The Work of the Ministry‏ June 6, 2016

Hermana Hilton and her trainee (Hermana.... Applegate?)
 and me and mine!

Hi you all!
Things are going pretty dandy here in Anadarko South (Elgin) area! Hermana St. Clair is amazing and I'm so grateful to be working with her! I feel like we click rather well which is such a huge blessing, but I also I feel like it is really easy for me to have everything done how I'm thinking and how I've done it in the past with her because I'm prideful and she isn't. haha Hermana St. Clair is really humble and open to learning and doing everything how others want things done. She doesn't create contention and she doesn't want to offend anyone- which is super great, but it is taking conscious effort on my part to push her to take the lead and, if there needs be, to allow awkward silences while teaching to help her know it's her turn to jump in. It's been really fun getting to know her and learn from her though! She is just wonderful and full of charity and excitement for serving the Lord! She's from Eagle, Idaho (Boise area)/Eagle Mountain, Utah (by Lehi) and she's amazing!

Fun fact! Her 20th birthday and my year mark are on the same day- June 24th! Crazy!

Last night, we ran into some Bible bashers which really drained Hermana St. Clair and I and the member we were out with; however, Hermana St. Clair pointed out later, that after every person that tried bashing with us, Heavenly Father blessed us with someone we could teach and testify to who was willing and open to listening. We also talked about how we can use the Lord's time more effectively when people try to bash with us. I want to still hear their concerns and try to help them clear up their misconceptions without bashing with them. Hermana St. Clair wants to leave with them good impressions of the church, testify of

Awesome sunset

God's love for them and get out of there as quick as possible. Hermana St. Clair was right though, we should leave them with good impressions of the church, testify of God's love and get out of there as quick as possible unless the Spirit prompts us to do otherwise. Is it bad to try and help them overcome some of their concerns and questions though? I'm pretty sure that might be pride to some extent though...?

For this transfer, some of my goals for this transfer are to gain a testimony of revelation through prayer and church attendance. I know that we can gain revelation through both of those means, but I don't feel like I have a solid enough testimony of either because I haven't had as many experiences with them as I have through reading the scriptures. I have been writing down some of my thoughts and questions before I pray in the morning and evening, which as time consuming as it is, it's been helping me to have more meaningful prayers. I need to come up with a plan of action to help gain a greater testimony of church attendance, but that will come later. 

She made it to the temple! Sister Buxton went to the temple
 to do baptisms for the dead for the first time on Friday!
Sister Buxton has been a member for a little less than 2 years
 and she hadn't been to the temple yet, but we had two lessons
 on it and she was so pumped! She loved it so much!!! (:

One of the greatest things that I gained since being on a mission is the realization on the purpose of having The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The purpose of attending this church shouldn't be to just live according to the rules or standards because Jesus wants us to, or to have a church to belong to, to have a church family who has the same standards to worship together with or a multitude of other good but not as important reasons. The goal of having The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to do what Ephesians 4:12 says "[f]or the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" so that God's purpose of "bring[ing] to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39) is able to happen. Christ established his church and taught his gospel to give us the way for to repent and to change us! To help us become like Him and to become like God. The rules and the standards are not to be lived to restrict us or make us live "perfect" lives, rather they are there to help us, like President Walkenhorst mentioned in Trainer's Meeting 2 weeks ago, to teach us how to be able to

The most beautiful sunset!

THINK like God. As we change our will to God's will, it's pointless unless we are changing our attitude and our heart at the same time. That is where we are able to become purified. I look back on my youth and teenage years and while I did most of the right things and lived mostly how I was supposed to, I didn't understand that the rules were there to help me become like God not just impose restrictions on what I could or couldn't do. I still don't understand this completely- really it kind of hurts my brain trying to think about how this works- but it makes sense. This gospel, this church, makes sense. The policies, the teachings of Christ in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, while not all of it are understandable right now to us, as we repent and learn "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Nephi 28:30) it begins to make more and more sense. The gospel is so perfect, it blows my mind! I love the gospel and I know it's true.