Wednesday, March 26, 2014

March 25, 2014

So many great things happened this week, but I think the most exciting and rewarding event of them all took place on Sunday. We've been working with a lot of people to help them come back to church and repent and rediscover their testimonies. In our mission we really are encouraged to help people return to church 4 times out of 6 weeks, and after that they are considered a returned member. This last Sunday, we had 7 wonderful people return for their 4th time and many of them have callings now and feel part of their congregation again. 

Five of those members were a family with three children, and we were able to have a family home evening with them and help them feel the Spirit. Some of the things I've been thinking about are the "why's" of the gospel. When someone asks you why you do something, it's a great opportunity to explain to them the message of the restoration! Why? Because I follow a living prophet, because I read the Book of Mormon, because I promised to do so when I was baptized, because the Spirit inspired me to do it, etc. Just merely saying you do it because your religion tells you to do it doesn't make them interested or feel like you really believe it. 

We had Zone Conference yesterday and received training on the new way we are teaching lessons, which includes teaching with the pamphlets for 7 minutes as simply as we can. The missionaries in the Book of Mormon taught with plainness and simplicity, and we are doing the same! It's taking a lot of practice but we are seeing the benefits from it already. I love growing my faith in Christ every day as I read about Him in the scriptures. I love sharing my testimony with everyone around me and standing as a witness everywhere I go. I love every minute of this wonderful time when I get to be a missionary and serve full-time in the front lines of the work. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! 

Look at this street name I found!


Friday, March 21, 2014

March 17, 2014

This week we had the privilege of splitting with members of the Stake Relief Society Presidency to visit struggling members of the area. The sisters were such great examples to me and involving them added such a strength and powerful validity that the gospel is true and important. We had over twenty lessons with members present, and it is such a good feeling to have members join us and be excited about the work, and form lasting friendships that will exist long after we leave. 

One miracle that happened this week and is dear to my heart is with Connie, a lady we visit who is not a member and has had a difficult life. She used to never let anyone into her home and stayed inside with her cats. After a long journey, we are to the point of sharing a Mormon Message with her every week and praying with her. This week, when we visited, she asked us if we had a video for her, and wouldn't let us leave without a prayer! After the video about a teenage girl in Hawaii who loves music, Connie turned around and said, "So that's pretty neat that she uses something that relates to her, like music, to feel the Spirit, and to be nearer to God, right?" It was such a special moment and the Spirit was so strong as she realized for herself those eternal truths, when months before, she felt uncomfortable even talking about God. 

There are a lot of changes going on within our mission, with new ways to teach and hasten the work. I am so excited to be a part of it. I went to the temple today and felt renewed strength and inspiration for the things I need to do the next few weeks. I am so blessed to be in a mission not only one but two temples in its boundaries. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

-Love Sister Fluegel

Monday, March 10, 2014

March 10, 2014

This week has been so spiritually uplifting. I was able to hear Elder Ballard come speak to our mission on Tuesday, and John Bytheway came to our Stake Women's Conference on Saturday. I learned so much about how to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. I learned that we too often think we are supposed to be perfect, and then come unto Christ, but it doesn't work like that. If you had to be perfect to enter the temple, we'd have 142 empty temples. There's a difference between being worthy, and being perfect, and when we understand that, we judge others less and feel more hope for ourselves as well. I've also learned that we need to enjoy our lives as they happen, and not wish our lives away, saying that we'd rather be somewhere in the future than right now. Pslam 118:24 says, "This is the day which the Lord hath made, rejoice and be glad in it." Being happy to be yourself, wherever you are at, is so important. 

My tripanionship has had some health struggles this week, and yet as we worked our hardest, we touched many people and I was so blessed to see some of the results of our efforts. I visited an elderly couple while I was on splits with a member, and we invited them to come back to church and partake of the Sacrament again. The very next day, Sunday, they were sitting in the congregation! We also found 3 new people who are ready to be taught and 2 are a mother and 10 year old daughter who just moved here. They found themselves without a home and some distant relatives they'd never met (who live in our area) took them in and are helping them out. They came to church on Sunday and the mother cried during church and said the talks all seemed to be just for her. 

We also have a new Senior Missionary couple assigned to our stake, and they are such a blessing already to us. They are visiting the older people in our area who need help with enduring to the end and overcoming offense or other issues that hold them back from coming to church. They are so wonderful--and they live in this stake already, so when we leave, they'll always be here. They are called "live at home-member/missionary support" senior couples, and every stake in the church will be getting them at some point. That means 67 senior couples just for our mission! The work truly is hastening, and the Lord's hand is in it because it's His work. How blessed I am to be a small part of it!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Sister Fluegel


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Miracles in Layton!

March 3, 2014

This week has been full of hard work and effort, and amazing blessings! We knocked on the apartment door of a family with three kids. The oldest, a teenage boy, told us his parents weren't home but to come back again because his parents don't go to church anymore and he wants to come back! So we notified the Bishop and Ward missionaries and the Primary, and the entire family was at church on Sunday. The boy asked if he could be ordained a Teacher because he is 15 and never advanced from a deacon. How inspiring it was to see the faith of a young man influence his entire family. 

One of the people we are teaching has been struggling with finding his testimony that this is the restored true church of Jesus Christ, and at our last lesson when we invited them to come to church, they said they'd go to church. They came right before Sacrament and came and sat by us! They came to gospel principles which was a perfect lesson for them, and afterwards he said he had a story to tell us. 

He explained that when he said he'd go to church on Sunday, he was really meaning he was going to go to a different church instead and just not tell us. Saturday night his garage door wouldn't open no matter how much he pressed the button, and he needed the car to drive to the other church. He decided he'd just go to our church since he can walk to it (it's right next to the apartments he lives in). Then something came up and he really needed to get something out of his car, and he prayed, "God, if you open this door for me, I'll still go to the Mormon church on Sunday" and it immediately opened right after he said that prayer! He took that as a sign that Heavenly Father wanted him here at our church! 

It's so wonderful to know that this truly is Heavenly Father's work, and His hand is in it. We can only do so much to help others feel the Spirit and understand the doctrine. It's what happens when we're not there that makes the conversion process happen. I'm so blessed to be a part of these miracles and to be humbled every day as I see more and more the love Heavenly Father has for His children. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Love, Sister Fluegel