Week 34

Hi! Another awesome week, huh?? 

Monday: It was Canadian Thanksgiving last week, so some members in Altoona invited us over for a feast! It was really dark in their house, so I have no idea what I ate, but it was good! Sister Zaugg was havin' a hay day because she's from Canada. Her family has been living in Utah for the past few years, but she refuses to claim Utah ahah. I love her. 

Tuesday: We had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators. We talked a lot about baptism. We invited him to be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood of God. He said he had already been baptized, so we talked about the Restoration of the Priesthood. As we explained and bore testimony of the Restoration, he totally changed. He committed to finding out for himself of the truth by reading, praying, and hopefully coming to church! I'm so excited!! 

There is a new couple in the branch from Russia, so we went and visited the wife today too. She's a convert of a couple of years and served a mission in Russia! She's the sweetest!! She talked about the importance of scripture study. It really made me think about what kind of disciple of Christ I want to be after I return. Scripture study is so important, and we would be wise to do it every day! I've found it to be such a blessing on my mission!

Someone from the family ward met with us and helped us do family history. It was SO cool! I printed out 6 family names to take to the temple! As  we do family history, our relationships with our family strenghten, and our desire to be worthy to enter to the temple grows too! I'm so so so so grateful for Houses of the Lord on earth that allow us to perform sacred ordinances for ourselves and those who have passed away. AH! God's plan is so perfect!

I'll skip Wednesday because I'm running out of time! It was a good day though!

Thursday: The highlight of today is definitely meeting with one of our members. He is going through a hard time lately, so he asked us to just practice teach him, so he could have the Spirit in his life more. As we taught him, we found ourselves testifying of the importance of trials. In Ether 12:27 it says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grave is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I think that's the same with our many trials in life. We go through certain things because Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to be humble and follow Him and His Son. I don't know about anyone else, but I feel like I've been through some pretty hard things. Despite the difficulty of  these trials, I would NEVER want Heavenly Father to take them way or go back and redo life in a different way. I learned so much from my trials! I learned about the importance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I learned our the healing power of His sacrifice. I learned about the enabling power of the Atonement. I learned the importance of families. I gained a stronger relationship with God. Our lives are molded for US. How cool is that?? I love Heavenly Father and His perfect plan :) 

Friday: Funny thing about today. We went to a member's house from the family ward. We walked in and I said, "Oh, your daughter is excited to see us!" They said, "She's actually boy, sorry." hahahahah AWKWARD! 

Saturday was awesome! We got to pick up a highway! We were driving with our branch mission leader, and he peeled out on the gravel, and Sister Kuo from Taiwan yelled "FREE COUNTRY!" Hhahahah

Sunday: It was such a great Sabbath day! Church was awesome, and four of our investigators came to church! It was awesome! We went tracting after church until dinner, and it was SUCH an amazing experience. We said a prayer before we knocked, and we knew what we needed to testify of. It was really cool to see how the Spirit can help us know how to help all of God's children. He truly knows us! 

Okay, I wish I could share more, but we have to catch a bus! We're going to Plato's closet today WAHOO! One thing I do miss is shopping! kloveyou!

Love

Sister Sparks