On Monday I said the most horrible goodbye of my life. Cosmo
left us
for Brooklyn and we will miss her like crazy. I cried harder on that
day than I did when I said bye to Travis. Sorry babe. Good thing
getting back to our area is on a straight road with no turn offs cause
this spring chicken would have been lost before we left the mission
office parking lot. Of course in typical missionary miracle style
everyone we planned to see that night actually went through and we had
a good start to the transfer! Okay I hope everyone has some idea of
how much I exaggerate in these letters and how sarcastic I keep
it when I'm writing. Like seriously, if you believe half the filth I
say there's something wrong with you. Anyways.
My comp Sista Cox: she is the most hysterical person in the world.
She's got the Cosmo sass but I feel like she's got my awkwardness
(Cosmo didn't has an ounce of awkward in her. poor thing.) so Sister
Cox and I really feel each other and I feel the homeschool jungle
freak come out more when I'm around her but oh well! I have been so
blessed with companions who are normal. We have had some good laughs
already and I know it'll continue as we work together. She helps me be
more brave because I'm supposed to take the reins I guess so we have
actually been handing out Books of Mormon left and right! We are
trying to find on our way to and from appointments because we never
really have time to just go out and fearless or knock doors which is
also a blessing cause I don't wanna get kidnapped by some fetcher who
just got out of a dollar van on beach 22nd. Oh but Sister Cox is
seriously the bomb and I love her. She has so many good ideas, she
suggested we stop by someone's house and it was golden, and everything
she says in our lessons is spot-on, she made me buy tuna and we have
been eating these delish tuna wraps like every day which saves money
cause I don't have to buy fish oil pills! That literally had nothing
to do with anything so I'm just gonna ends this part now.
I can't even deal with how many lessons we have had in the last 5
days. A lot of them are with the members because we can't get them to
come to church every week, they come like 1-2 a month and when you
have a branch our size you know somebody's cat is gonna get chapped
that the attendance has been knocked in half when people don't show up
cause they are on Mott Ave buying freakin bodegas or something. But we
have had some really good recent convert/less active lessons and we
are hoping the attendance will rise. Our members really are so great,
especially at doing missionary work, some of them just kill me how
awesome they are. And we only had caterpillars once this week so that
was a plus. Pretty soon we're gonna be a "plus" if we don't stop
getting fed so much.
We did lots of service, some for Francis and some for our girl Erica
who is getting baptized in a couple weeks. We looked up like 7
referrals too! Who said people in NY weren't friendly? People invited
us right in and we chatted up a storm at almost every stop. Belle
Harbor is seriously the coolest community of people. They seriously
just mad chill on their stoop all day long and they love it when we
come over to do a "bible reading" lol sometimes I feel so sneaky. We
can teach someone 3 lessons and they don't even know it. But it's
good, The Lord hastens his work in his time, and I know that the
biggest part of that is connecting families, in this life and in the
next.
Ok can I just take a second to vent. Ever since I've started driving
every day things that didn't used bug me about New York drivers are
really starting to. What just rips the fur right off my cat is these
freaking dollar vans. They are these 15-passenger Fords (that's the
real problem) and they follow the bus routes so you can take them if
you are a cheap or "common" person. They are merciless. They pride
themselves on getting their passengers to the bus stop before the bus
gets there so they will cut off any and every other car to get what
they want. Something New York people pride themselves on is this
motto: "I want it, I want it NOW, and I want it again" well I think
it's hysterical because that sounds like something a 3-year-old would
say but they think it's like this intense rat race of getting every
possible worthless thing that is out there and making it theirs,
whether they need it or not. Too bad they get so caught up in it they
don't have time for things that actually matter in life. Okay I'm done
venting.
Sis Cox and I had to speak in church on Sunday. When President asked
me to speak I knew exactly what I wanted to talk about, mostly because
of what I have been studying lately, but also cause we were jammin out
to the scripture power cd in the Subaru and the wise man built his
house on the rock just really tugs my heart strings every time. I
talked about how we worship but I guess I'll just attach the talk
instead of writing it all over again. Don't worry it wasn't actually
that boring, I had some good jokes and stories throughout, I told a
story and I was talking a little about the bus and oh my heck, they were dying.
for Brooklyn and we will miss her like crazy. I cried harder on that
day than I did when I said bye to Travis. Sorry babe. Good thing
getting back to our area is on a straight road with no turn offs cause
this spring chicken would have been lost before we left the mission
office parking lot. Of course in typical missionary miracle style
everyone we planned to see that night actually went through and we had
a good start to the transfer! Okay I hope everyone has some idea of
how much I exaggerate in these letters and how sarcastic I keep
it when I'm writing. Like seriously, if you believe half the filth I
say there's something wrong with you. Anyways.
My comp Sista Cox: she is the most hysterical person in the world.
She's got the Cosmo sass but I feel like she's got my awkwardness
(Cosmo didn't has an ounce of awkward in her. poor thing.) so Sister
Cox and I really feel each other and I feel the homeschool jungle
freak come out more when I'm around her but oh well! I have been so
blessed with companions who are normal. We have had some good laughs
already and I know it'll continue as we work together. She helps me be
more brave because I'm supposed to take the reins I guess so we have
actually been handing out Books of Mormon left and right! We are
trying to find on our way to and from appointments because we never
really have time to just go out and fearless or knock doors which is
also a blessing cause I don't wanna get kidnapped by some fetcher who
just got out of a dollar van on beach 22nd. Oh but Sister Cox is
seriously the bomb and I love her. She has so many good ideas, she
suggested we stop by someone's house and it was golden, and everything
she says in our lessons is spot-on, she made me buy tuna and we have
been eating these delish tuna wraps like every day which saves money
cause I don't have to buy fish oil pills! That literally had nothing
to do with anything so I'm just gonna ends this part now.
I can't even deal with how many lessons we have had in the last 5
days. A lot of them are with the members because we can't get them to
come to church every week, they come like 1-2 a month and when you
have a branch our size you know somebody's cat is gonna get chapped
that the attendance has been knocked in half when people don't show up
cause they are on Mott Ave buying freakin bodegas or something. But we
have had some really good recent convert/less active lessons and we
are hoping the attendance will rise. Our members really are so great,
especially at doing missionary work, some of them just kill me how
awesome they are. And we only had caterpillars once this week so that
was a plus. Pretty soon we're gonna be a "plus" if we don't stop
getting fed so much.
We did lots of service, some for Francis and some for our girl Erica
who is getting baptized in a couple weeks. We looked up like 7
referrals too! Who said people in NY weren't friendly? People invited
us right in and we chatted up a storm at almost every stop. Belle
Harbor is seriously the coolest community of people. They seriously
just mad chill on their stoop all day long and they love it when we
come over to do a "bible reading" lol sometimes I feel so sneaky. We
can teach someone 3 lessons and they don't even know it. But it's
good, The Lord hastens his work in his time, and I know that the
biggest part of that is connecting families, in this life and in the
next.
Ok can I just take a second to vent. Ever since I've started driving
every day things that didn't used bug me about New York drivers are
really starting to. What just rips the fur right off my cat is these
freaking dollar vans. They are these 15-passenger Fords (that's the
real problem) and they follow the bus routes so you can take them if
you are a cheap or "common" person. They are merciless. They pride
themselves on getting their passengers to the bus stop before the bus
gets there so they will cut off any and every other car to get what
they want. Something New York people pride themselves on is this
motto: "I want it, I want it NOW, and I want it again" well I think
it's hysterical because that sounds like something a 3-year-old would
say but they think it's like this intense rat race of getting every
possible worthless thing that is out there and making it theirs,
whether they need it or not. Too bad they get so caught up in it they
don't have time for things that actually matter in life. Okay I'm done
venting.
Sis Cox and I had to speak in church on Sunday. When President asked
me to speak I knew exactly what I wanted to talk about, mostly because
of what I have been studying lately, but also cause we were jammin out
to the scripture power cd in the Subaru and the wise man built his
house on the rock just really tugs my heart strings every time. I
talked about how we worship but I guess I'll just attach the talk
instead of writing it all over again. Don't worry it wasn't actually
that boring, I had some good jokes and stories throughout, I told a
story and I was talking a little about the bus and oh my heck, they were dying.
They were all coming up to me
afterwards and asking me about it and they all wanna meet you mom and
dad they think it was the coolest thing ever. But anyways here's the
doctrinal part of what I said:
BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION IN WORSHIPING GOD BY THE WAY WE LIVE
When they were building the salt lake temple they discovered that
there were numerous cracks in the foundation, some thought they could
continue the building process, but President Brigham Young instructed
them to tear out the cornerstones and rebuild the foundation the right
afterwards and asking me about it and they all wanna meet you mom and
dad they think it was the coolest thing ever. But anyways here's the
doctrinal part of what I said:
BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION IN WORSHIPING GOD BY THE WAY WE LIVE
When they were building the salt lake temple they discovered that
there were numerous cracks in the foundation, some thought they could
continue the building process, but President Brigham Young instructed
them to tear out the cornerstones and rebuild the foundation the right
Show message history
As members of this church we sometimes get "cracks" in our foundations
which, if we don't tear out the damaged stone and rebuild, can
eventually lead to the rot and the eventual toppling of our
testimonies. What are some of the "cracks" that we see in our day?
I would submit that almost all people have a "crack" in their
foundation when it comes to the way they worship.
To worship means to have "intense love or admiration for" something.
The issue is not whether men shall worship, but who or what is to be
the object of their devotions and how they shall go about paying their
devotions to their chosen Most High.
There is no salvation in worshiping a false god. It does not matter
one particle how sincerely someone may believe that God is a golden
calf, or that he is an immaterial, uncreated power that is in all
things; the worship of such a being or concept has no saving power.
Men may believe with all their souls that images or powers or laws are
God, but no amount of devotion to these concepts will ever give the
power that leads to immortality and eternal life.
If a man worships a cow or a crocodile, he can gain any reward that
cows and crocodiles happen to be passing out this season.
If he worships the laws of the universe or the forces of nature, no
doubt the earth will continue to spin, the sun to shine, and the rains
to fall on the just and on the unjust.
But if he worships the true and living God, in spirit and in truth,
then God Almighty will pour out his Spirit upon him, and he will have
power to raise the dead, move mountains, entertain angels, and walk in
celestial streets.
To worship the Lord is to follow after him, to seek his face, to
believe his doctrine, and to think his thoughts.
It is to walk in his paths, to be baptized as Christ was, to preach
that gospel of the kingdom which fell from his lips, and to heal the
sick and raise the dead as he did.
To worship the Lord is to put first in our lives the things of his
kingdom, to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of
God, to center our whole hearts upon Christ and that salvation which
comes because of him.
It is to walk in the light as he is in the light, to do the things
that he wants done, to do what he would do under similar
circumstances, to be as he is.
To worship the Lord is to walk in the Spirit, to rise above carnal
things, to bridle our passions, and to overcome the world.
It is to pay our tithes and offerings, to act as wise stewards in
caring for those things which have been entrusted to our care, and to
use our talents and means for the spreading of truth and the building
up of his kingdom.
To worship the Lord is to be married in the temple, to have children,
to teach them the gospel, and to bring them up in light and truth.
It is to perfect the family unit, to honor our father and our mother;
it is for a man to love his wife with all his heart and to cleave unto
her and none else.
To worship the Lord is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their
affliction and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
It is to work on a welfare project, to administer to the sick, to go
on a mission, to go home teaching, and to hold family home evening.
To worship the Lord is to study the gospel, to treasure up light and
truth, to ponder in our hearts the things of his kingdom, and to make
them part of our lives.
It is to pray with all the energy of our souls, to preach by the power
of the Spirit, to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving.
To worship is to work, to be actively engaged in a good cause, to be
about our Father’s business, to love and serve our fellowmen.
It is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to comfort those that
mourn, and to hold up the hands that hang down and to strengthen the
feeble knees.
To worship the Lord is to stand valiantly in the cause of truth and
righteousness, to let our influence for good be felt in civic,
cultural, educational, and governmental fields, and to support those
laws and principles which further the Lord’s interests on earth.
To worship the Lord is to be of good cheer, to be courageous, to be
valiant, to have the courage of our God-given convictions, and to keep
the faith.
It is ten thousand times ten thousand things. It is keeping the
commandments of God. It is living the whole law of the whole gospel.
It is being an example to others in "spirit, in faith, in purity." (2 Tim. 4:12)
“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:8)
Helaman 5:12
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our
Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your
foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds,
yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his
mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to
drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the
rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation
whereon if men build they cannot fall.
But it was the greatest week ever and I just love it here so much!
The church is true.
Sister Wads
Pictures:
Transfer Meeting
#rockawayexit
An awesome package from Paula!
Sister Cox and I
Aaand our weekly planning sesh!
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