was for him! But the brother of Jared responded well... he was humbled, and repented, and because of his willingness to follow the will of the Lord he received revelation on how to build the barges and cross the ocean.
We have been teaching two young girls (Irene (12) and Ariana (8)) whose grandma is a member. We have just about come to the end of the lessons with them and the natural step for most investigators would be for them to be baptized, but their parents (divorced) have said that can't happen. We talked about this with our ward mission leader and together we decided we needed to approach the mother, Carol, (whom they live with) and see if we could dig up some of her doubts.
We were kind of nervous for this conversation, but it ended up going NOTHING like we had planned. Instead of being cold or stand-offish, Carol completely opened up to us, and even started crying as she described some of the difficulties she has been having. She told us about her "come to Jesus moment" that she recently experienced and the stress that has been weighing on her mind. She knows what she needs to do, but doesn't feel like she has the strength to do it.
We were able to talk to her about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and how no matter what she is going through right now, the things we want to teach her will bless her life! She didn't accept the missionary lessons, but she also didn't say no. It was hard to see and feel her pain (she is an incredibly strong woman), but I recognized that the Lord has been preparing her to finally accept the gospel (her mom has been a member for 16 years). The Lord chastens us because he loves us (Helaman 15:3) but he does it so we will come to him (1 Nephi 16:39, Ether 12:27) We are praying that she will now let us teach her and allow peace come into her life through the gospel.
Remember that when you are chastened, or experience a trial - make it a "come to Jesus moment" and think about what you need to do to align your will with his more perfectly with His. Then He will bless you with personal, relevant, revelation for yourself and your family, as well as the temporal and spiritual blessings you need. "Be thou humble in thy weakness... and the Lord thy God shall teach thee." (Hymns, 130).
Love always,
Hermana Richelle Ouellette
Picture: Valentine's Day--The remains of cookies taken to a district meeting!
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