What a wonderful Sabbath!

Hello my dear friends!

I have had a really great weekend. I hope you all have too. :)

Announcements for this week:
1. FHE tomorrow @7pm for everyone! We will be going to our Bishopric members' homes. Get in touch with your group leaders for details.
2. Institute on Wednesday @7pm in B092 JFSB. Good times await!
3. This Saturday, the 26th we will have a ward temple trip @11am. Details are to be announced on the ward Facebook page. Please join that page so you can be up-to-date on need-to-know stuff.
4. Next Sunday, the 27th is Ward Conference. We will have an hour and a half sacrament meeting, then a combined hour and a half of Relief Society while the brethren have Priesthood. Please study Moroni 10:32 in preparation for what we will be taught.
5. Also next Sunday, but in the evening, is the Stake Musical Fireside at the Costco North Chapel. Presumably at 7pm, further details are coming.
6. If you need to renew your temple recommend, please contact the Ward Executive Secretary a.k.a. Austin Huntsman (512) 818-9685. Everyone should have a current temple recommend. Even if you can't attend the temple often, I promise there are many blessings that come from being worthy of and maintaining a current recommend.

Now here's the lesson recap: (Don't forget that all my "quotes" are paraphrases for those who spoke up in our RS. I try to put the exact quotes the teacher used, but don't count on it for general comments.)

The fabulous Rachel McCracken was our teacher today. It was a riveting lesson where we were all touched by the Spirit and edified together. It was truly wonderful. She based her lesson off Elder Neil L. Andersen's General Conference talk from April.
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/05/its-a-miracle?lang=eng

Rachel started the lesson by asking what miracles we see everyday because our God is a God of miracles, and we're members of His Church. Well, Mackenzie hit the nail on the head and stated how amazing it is that the gospel is being preached throughout the world and being widely accepted. The Church was restored only 183 years ago. Another 17 and we'll reach the 200th anniversary of the Church. In those 183 years the Church has grown from 6 members to 15 million as was announced just this last General Conference. Out of the 6.7 billion people on earth, 15 million are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In addition, just last October there were 58,500 missionaries serving worldwide (I was one of them :D). As of three weeks ago, it was announced that there are currently 80,333 missionaries serving around the world! Isn't that amazing? Kiersten pointed out that that number is increasing despite the number of missionaries that have finished their missions and returned home. (I think that's truly miraculous. I love it so much.)

It really is a miracle to know the gospel is going to all the world. Pray for all people to open their hearts.

Ryan then referred to Doctrine & Covenants 45:15-16 and commented: we're endowed with power to share. Go out and teach!
Mackenzie said: Doctrine & Covenants 138 is about missionary work in the Spirit world. Christ didn't go preach to the unrighteous but rather gathers the righteous to preach to them. If we don't get the missionary bug now, we'll get it later. We might as well get it now.

Rachel then shared a personal experience of when she received an internship in Georgia. She was living with four other interns: two Baptists, a Lutheran, and a Catholic. She was scared to go and be by herself, so she contacted the ward she would be attending before she arrived and was taken care of the members in that area. Her roommates teased her a bit, but eventually came to respect that she was taken care of so well by the members of her ward. She was able to be a light to them and the kids she worked with. It was difficult to see their trials and not be able to share the gospel with them, but she knows she was a light to them.

Ryan shared an experience too. She said she was praying last year to know if she should serve a mission and the answer she received was "no." As hard as that was, she felt that she had missionary opportunities where she was, and that was why she needed to stay home. So she created a blog and would share her testimony on that blog with her family and friends. "Missionaries are just as important as the missionaries. Members are the ones who need to go out and find people, and the missionaries are a great resource for the members."

From that example, how good/great is technology? Yeah it can be used for a lot of bad things, but it really is a powerful and wonderful tool for spreading the gospel too!

Mackenzie shared an experience that happened before her mission: A friend from high school that she lost contact with called her one day with religious questions. She called Mackenzie because even though she didn't know Mackenzie's religion, she knew Mackenzie was devout and would be able to help. They talked about simple things like the fact that God is our Heavenly Father and why Jesus is the Savior. At first Mackenzie was scared that she wouldn't say the right thing, but it was really quite simple for her. "It's so easy. You are a great missionary if you're an active member of the Church and love God. You don't have to quote apostles and scripture. Just share what you know."

We might have doubts, but have the faith to overcome those doubts. "The desire to share the gospel takes us to our knees."

Evie shared an experience too: She did a study abroad in Spain around Easter and really wanted to experience as many religions as she could. She had a friend who is a refugee from Nigeria that invited her to attend Easter services with him. The congregation was excited because they invited a pastor from Florida to preach to them. That pastor bore testimony that there was more truth out there that they couldn't receive yet because they weren't ready for it. They had to give up their addictions and bad habits. She found herself bearing testimony afterwards to those who were prepared by their pastor.

There are people all around us and their hearts are being prepared.
Kiersten commented: we can look out to members also and help them. Taking care of those who are struggling or less-active is also missionary work.

How can we be a member missionary in Provo?
Marren said: She went to a different ward one Sunday for a baby blessing, and the night before she felt like she needed to bear her testimony in Church. She did and afterwards a member of the ward approached her to thank her for sharing because they have a family member that heard her testimony and was touched by it. "Go with the Spirit. Don't think about it too much."
Evie then stated: there's a deeper level of conversion. We all need the testimonies of others.
Mackenzie said, it's good to be in a place where there are so many members because we become so comfortable talking about the gospel that when we graduate and leave we can have that habit and share the gospel with everyone else more easily.
Kelsey commented that the friends she visited last week are very open about their Church activities with their neighbors in the Bible Belt and always invite others to come along. They're not ashamed of what they're doing and their friends are more receptive to them.
Ky said, it's as easy as praying for missionary experiences. She then invited us all to pray for (and act on) a missionary experience this week and report back on it next week.
Megan shared that her mom always tells her to pay attention when she flies. One time in particular Megan was sitting on a plane with two Baptists. One of them made it really easy because she started talking about religion and asked Megan questions. "Opportunities will pop up. Just share your basic beliefs."

Rachel shared another beautiful experience: Everyone is born with the light of Christ. When she was in high school she was a bagger at the grocery store. One time her seminary teacher came through her line and bought some cigarettes for the man he was with. She walked them out to the car. The next time she saw her seminary teacher, he thanked her for her light. The man he was with was his brother, and his brother could see the light of her testimony in her eyes and was touched by that. He wanted that. Hope to always have that light throughout your life.

Reach out to others. Are all our roommates and neighbors here (meaning attending all Church meetings)?
It's a miracle that the gospel can be taught to the whole world through us.



Wasn't that an amazing lesson? I felt the Spirit so strongly! Just like Evie had commented, I love to see and hear everyone's testimonies. It strengthens me. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know we are so blessed to be members of the Church. One thing that I gained a deeper testimony of on my mission is the power of the priesthood. I know it is a real power. I know it's for our benefit and a precious gift from our loving Heavenly Father. I hope and pray that everyone can strengthen their testimonies and understand their worth. I love you sisters. You are amazing. The gospel is true. We renew all our covenants at Church and are blessed with an added measure of the Spirit. Stay strong and close to the Lord.

Have a great week!