with a new salutation every week is harder than I thought...)
So this last Tuesday, we went over to this one member's house (named
Sister Mayse) and she fed us some AMAZING food! Though as a condition
for this food, she made all of the missionaries who hadn't yet been to
her house eat a scotch bonnet pepper. "What is a scotch bonnet pepper"
You ask? Well a scotch bonnet pepper is the third hottest pepper in
the world (second hottest naturally occurring as the hottest is a
combination of the scotch bonnet and ghost peppers). And it is indeed
HOT! Elder Bentley started crying/sweating profusely from his and
Elder Hill was out of commission the rest of the day from it.
Meanwhile I... Was completely fine...? Not saying it was a pleasant
experience, because it wasn't at all, but I miraculously managed to
not suffer any ill-effects from it. Which is good because Elder Hill
and I had some appointments scheduled that day so both of us being out
would have been very bad...
On Thursday for zone-district meeting (in my mission, we do the two
together every week due to the relatively small size of our mission) I
had the opportunity to give a workshop (lesson) on receiving personal
revelation/feeling the Spirit. It went super well and I got to use
Elder Eyring's talk from this most recent conference as a resource. I
love that talk. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants some
advice on how to feel the Spirit more prominently in their lives (it
is called "The Holy Ghost as Your Companion").
Elder Hill and I also got to teach Gospel Principles yesterday because
the ward mission leader was out of town. That also went super well and
we had several people walk up to us and thank us for the lesson, which
was really cool!
I love teaching so much! Methinks it just might be what I pursue as a
career when I get home, though that's not for a good long while so we
shall see...
We had an experience on Saturday that strengthened my testimony of the
Book of Mormon's power to allow people to feel the Spirit and soften
the hearts of men. Elder Hill and I were teaching this potential named
Denis and the lesson was going pretty well, the only problem was that
he couldn't understand how we can claim the "proper authority" to
perform ordinances such as baptisms or why it is important that we can
trace our authority back to Christ. I felt this strong prompting to
show him 3 Nephi 11 where Christ gives his disciples the authority to
baptize and set forth the proper method of baptism. As soon as I did
this, the entire mood of the lesson changed and he suddenly became
much more interested in our message and agreed to read the Book of
Mormon and sincerely seek to know if it is true. I know that the Book
of Mormon is the word of God and that it has the power to soften
hearts and change lives for the better. I have felt that in my own
life and have seen that in the lives of so many people out here!
Yesterday, Elder Bentley got to perform at the "night of music and
inspiration" which is a visitor's center event with a bunch of musical
performances and talks by missionaries meant to uplift and help
members and investigators alike feel the Spirit. After the program was
over, I talked to Sister Cooke (who helps put together all of the
musical numbers for both "night of music and inspiration" and "why I
believe") and I am now set up to sing (either solo, group, duet,
whatever she decides) for an event some time in the near future!
Needless to say, I am SUPER excited! I love being able to share my
testimony of the Gospel through music!
Also while at the visitor's center, I ran into Elder Huffaker and we
got a picture (picture coming in separate email)!
I love you all! Have an amazing and blessed week!
Sincerely,
Elder Sam Williams
Washington DC North Mission
11700 Falls Road
Potomac, Maryland 20854-2823
Elders Williams and Huffaker from the Enrose Ward at the Washington D. C. Visitors' Center. Elder Huffaker is from the South Mission and Elder Williams is from the North Mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment