Monday, November 30, 2015

week 34 (11/30/2015)

Well... I have officially finished half my mission.

The time is flying! Faster than I ever imagined. I still remember when I first started my mission and everyone told me enjoy it because the time flies. I thought they were all crazy and a bunch of liars. But it really has been flying and it really has been one of the greatest gifts of my life to be out here in Paraguay. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. I miss my family and my friends of course, but I know with all my heart that one of the greatest gifts the Lord has ever given me, was giving me the opportunity to come out here to Paraguay to serve Him. I learn new things everyday, this week was one I hope to never forget.

This week we had the opportunity to visit an investigator named Angelina. Angelina is about 50 years old. She's bigger has diabetes and lives in a house that isn't a home that would be legal for a person to live in in the United States she doesn't have a kitchen they cook outside on a fire, she has 3 rooms for more than 8 people. But Angelina has something that many of us don't have, something that matters more than anything else, something that, out of all the people I talk to everyday and all the people we meet and teach I have never found before. Angelina has a love for God, a love and a trust stronger than I have ever felt or seen before in my life. As we talked with this sister she bore testimony to us that she Knows that He lives, and that she knows that He loves her and He listens to her, and when she said it, there were tears in her eyes and there was a spirit about her that testified to our hearts that what she was saying weren't just words, but that she truly knew it and she could truly feel it. This woman who has almost nothing, who, passes through trials I could never imagine passing through, never lost her faith or her hope, she continued forward never asking "why me?" because she knows that everything, every single thing that we go through, every trial, every disaster, every pain, they all have a purpose. God loves us, He never ever wants to hurt us, he never wants us to leave his path, He is always there to help us. The things we go through are to teach us. To strengthen us, and to help us one day return to live with Him because, to accomplish that, it requires an effort on our part.

As we talked with her and felt her spirit testify to us that what she said was true, the scripture that came to my mind was John 14:15. If you love me, keep my commandments. As we shared that scripture with her, we began to teach her that the best way to show this love and gratitude to the Lord is through our obedience. This humble sister had never been taught the 10 commandments of the Lord, but as we began to teach them to her she payed the closest attention to every word, yearning to know the Lords will. It was an experience that is hard to describe with words.
As I thought about this experience throughout the week in our studies, I thought about how I could apply it to my own life, and I began to continue reading John, and came to the scripture John 15:12. The commandment to love others as he has loved us, and then verse 13, that there is no greater form of showing our Love for others than giving our lives for them. In this scripture it is speaking of the sacrifice of our Lord dying for us, showing us His love. But as I read this scripture, a different point came into my head. That giving our life doesn't have to mean that we die for someone. Giving our life, means putting the lives of others their wants and needs ahead of our own. Just like the Lord did. If we are to truly keep all the commandments of the Lord we need to get out there and serve. A sister in our ward said something that really stood out to me. That all of us as members are supposed to be missionaries, that the missionaries with plaques, the only difference there should be is that they have plaques and are in different parts of the world away from home serving others. But that we as members of the Church, have made a covenant with the Lord to serve Him, and to serve his children. We have all been called to serve.
I hope this week you can all make your visits, you can find someone to serve, you can represent our Lord and savior through a kind word, a smile and a helping hand. Its never easy, this life isn't easy. But we aren't from this world, we are just living here in it. And we have been called here for a much greater purpose. 
Find someone, help them, save them. 

Keep His commandments, you will see the change it will make.

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 
Please, help someone in need. Share His love and you will feel it stronger in your life.

With love, 
Hermana Speakman

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