7 July 2010

Happy Belated fourth to you all! I hope that it was wonderful for everyone. My fourth was pretty fantastic, and I didn't even really get to see any fireworks. The extent of my fireworks display was actually the night before. We live in the top half of a duplex of a part member family. The husband (non-member) had a single illegal firework that he wanted to set off. He let us know when he was going to set it off so that we could watch out the window since it was after we had to be inside... not that we really would have been allowed to participate anyway. It was cool to watch. But the real joy in my fourth came in other ways. On the fourth of July we had dinner with one of our investigators and his family. His family are all members, but despite numerous pushes over the years, he has only started investigating the church in the last several months since his wife died. We've felt the spirit really strong in many of our meetings, but ed has been hesitant to act on any of those feelings because he almost drowned when he was younger and is deathly afraid of water. When they first talked about Joseph Smith, he said that it gave him heart burn, and it's taken him some time to really get comfortable with things. He attends church every week, and reads everything that we give him to read whether it be out of the book of Mormon, or anything else. He is the best investigator! Anyway, so we've been facing this fear of water that he has, and on Sunday, his daughter in law came up to us at church and told us that we aren't really supposed to know until he is ready to tell us, but Ed wants to be baptized for his birthday in September!! I am so excited for him, and for all it means to his family. It will be so exciting for him to finally be able to be sealed to his wife and his son, and to know that he can be with them for eternity. His family is amazing! They really treat us like family, and are grateful for the influence of the missionaries in Ed's life and their own... they all joined the church about 10 years ago! it's really wonderful!

We've had many other miracles this week as well. One of the best came yesterday as we were teaching a sisster in the ward who had been less active for many many years. About 5 months ago, she came back to church and told the missionaries that she wanted to be sealed to her husband. Her husband has been deployed, but they are working on getting to the point that they can be sealed together, and he can baptize his son when he turns 8 next year. It's so wonderful to see the fire of testimony, and the desire to follow Christ's example burning strong in Sister Serr. Her husband comes back in a months time, and i know how much this will bless her life. She has been teaching her youngest son about why we are baptized and go to church and take the sacrament. He is growing so fast, and yesterday he told us that he wants to be an Elder when he grows up!! Really the people out here are amazing... the Lord has richly blessed this area with choice saints who have experienced much of the world and have that plain on which they can relate to others who are seeking the truth. It's amazing to see how much that can help with missionary efforts. These people have amazing testimonies of how the gospel can bless and change lives. The miracles that are worked because of their faith are amazing!

It's amazing too to see the testimonies of these people growing through the things that they have been through and continue to go through. Many have been through struggles and trials that I cannot even imagine, and for some of them, those trials have been caused by members of the church. Yet, they remain strong against opposition, and those that would seek to destroy their faith. These are people that really understand that the church is not made of perfect people, but rather that the church is based on us and our own personal relationship with Heavenly Father. These are people like Abinadi and Alma. I watched a sister the other night who has been through so much with her ex-husband who is a member of the church, and who for the last year and a half has refused to give her son back to her. I watched her as she defended the church against her brother who thought it was absolutely foolish of her to allow any one from the church back into her home after all that had happened to her. This is the Lord's work, and the Lord's church. Nothing will stop this work, and nothing will destroy the faith of those that trust in him and seek ever to do his will and follow his teachings!

There have been far too many miracles in the last week to write all of them here! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for this opportunity to serve him. Missionary work is the greatest! It's wonderful too to have been taught to teach by the spirit and to the needs of those we are teaching! This makes lessons fun and exciting sometimes. We have one less active member that we are working with. His wife is active, and we know he has a testimony. He just struggles with some of the things that have happened to him since moving to the united states. The only way that we currently have to reach him is by standing in front of his television and singing primary songs. He smiles every time we do this! How fun this work is! We even made up our own words to Nephi's courage to sing to him! There is no where else I would choose to be in my life right now!!

Love you all, hope to hear about all the good and exciting things going on in your lives soon.

OH.... I almost forgot... Our preparation days are changing to Monday, and most the libraries are closed on Mondays, so I don't know if I'll be able to email after this week. I think we will, but I'm not positive, also... don't be worried if I email on Monday next week :) That also means that anyone emailing back... hopefully it will be easier to remember to email on Sunday nights....

Love ya,

Sister Boston

p.s.

I forgot to talk about my new mission president! Oh no! We met the new mission president on Friday. He is going to be fantastic for the mission! Also, I think that he is going to be just what I need. I was really inspired from everything that he said, and I like his wife a lot too. I'm excited for the things to come in this mission. He was trained in the same type of training that we were in the pilot program at the MTC, and the first presidency wants all the missionaries in the mission to go through the special training as well. Our whole mission is becoming a pilot program, and being taught to really do this work in the Lord's way. It's an exciting time to be a missionary here in Richmond. The Lord has great things in store for sure!! At the mission conference they talked a lot about doing things sincerely and with the spirit. One of the APs also talked about dead works... specifically regarding prayer. It was an inspiring talk and he used Alma 31 to compare prayers of the Zoramites vs. Alma's prayer. We also talked a lot about really knowing and using the scriptures in our teaching. Something I really want to be better at doing. I really wish that I knew my scriptures better.