Father :) We had exchanges this week with the Sister Training Leaders,
whom I already love! Sister May came here to Terryville and we had a
great time! We looked up a media referral we had received and were
kind of confused when we got to the given address. It definitely was
not a house. Well, we go inside to find out it was a senior center. We
met Delia, and she was so sweet! She knew full well who we were and
had requested a Book of Mormon online. The next day, Sister May and I
visited her again & committed her to be baptized. She said she would,
but of course we need to help her prepare and make sure she is
committed. We visited her twice later in the week, and she had already
read to Mosiah! She loves to read & is about 70 years old. She is
pretty spunky though. I sent an email with a photo of her. She said
she would get a ride to church this week, but didnt make it. Hopefully
next week she can come!
Thursday, we had our zone training meeting. It was awesome. Our zone
leaders are very inspired and caring leaders. They focused it on
following the Spirit and receiving personal revelation. It was
structured so differently than any ZTM I had seen. Usually it is full
of workshops and things, but this was just one workshop. We were
blindfolded and lead around the church and outside, stopping every so
often. One of the leaders would read something regarding the Spirit.
We were instructed to listen and try to learn from the Spirit, so
there was no talking during the process. Finally, we were lead into
the chapel & handed a notebook. We then took off the blindfolds. The
zone leaders had written each missionary a note, describing a
spiritual gift they saw in us. As I was sitting there reading it, I
noticed a folded up paper at the back of the book. I thought, "that
would be cool if it was a letter from my mom." but I assumed it was a
talk that had been referenced in the workshop. But, as I unfolded it,
it was indeed a letter from mom! So, the zone leaders had contacted
people who were our "spiritual giants" (I guess I talk about mom
enough for them to know that :)) and had asked them to write a letter
to us. I am not sure what they had asked them to write about, but it
was exactly what I needed that day. And, it was interesting because
everyone had received a letter from someone who meant so much to them,
but they weren't all from parents or siblings. It was definitely a
neat experience!
On Friday, the Riverhead sisters had a relief society activity and had
asked that I translate for the speaker (both of the missionaries are
English right now). Well, that was a wonderful blessing! I never mind
seeing people I have met and loved in other areas. It was especially
sweet to see Elizabeth, who was baptized last September, still going
strong! She was also finally able to go to the temple to do baptisms
this last weekend.
Finally, Sunday was a WONDERFUL day! After church, we headed off to
Little Neck (my last area) to see Anesia's baptism. She was baptized
by President Calderwood and had a lot of support there from the ward.
My former district leader and I sang "Come Unto Christ" (it is the
2014 youth theme and I LOVE it!) and the spirit was really strong
while we were singing. I was so grateful that I could feel it there so
powerfully. Of course it was such a blessing to see Anesia again -- I
can't believe we only met her a month ago! -- and to see how happy she
is and will continue to be. And, we saw other wonderful people too,
like the Zohars! I am happy the sisters are still visiting Manny. One
day! After the baptism, we headed back to ... Riverhead. There was a
fireside with the temple president and we had been invited. Our recent
convert, Elizabeth, went and a few other members we are working with
in Terryville. My goodness. I love Riverhead. One of the elders said,
"This is like a homecoming for you, isn't it?" It really felt like
that. It was wonderful to see the Bloms and other members who have
blessed my life with their friendship. I am truly grateful for each
one of the areas I have served in and for the people I have met there.
Finally, to wrap this letter up ... I want to write about something I
learned in my studies this week. I was going over the Plan of
Salvation lesson in Preach My Gospel. It says that agency is one of
the greatest gifts of God. I made a connection that agency is ONE of
the greatest gifts, but if we use it wisely and correctly, we will
receive THE greatest gift of God, which is eternal life. :) And
eternal life is far more than living forever. It is being exalted, it
is living with God and our families forever. It is knowing God and
Jesus Christ and experiencing the joy they feel. So, agency is pretty
important! It is amazing how I can read the same book everyday for
over a year and still get something new out of it each time. The
Spirit is awesome.
Oh, and one other thing I learned this week! I am reading in 3 Nephi
and it was the chapter where Jesus is talking to the people, giving a
lecture similar to the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew. Well, in
3 Nephi, he said "Be ye therefore perfect, even as I, or your Father
is perfect." But, I thought back to the account in Matthew where he
says to be perfect like the Father but doesn't mention himself. I
started seeing that He was not resurrected when he was giving the
account in the New Testament, but WAS a resurrected being in the Book
of Mormon account. So, part of our "perfection" or being
whole/complete/fully developed includes that step of resurrection.
Cool stuff right?
Oh, there is so much more I want to write about all of the things I am
learning from the scriptures! But, I think I will stop here for today.
Love you all! Can you believe July is NEXT WEEK??
Until then,
Sister Peacock
Woohoo! Anesia got baptized and our mission president had the honor of
performing the baptism :) I was so happy for her! I can't believe
Sister Lewis and I met her only 4 weeks ago! #miracles
#goldeninvestigator
a picture is worth a thousand words.
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