Hello all! It was warm this week, in the balmy upper 70's, and now there's snow on the ground again! Gotta love the midwest!
Great things going on here. Fun stuff, like car troubles and freezing walks in the park, then more spiritual stuff too. I had a really good interview with President Bateman, and learned even MORE about love this week. So sorry if my kumbaya emails are getting old, heehee, but that's something I want to talk about again :D
This week we met with Brian, an investigator we've been teaching for a few weeks. He's almost finished with 1 Nephi, and prayed about it, and told us on Wednesday he believes the book of Mormon to be true! We've also seen a slow but steady change in him--he now wants to quit his job (that requires him to work most of Sunday) and find a better one. We've been meeting at member's homes with him, and hopefully will help him get to church soon.
The zone leaders tracted in our area and found a woman named Belva who is interested in learning more. She's looking for a church that she feels at home in! We found her a ride with a member who turned out having a lot in common with her. I love little miracles like that. Unfortunately, she didn't feel good enough to attend yesterday, but we're grateful the elders found her and hopeful about helping her learn more.
On the other hand, a young adult named Ted we were teaching stopped talking to us the past few weeks. Sister Gillies and I really felt like he was going to get baptized, and I still feel like that. But we reached out the last time to him this week, and decided to drop him. It was a hard thing, because I feel he was one of the people I needed to teach on my mission. But, like the Wolf family in my first area I guess, I was just meant to teach for a time. I truly believe Ted will receive the gospel one day.
So this whole month the theme for me has been the pure love of Christ. I have been focusing my prayers more on expressing my gratitude and love for God, my Savior, and those around me. In return, I'm filled with more love and better able to serve. Then yesterday in church a speaker talked about how tragedy is an inevitable consequence of being, and then posed the question, 'Is being worth the tragedy?'
His talk was about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He said that "love is the acceptance of 'being.'" So, in atoning for our sins and breaking the bonds of death--the ultimate act of love--he forever settled the question, 'Is our existence worth the tragedy?'
Our existence is worth so much to Him! Worth all the heartache, mistakes, weakness, and tragedy. And when we love, we place another's existence as 'worth it' too! As I took the time to really ponder that in Sacrament Meeting, I received a gift. The Lord opened my eyes, and for a few precious moments I looked at all the people sitting around me and had a glimpse of their true individual worth in the eyes of God.
"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be *one soul* unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"
The worth of one soul is great in the sight of God! And though I've not labored all my days, and I've been blessed to bring more than one soul unto Him, there is at least one more soul I have yet to reach. One by one, the Lord moves his work forward. I'm grateful to be helping in the small ways I can.
I love you all <3
Sister Fluegel 
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