elders vs. sisters (March 24, 2014)
Hello My Dears. I just have to say, I LOVE reading your emails every week! I love hearing how all of you are doing! It's so great! And this week I definitely needed all of your love and support! Your emails were what I needed to read this week.
I absolutely LOVE this gospel! I LOVE the fact that it changes peoples' lives. And that we can SEE that change with our own eyes. I fully believe in prayer; they are answered. And we need to be GRATEFUL for the answers that we receive-- I've really learned that a lot these last few months as well. I feel as though I should share this story. (If I've already shared it, I'm real sorry, I just feel the need to share it again) So sorry that this will be a longer email.
So this all started a while back when EVERYTHING exciting was coming about back home. You know, Addie being pregnant, Shaye getting married, Clancy working on mission papers; all that jazz. And that darn adversary was working on me. And I was having my little pity party about "missing" all of those things. And then one day, in the midst of my little party, the thought came to me, "You know, you prayed for these things to happen." And I thought about that. For a long time. Because I had been praying for those things to happen-- expecting Heavenly Father to follow through and make them happen. Every night for quite a few years, I had been praying that Addie would be able to have a baby. That Shaye would find someone that she loved that she could marry. And that Clancy would prepare to go on a mission. And then guess what. They started happening. My prayers were coming true. AND I WAS MAD ABOUT IT. Now, everything is 20-20 in retrospect. But as I sat there that day, I realized how silly I was being. Heavenly Father was giving my family exactly what I had asked for. So after that realization, I flipped my prayer around and thanked my Heavenly Father for the marvelous blessings He was giving my family! It was such an awesome experience.
And then I forgot about it. It's okay. I'm basically Laman and Lemuel here. I had to be taught again. By a VERY loving and patient Heavenly Father. Things have been going pretty well here. But it's kind of slow because we basically opened the focus on the north end of the ward boundary, but things have been going SO well! We've seen so many miracles this week! Buuuuuut. Satan is really good at his job and he sometimes gets to us a little bit. The Elders in our ward have had some REALLY amazing experiences and I got a little bit of green jealousy because Sister McCoy and I worked SO hard and nothing really came of it for us. But now almost ALL of the families that we were working with are starting to progress! I'm really excited for them, but I have to admit, that was REALLY hard to hear about for the first little bit. But then I was rebuked in my personal study and I realized that sometimes we are called to nourish the ground for a season and then somebody else will come and continue to nourish the fruit until it is ready to be picked. And I also realized that this work isn't about me. It's about those families that are progressing towards baptism and then onward to the temple. That is what this work is about. That is why I've been trying to overcome my fears-- not just to overcome them, but to help others come closer to Christ in the process. That is what this work is all about: Progression. And I need to be SO happy for the Elders and for these wonderful families that are softening their hearts. This is a team effort. Not a Sister Leavitt effort. I'm doing MUCH better now that I've got that figured out a little bit better! And I'm still learning all of these things, but I have a greater desire to help, to truly help the people that are around me. And that has made all the difference! I know this is true. Based on the experiences and fruits I've had from my labors the last 14 months (and 21 years... it's been a LONG process), I cannot deny the truth of this gospel. And if you all don't believe me, that's okay. Find out for yourselves. That's the only way YOU can know. But I'll tell you one thing: If you choose not to study the gospel of Jesus Christ, you're choosing to miss out on TONS of blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for you. Seriously. Try it out.
I LOVE YOU ALL. Love,
Sister Sadie Leavitt