Mississippi Jackson: R&B

Hi! How has everyone been this week? Splendid? Good. I hope so!

We've had a good week here in Purvis. Sister Barney and I are tragically becoming good friends. We spend quite a bit of time singing ridiculous songs, making terrible puns, and finding change on the ground to add to our Tracting Tip jars. She's a barrel of fun, and I wish I could have all of you meet her!

We've been trying to come up with creative finding ideas in Purvis. As I've mentioned before, it's hard to find people to teach by just knocking on their door. Most of the success in this mission comes from tracting, but if we are to build the Lord's kingdom in the proper manner before He comes, we have to work harder, be more creative, and search for the elect.

I pondered this while tracting (hilariously) this week. Sister Barney and I are in a silent race to see who can find the most pennies, dimes, quarters, etc. lying around in driveways, streets, and piles of dirt. In the last six months, Sister Barney has collected over $22 in change from searching the ground alone. In the past week, I think I've found seven cents.

I found myself trying to look for the glimmer in the sunlight that indicated a shiny coin. I squinted at driveways, shielded my eyes from the spring sun to seek out the glitter of a penny -- or a quarter by some miracle. And yet, every time I do that, I always manage to skip over tons of unsuspecting pennies that eventually make it into my companion's pocket. I wondered how on earth she noticed these things; these driveways are large and most of the circular dark spots are usually deceiving and not even worth the inspection. Yet, she approached them and always came out with a cent or two.

That's when I decided to not look for the shiny pennies. I started looking for the grungy, dirty, round spots and treated each opportunity like I was destined to find a penny or a nickel or a quarter in that very instance -- and that is how I began collecting my tracting tips.

You can apply this principle to potential investigators, too. There have been many times on my mission so far that I have had incredible spiritual experiences with people while teaching the Restoration. We knocked on their door, they felt the Spirit, they wanted to know more. Great miracles were happening -- the penny was shining in the sunlight, and I knew that I could just pick it up and keep it with me always and be so grateful for that shiny penny, and I could hope to find another one when I went back to see said investigator. Yet, a lot of the time, those investigators don't progress. Maybe it was something we did, maybe something was said to them, maybe it just wasn't the right time -- either way, few times in the past six months have I been able to see those shiny pennies continue to be golden investigators.

Not to say there aren't golden investigators. Those exist! Totally! There are people who are extremely prepared to receive the gospel, and receive it with open arms, ready hearts, and glad spirits. I love those people; missionaries pray for to find those people. But if you only look for those golden people, you will bypass the many souls who are buried in the dirt of life who need to be exposed to the light of the gospel. The gross, dirty pennies are the most worth it ones. The ones you think would never, ever accept the gospel can be the ones who need it the most, and will hold on to it tighter than any easy contact might.

When sharing the gospel, do not pass up the opportunities that might seem unfruitful. You have no idea what good you could be doing; it might seem silly at first, like you've done nothing at all, but we have no idea what eternal consequences accompany our actions. You have a gift to share; let others have it, too.

Remember to lean on your Heavenly Father when you aren't sure how to share or what to say. We are promised that if we open our mouths and we are led by the Spirit, then our Heavenly Father will tell us right then exactly what needs to be said! And it doesn't need to be the most eloquent thing in the world; Brigham Young was converted by a simple testimony of a man who wasn't gifted with public speaking. Be yourself; be simple; be the person the Lord wants you to be.

There is so much I've learned from this week. We didn't teach much; every appointment fell through, the weather destroyed our plans, the days seemed long and we weren't sure what to do. But, I know the Lord gives us ups and downs so we can learn how to better rely on Him. We have to make the choice to do so. You cannot get through anything on your own. The Lord will sometimes bless us with trials to draw us back to Him, where we can make the choice to plead for help before Him and exercise patience with His timing and knowledge.

Don't be discouraged, brothers and sisters. There's always hope. The Lord may try to humble you, and that's good. He trusts you enough to give you trials and happiness. Relish in His love, and know that through Jesus Christ and the will of God, you can do anything according to your righteous desires.

Be strong and have a good week, alright?

Godspeed!

Sincerely,

Sister Rose