Wow. My heart is literally filled with joy. I have learned so much this week! I've so much I couldn't NOT share! Okay, weaknesses were hand picked by Heavenly Father. "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I GIVE unto men weakness that they may be HUMBLE..." Simple enough, right? He knows exxxxxaaacccctttlllllyyyy what we need to experience in this life to be prepared to life with Him in the next life. Weaknesses are a good thing--He GAVE them to us, and His power is made perfect in our weakness. 2 Cor Paul says, "...there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffett me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in [your] weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong." When we grit our teeth and say, "No, I can overcome this by myself. I must change by myself," or when we choose not to change by saying, "Well, this is just the way I am," we deny Christ's Atonement. The Lord told Paul that His power was made perfect in Paul's weakness. That is the same for us. When we accept our weaknesses, become humble, and ask for His help, His power can literally change us. I know for a fact there is power in the Atonement of Christ. Sometimes we get discouraged because we don't always progress in great strides, but honestly, eternal principles are learned "line upon line." I am sooo grateful for my weaknesses....that doesn't mean I want to keep them! hahah I'm working on becoming better! I'm coming to feel the Savior's love in ways I never have before. I feel that He's patient with our progress and glories when we make progress. I know through prayer and action, we can slowly be transformed into someone like the Savior (obviously this is a process that won't be complete in a few years or a few decades but throughout our life and the eternities!).
This week we had some great spiritual experiences. Sister Cottam and I have struggled a bit to teach in unity. We are searching for ways to improve, so we decided to fast for that ability. Literally that afternoon, we were frustrated about something and instead of keeping it in like I usually do, I pulled the car over and we talked about it. After that, we felt more unified and accomplished a lot! That evening we saw and made huge progress with two Less Active members! God answers prayers! This week we also taught our investigator from Burma. She knows little English, so we have to be simple in our teaching (shouldn't we always be?). We brought a Gospel Art book with us and showed her pictures of Jesus Christ and what He did while He was on earth. We talked to her about baptism, about miracles and the Priesthood, about the Atonement, and we also talked to her about Joseph Smith and the First Vision. To our surprise, she relayed back to us exactly what we just taught. She understood that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that through him, just as Heavenly Father has before with prophets of old, truths were restored to the earth. Wow.....and she prayed at the end of our meeting. She thanked Heavenly Father for helping her understand. As I listened, tears filled my eyes. I couldn't help but feel such peace knowing this woman was coming closer to God. I stand all amazed....
Love,
Sister Sparks
p.s. At the end of the month we usually have no miles on our car left, so we ended up walking almost 2 miles in the snow UP THESE PENNSYLVANIA HILLS to an appointment. On our way there we had so much fun just singing and feeling like pioneers haha....on the way back our cheerfulness was a little bit more dim as we sung, "Come, Come, Ye Saints." This week was THE BEST!!!
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