Firstly, I have to tell a story from last week after
P-day. We went to teach the Balignasay family. They are pretty special
investigators to us, because Brother is such an incredible potential
leader. He is the president of Phase III of their subdivision (kind of a
big deal apparently), and every time he speaks, he reminds me of
Brother Susa, a counselor in the branch presidency in Morong who is like
the superstar member/leader there. Anyway, on Monday, we were teaching
about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and specifically
about Heavenly Father's pattern of calling prophets and apostles and
giving them authority, etc., how the truth was lost after the death of
Christ and the apostles during the time of the Great Apostasy (or Dark
Ages), and how Christ restored the true authority and His church by
calling a new prophet in our time just like in Biblical times. I had
opened my scriptures to Ephesians when we shared about the foundation of
Christ's church that he established (Ephesians 2:20), and then they
were just sitting in my lap as we continued the lesson. We got to
sharing about Joseph Smith being called as a prophet, and the promise
that they can know of the divinity of his call if they follow the same
admonition he followed (in James 1:5) to ask God in faith to know the
truth. I can't even explain what happened, but as we were testifying, I
happened to look down at my scriptures, and noticed that the pages had
flipped and the verses now staring back at me were from Galatians.
Knowing better than to ignore promptings, I shared Galatians 5:22 and
explained that these are the kinds of blessings that the Gospel has
brought into our lives, and these are the blessings that we want for
their family as well. The lesson continued and the spirit was so strong
and Sister Rimano and I both came away overflowing with excitement and
smiles! I didn't realize until the next morning during personal study
that I had just experienced a fulfilling of prophecy given long ago to
other missionaries, found in D&C 84:85-- "Neither take ye thought
beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually
the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that
portion that shall be meted unto every man." I've seen the Spirit
working through us many times during my time here on the mission, I have
been given words to say or thoughts that I otherwise never would have
considered sharing, but never have I been so LITERALLY given the exact
words, the exact scripture, to share. It is so cool how involved the
Lord is in His work, and how if we are just doing our part, doing all we
can to be prepared, He takes over and helps us accomplish His miracles.
:)
Another testimony-builder of the Lord watching over
this work came from our district meeting last week. This transfer, the
President and Sister Revillo have been wanting to emphasize role playing
a lot more in our training meetings. We talked about it at MLC (the
Mission Leadership Council, with all the zone leaders, STLs, training
assistants and assistants to the president) at the start of the transfer
and were told that most, or at least half of our workshop time should
be spend on role playing. No one, however, told our district leader,
Elder Tinsley, who wasn't a part of MLC. As he was planning for the
workshop last week, he said that he was thinking about a question that
one of the zone leaders had asked him a couple days before "Have you
asked the Lord what his vision is for your district?" Admitting that he
hadn't, Elder Tinsley prayed and asked, and said he was surprised by the
answer he got. He felt impressed that our district really needs to
improve and apply role-playing in our companionships. And that became
the topic of our workshop. It was an awesome workshop, and perfect for
our district (8 of us missionaries), but the thing that amazed me even
more than that is how stewardship is so real, and how Elder Tinsley,
without any human influence, received the same revelation that our
mission leaders have received. It was a testimony to me, as one who had
been in on the leadership conversations, that the Lord truly is the one
leading this work, and how the Spirit conveys messages so much more
effectively than we ever could. This work is so true. It amazes me every
single day.
Since yesterday was the 5th Sunday of the month of
June, it was Missionary Sunday in our ward. Sister Rimano (my wonderful
and masipag companion) gave a talk in sacrament, along with one of our
ward missionaries, and our ward mission leader. Her talk was awesome,
but one thing that really stood out to me was how she talked about how
the Church is emphasizing "HASTENING the Work of Salvation". She then
talked about how the opposite of "hastening" is "delaying" or
"procrastinating" and referenced President Uchtdorf's talk in Conference
about "Sleeping through the Restoration." One thing that I started
thinking about during her talk, and the one after her (Daniel, our ward
missionary, who shared from D&C 4), was the statement that "the
field is white already to harvest". Usually, when we talk about that
verse we read it is in, "the field is white. it is ALL READY to
harvest." But that isn't actually what it says. It says it is "to
harvest" ALREADY. As in, right now. I thought of what happens veggies in
our garden that are ready to be picked, but don't get picked. Or the
trees on the side of the road surrounded by rotten fruit that was once
prime and delicious, but never harvested, and eventually over-ripened
and fell down. THAT is what the Lord is telling us about missionary
work. He is saying "I am already preparing my sons and daughters to hear
the truths of the restored Gospel. They are ready! But you need to go
find them and help them ASAP before Satan's substitutions get to them
first and they are no longer willing to accept the message." That is why
the Work of Salvation is being HASTENED. Because we have no time to
lose. Thinking of that is a little overwhelming to me. Like, "oh man!
What if I don't get to the other fruit in time because I am busy trying
to harvest here?" But I find comfort in the next verse, verse 5, which
tells us that "faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the
glory of God, QUALIFY him for the work." Meaning we CAN do this! But
only if we have the faith and the desire and seek the Lord's help. I
know that that is true. We CAN do this! Because if we couldn't, we
wouldn't have been asked to (see 1 Nephi 3:7, and 1 Nephi 9:6). Our
Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ are very hard-working. They
have not left us alone to do this work of "bring[ing] to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39), but rather have
invited us to work ALONGSIDE them, to be one with them in this divine
purpose. WE ARE SO BLESSED. I can't even get over it!
I need to end this pretty quick, but I just want to
testify again of the truthfulness of this Gospel and especially of this
church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In teaching a
wonderful less-active member yesterday, I had a realization of the power
of church attendance in my own life. I thought of the time when I
struggled the most with being true to the Gospel. The time when I was
the farthest from my Heavenly Father and my Savior. The time when I
hardly ever read my scriptures or prayed. Though I had a really hard
time, and struggled a lot spiritually, I never stopped going to church
(mostly because of my pride I think? or just because it was such a part
of me, like a habit I didn't even notice). I realized that that one
little act of obedience was SO SIGNIFICANT. In fact, I think I can
attribute everything about where I am today to that one subconscious
decision. I think about what might have happened to me, paths that I've
seen my friends go down that led to even more trials in their lives, if I
had neglected my duty to participate in this one true church. It seemed
like a little thing to me at the time, but the power of being fed
spiritually at least once every week (by people who were much more in
tune with the spirit than I was) had a profound influence in my life.
Though I knew I was making mistakes, I never forgot who I was. I think
that was the biggest thing that gave me the strength I needed to get my
life back in order and repent and recover and return to the loving arms
of my Savior. I realized that we might be able to "survive" not reading
our scriptures or praying every day or having family home evening, but
if we neglect or disregard our obligation to attend church and partake
of the Sacrament of our Savior Jesus Christ, we are willfully shedding
the very armor we rely on to get us through the endless temptations we
face every day.
This work is so true. It is so incredible, and it is
so amazing to be a part of helping others realize and partake of the
countless blessings that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings to our lives.
It is so cool to see how, in testifying to others of these blessings, I
realize more and more what a profound role this Gospel and this Church
have played in my life, in shaping who I am, in giving me the strength
that I need to endure joyfully.
In case you haven't noticed, I am still loving life
here. :) I hope you are doing well, and that you have a great week!! You
are in my prayers! I might be late emailing next week because we are
going to MINDORO this weekend for zone interviews and exchanges (the
island away from the mainland where everyone wants to go daw) and don't
fly back until Monday.
HAPPY (advance) 4TH OF JULY!!!!
Love always,
Sister Emma Franks
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