Monday, May 5, 2014

mud. rain. & eternal families 4/28/2014

Hey fam bam! how is everyone?! hopefully super good and super awesome because there's no reason to be sad! 
We had transfers this week and got to go into the city! it was crazy how busy it was, i've gotten so used to this small little town! We got to see the arch (just see it, not go in it or anything) and busch stadium! Transfer meeting was so fun because i got to see sister Amos! (my mtc comp) She is so great. It was sad saying bye to sister Huppi but I knew we wouldn't be together forever and she is needed in her new area! My new companion is sister Leavitt! She's from Bunkerville, Nevada (its in the news right now, a bunch of cow business or something) but she has two transfers left and is a super hard worker! she wants to finish out her mission really strong, and what better place to do that than in the Centralia ward?! 
But we've had a pretty good first week together! We made a goal that we want to baptize a family this transfer. and guess what? we're teaching THREE families! what the heck! The Lord answers prayers! it's so great. Whenever we meet with them you can just see them progressing towards becoming an eternal family. and what greater joy could you have to not only live with your family again but God also. and to have that sealed on this Earth by the priesthood!? what more could you want in life?! no seriously, like try to answer that question because i honestly don't think there's an answer. 
One of the families we are teaching is the Felix and Shawna! they have 5 daughters and they're so fun. I think I might have told you about them last week so this is probably just an update, but they are amazing. And they totally felt the spirit at church yesterday! 
This past week we had a few moments where luck was just not on our side.. 
moment number one:
We wanted to go visit a less active who live out in the forest. no i'm serious, she literally lives in a forest with no houses within 3 miles of her. so we typed her address into the GPS and start driving. well, the GPS wanted us to drive through a corn field road (a road that is made for tractors) well it didn't look tooooo bad, so we decided to go for it. That lasted for about 20 feet before we were completely stuck in the mud. so a member came and picked us up and 4 hours later the bishop had to get his tractor out there to pull the car out. (that means bishop had to drive the tractor on the road, hilarious). we are okay, the car is okay and we learned a lesson:
if the GPS tells you to drive through a corn field. don't do it. 

moment number two:
we accidently left the windows cracked open during church. and it rained. awe$ome.

and of course I learned something this week! 
So Elder Holland gave a talk in Price Utah and he talked a lot about "just getting big" and he says over and over how the church needs people who are ready to stand up and lead. theres a part in it where he talks about how God loves broken things. and let me tell you, it's true. a lot of the times we meet people who will tell us they are too broken for God to love them. we were talking to someone the other day and this is how our conversation went
them: I used to think God loved me but now i've done too much, I just know He never would"
me: well how do you think you can change that?
them: I'm not really sure..
me: you need to repent
them: *kind of laughing* nahh, he wouldn't care.
me: no seriously, you need to repent because He does love you, even now. you just don't know it yet.
after walking away from them, i just thought "what the heck, did i just straight up tell someone to repent?" but then I remembered that i did because the spirit told me to. and that's okay because if Christ were there, He probably would've said the same thing. Nothing will change in someones life until they decide to, and sometimes that comes from being called to repentance. and that's part of a missionaries purpose. no that doesn't mean i'm going to go running around Salem, Illinois calling people to repentance. but I will if the spirit prompts me to and if it is out of complete compassion, because that is how the gospel changes lives. through complete repentance and compassion. and it is okay if we are a little broken, but that brokeness whether it be a broken heart or broken family because through Christ, it can be made whole again. Elder Holland then says how it is brokeness that makes us whole:
broken clouds nourish the earth, broken earth helps grain grow, broken grain makes bread, broken bread (the sacrament) nourishes us. 
i love that concept. 

I love you all and i hope you all remember this week that it's okay to be a little broken, as long as you look to Christ to be made whole, after all He is the Great Physician! 

i love you and so does Jesus

sister oberfield

No comments:

Post a Comment