I will upload the pictures.
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Some things that I am thankful for:
- the scriptures... whenever I am having a hard time I find
something from the scriptures (or even the ensign) that helps me and
lifts me up. My favorite part of the day is personal study time!
- Computers! P-day emailing is the best... :P
- Herbal tea... I fully understand now why the Brittish people are
so fond of tea... the wet just seeps right to the bones. so, even
though it doesn't get below (or even very close to) freezing very
often... it feels quite bitter. I can't explain it. It's different. but
herbal teas warm me right up. i like the redbush kind (or Rooibos...
it's from south africa)
- Our investigators. and the ward members. I feel more purpose when I'm with them. They are a blessing from God! :)
- but most definitely the thing I', most grateful for is my
wonderful family! I love you all soo much! If I didn't have such a
strong faith and conviction to share the joy I've found in it with
others there is no way I'd be able to stay away from you for so long!
One of the ward members is having us over on thanksgiving... of course she
didn't know that it would be thanksgiving when she invited us, but i'm
excited to have a DA that day. I'll be thinking of you the whole day!
how grateful i am that you are so amazing and did so much for me growing
up. Alot of my self confidence and love for others comes from what
i've learned from you. :)
So... a fun story from this week... we received a media referal a
couple weeks ago. A man was requesting a missionary
visit. Woohoo!!! He was out of town when we called, but told us to come
by the next friday (nov. 16th) So we did. We brought Jaz along, since
we can't go into a man's house alone. He looked rather surprised when he
saw three of us... which made since once we saw his sitting room...
tiny!!! prolly less than half the size of Bill's computer room. and he
had two little fold up camping chairs set up... squished in. the three
of us managed to sit across the two chairs and we started to get to know him. He was born in the same region as Jaz, so they got on well....
then we asked him what made him curious to learn more... to request a
visit from us.
"I'm a member. Baptised and ordained... in 1978."
He was baptised more than 30 years ago! but he was in the army..
.or something like it... and back then mormons were considered a cult...
and he didn't ask permission to join our church, so he almost got court
marshalled for it. then he was transferred to Germany... got
married... starting attending his wife's church. He only went to our
church for a couple of weeks, but he knew it was true. now his wife has
passed on (2 years ago) and he wants it back in his life. His wife is no doubt excited! We can get him to the temple and they can
be sealed for all eternity!!!!!!!!!!!
it was quite a shock... we were expecting a golden investigator...
but this is wonderful. the ward really took to him too. they all
seemed to want to introduce themselves to him on sunday :) Aweseome,
yeah?
And our investigator is still progressing... though we're not so sure about
her baptismal date... she has a stalker... a real creep from what it
sounds like... and he's making her life quite miserable. We hope she
gets it all sorted... but she has a lot of support in the Rhiwbina ward.
On Sunday a member from the stake high council came and spoke
during sacrament. Brother Perry. And he shared a story that I really
liked. He just shared the basic story... i embellished it a bit; made
it my own. I also wrote it in my 'journal' so you'll get to read it
twice, but i figured i'd type it up to send it to lexi... and sis. m
wanted to send it to her home branch... so here it is....
One
day a naturalist came and took refuge at the home of a farmer. The
farmer gladly took him in, and, knowing that the naturalist loved nature
and animals, he took him out to see his farm. When they came to the chicken coop the naturalist paused and studied one of the birds for a moment.
“That is not a chicken,” he began, “it is an eagle.”
“No. No,” replied the farmer, “It is a chicken!”
“It is an eagle. I’ll prove it to you.£ so he grabbed the bird and held him out in his outstretched arms – trying to get him to fly. But the bird simply thumped to the ground and waddled off to join his companions.
“See. It is a chicken!”
But the naturalist knew better. He knew birds, and this was no chicken. So the next morning, just before dawn, he gathered the bird up again and he and the farmer began to climb the nearby mountain. He
held the bird up high, showing it the endless sky, “you are not a
chicken!” he cried. He turned towards the rising sun and threw the bird
high. “You are an eagle! Spread your wings and fly!”
And with a mighty screech that only an eagle could give, the bird’s wings unfolded and he soared through the sky.
Just like the eagle we don’t always remember who we are or how special we can be. But
there is one who knows us; he sees what we don’t see. We need to always
remember that we are eagles – not chickens- we are meant to fly high!
God knows each one of us… He knows what we’re capable of. So often we fall among other birds – chickens – and we lose ourselves in their company. We try to follow what the world says and act how they think we should act. How docile! Just like the naturalist and the eagle, God is holding us out towards the open sky,
SO FLY!
_____
we
met some interesting people last night while GQing... 2 italian boys...
who i think only stopped and turned when we said hello cuz we're two
cute girls... but once they found out we were mormon missionaries they
started asking questions about our faith. well one of them mostly did
all the talking. We ended up talking about 'restrictions' as he called
it... i emphasized that we follow these rules because we have seen the
blessing we will recieve in our lives... . i did most of the talking. i do that. take over.
i don't think sis. m. minds, but i'm the greenie... she says she's used
to her companions taking the lead in conversation... guess she's even
more shy than me... plus it's not her native language... we bore
testimony and left him (the one who asked all the questions) with a
B.O.M... they live in Italy though... only on holiday. We'll see. maybe
it'll progress. if not... at least we know we presented them the
opportunity :) that's all we can do. invite everyone... don't worry
about those who don't accept it. we did our part :)
I LOVEYOU!!!! TONS AND TONS!!!!
sorry i ran out of time :(
Ashley
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