Mississippi Jackson: Buckets of Rain

Missionary Lingo
Zone Conference: when all missionaries in a single zone (or, a collection of missionary areas over a large land mass) gather together from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon to hear from our Mission President, Vehicle Coordinator, Housing Coordinators, Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, and so on. It is a time to receive revelation for ourselves and our areas. It's awesome. We love it. We also eat a lot of food.

Hello! What is up, my friends! It is a lovely Monday afternoon in Biloxi, Mississippi (or Ocean Springs. D'Iberville? We aren't sure where exactly this building is). And we have had quite the week, I must say!

We completed week five, which is weird. Where has this transfer gone?! Next Monday, we get T-Calls. Vomit. Weird.

This week, we've struggled with some investigators, but that's okay! We had some fun tracting, teaching, and dodging the rain.

Story time.

So, one evening, Sister Jones and I followed our Area Book to an apartment complex that we'd never ventured to before. Of course, we picked the night where it was pouring -- and I do mean pouring. If y'all have ever seen The Notebook, there's a scene when the main characters are kissing in a boat. One moment, it's perfectly calm, and the next moment, it's pouring rain. You'd think that that that was completely made-up movie magic. I would argue no. That is not movie magic. They must have gotten some Mississippi clouds because that is precisely what happened over the course of four hours, off and on. I could hardly see the street, but by the grace of God, we were both fine!

After missing the turn more times than I'd like to admit, we pulled into the apartment complex parking lot. The rain had slowed for a moment, and after saying a prayer, we rushed to the doors to find people previously taught by missionaries.

Nobody answered the door, and that's okay. It wasn't the right time. But, while we stood underneath the shelter of the second floor, the sky pulled a scene from The Notebook and literally began pouring.

Niagara Falls was formed before me. A river ran down the sidewalk. The ocean might have extended into the parking lot. Drops were coming down in buckets, sheets, droves. Sister Jones and I blinked, dumbfounded at the situation; we looked at one another, shrugged, hugged our bags to our chests, and bolted into the rain.

A waterfall running off the edge of the roof drenched my back. It was awesome. My shoes, already Swiss cheesed with holes and faded from the sun were now soaked to the soles, squishing with every soggy footstep I took.

Laughter erupted from the two of us, like we'd lost ten years off our ages and were children again. Our laughter sounded a little bit like screaming -- and I did plenty of that, too -- but we were able to make the others sitting outside laugh, too.

We ran onto the second floor of another set of apartments, effectively dripping from every article of clothing. I couldn't really see out of my glasses, but that's okay. Who needs those?

Our rain adventure led to a lesson to a guy sitting outside of his apartment. It was great. Sister Jones sang a Primary song for him. It was wonderful.

We then slowly went back to our car and dropped onto the seats. It was then time for us to go home.

Our rain escapade was preceded by an incredible Zone Conference held at the building in Gulfport. Elder Edwards loved making jokes about losing our car bumpers (sorry!); our cars were inspected, and we won a "Best of 2013" certificate for the cleanest car (we being us and the other elders!). Food was eaten. Fun was had.

But, the best part of Zone Conference is hearing from our leaders. They brought messages that truly enlightened us, and we were able to receive so much revelation.

The Spirit felt at these meetings is indescribable. Several times on my mission have I wanted to run home, grab my family and friends, and tug them into the throng of missionary work so they could just understand the special Spirit we feel. There is just something special about missionary work, brothers and sisters, and I want to share that feeling with all of you.

I want to expel all of the things we learned; all of the spiritual enlightenment I received, but I must keep this at a reasonable length. One thing that stuck out to me was the lesson from the Sister Training Leaders, Sister Bennett and Sister Conder. They used the example of Peter, the Apostle, when he denied Christ thrice, and then his progression from then. They were far more eloquent about it, but I'm going to give you the run-down of what I learned and felt.

They used Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, "The First Great Commandment." This is one of my favorites! He talks about the first great commandment, which is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. This commandment, seemingly simple to keep, is probably one of the hardest to observe.

Do you love Him, brothers and sisters?

That was a question that hit me. Do you love Him? And if so, how do you love Him?

As something a woman in the Biloxi ward told us: "You know what I used to tell my daughter when she told me she loved me? Show it."

Do you show it? Do you proclaim Him when asked? Are you prepared to answer the question of whether you are a disciple of Jesus Christ or not? Jesus Christ is not asking you to say you are a disciple; He is asking you to show it.

As Elder Holland says, "The crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty."

Are you loyal?

Decide whom you will serve. What nets must you still cast aside to become a full disciple of Christ? What is holding you back?

Don't be afraid to change.

Have a good week!

I love y'all!

Godspeed!

Sincerely,

Sister Rose