Monday, June 6, 2016

The rains came down and the floods came up

Hola mi familia y amigos!

This week was busy as usual but full of great experiences and
wonderful memories!  I want to share with you some of the experiences
I had.  On Monday I shared with y'all that we had the wonderful
opportunity to serve the people in Austin whose homes and belongings
were destroyed.  This was a very touching and good experience. We got
together with some people from our branch and headed out to the
affected neighborhood.  When we arrived, it was heartbreaking to see
homes beaten by the water and possessions carried away by the floods.
The power of the storm left 3 foot scars on the walls of the houses
that still stood. We got out of the car, and as we walked over to a
home we were assigned to, I looked around at everything.  To my
surprise, there were so many helping hands.  Each house had countless
members from different wards --scout groups, young men and young
women, missionaries, and families -- helping tear down walls and take
the owners' belongings out.  I was amazed to see how many people were
there to assist in the aide.  I began to sympathize for these owners
whose homes had been destroyed by the floods before as we took down
walls and tidied their houses. To see these families homeless made my
heart sink.  But I realized that these people were not frowning, but
their heads were upright and grateful for how many people were there
to help. I was touched to see the loving help given and the hope
brought to this neighborhood. It was an experience that has changed my
vision of giving service and the Christ like love that I have
developed for these people.

Through the service of men and women and boys and girls, God’s work is
done. President Spencer W. Kimball explained: “God does notice us, and
he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he
meets our needs” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W.
Kimball [2006], 82).  "Throughout our lives all of us depend on others
for help. When we were infants, our parents fed, clothed, and cared
for us. Without this care we would have died. When we grew up, other
people taught us skills and attitudes. Many of us have needed nursing
care during illness or money in a financial crisis. Some of us ask God
to bless suffering people and then do nothing for them. We must
remember that God works through us."
When we help one another, we serve God. King Benjamin, a great king in
Book of Mormon times, taught his people this principle by the way he
lived. He served them all his life, earning his own living instead of
being supported by the people. In an inspired sermon he explained why
he loved service, saying:

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the
service of your God. …
When we serve others we gain important blessings. Through service we
increase our ability to love. We become less selfish. As we think of
the problems of others, our own problems seem less serious. We must
serve others to gain eternal life. God has said that those who live
with Him must love and serve His children (see Matthew 25:34–40).
When we consider the lives of people who serve unselfishly, we can see
that they gain more than they give.  My challenge to all of y'all this
week is to find as many opportunities as you can to serve those around
you!  Remember a little service can go a long way for someone!
On Monday night we had family night with a couple of families from our
Branch and a couple of our investigators came and we had dinner
together and watched the Restoration movie!  After me and my
companions and some of the YW in the families bore our testimonies and
the spirit was very strong!  On Tuesday we were able to teach English
to some of the Spanish members in our Branch and there friends.  I
always love teaching this class every Tuesday because it's a great
opportunity for us to meet and find more people to teach and it gives
our investigators the opportunity to make friends within the Branch.
After this class we had a lesson with one of our returning less active
members who's goal is to make it back to the temple by the end of
June.  He is amazing and he is so strong!  He's going through a lot in
his life right now but I love seeing him try his very best to make
this goal possible and seeing him see the blessings in his life from
coming back to church and reading and praying every day.  We have also
been working with another less active family who's goal is to be
sealed in the temple as a family by the end of this year!  For a while
we were teaching them and then had to move on with faith because they
weren't acting on anything or keeping the commitments we were leaving
them with but last week they just showed up to church (miracle) and
the father of the family told us he is ready to do anything and
everything he can to make this goal possible for him and his family.
We went and visited them again this week to see how attending church
went and I could just see a difference in them.  They loved coming to
church again and they shared with us everything that they learned etc.
and it made me so happy to see this change in there hearts!  Yesterday
they came to church again and the wife of the family bore a beautiful
testimony, and I also bore my testimony as well in Spanish (can you
believe it)!  I think my Spanish is slowly but surly getting better!
It's been a good week and I hope to be able to continue to have these
wonderful experiences and see many miracles.  My testimony continues
to grow each and every day and I'm grateful for all that I've learned
and all that I'm continually learning. I know that Joseph Smith was
called to be a prophet of God!  Jesus Christ is our Savior and
Redeemer and because he suffered for  each and every one of us we can
be forgiven of our sins and return to live with our Heavenly Father
again.  I know for myself that the Book of Mormon is the word of God!
It testifies of Jesus Christ and of the plan that God has for each and
every one of us!  We are all children of a King! He loves each and
every one of us!  I'm proud to be a servant of the Lord and will
continue to Preach this Gospel with all my HEART, MIGHT, MIND, AND
STRENGTH!  Have a good week and be safe!  I love you all!

Con Amor,
Hermana Mann












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