Hello!
An interesting title for this week comes from the funeral we were able to help with on Wednesday. A less active member's husband passed away, he was in his 70's. He used to be an amazing member of the church, but then fell into inactivity, and started hangin out with his "biker dudes." It made for an interesting mix of people at the funeral! But his family did an amazing job of having both humor and testimony. It was one of the best funerals I've been to! The two hymns we sang were Abide with Me, tis Eventide and God Be With You till We Meet Again.... Not cool! I almost lost it, but I kept it together! It was a beautiful service full of wonderful stories about his life.
Something I've been focusing my efforts on this week is how we can best serve the members of our ward and build relationships with them. We have a very dedicated ward council, and I want them to know that they can trust us! We've really been trying to reach out to the families we are assigned to, and then reporting back our efforts. I want to show that although we are young, we are capable of completing tasks efficiently!
We have a new investigator named T! She works at the Home Hardware! One of our members works with her, and she referred her to us. She just had a friend in a house fire that is now on life support. It's a really tough situation, but it has sparked a lot of questions about the Pre-Mortal life and the After life. She wants to know if there is anyway her friend can be saved because her friend doesn't acknowledge God. Golden question! We are teaching her the Plan of Salvation on Wednesday! I love her so so much already. I feel like she is "my" investigator! I can't wait to see where this journey takes her. She's an amazing person with a heart of gold.
A sad thing we experienced yesterday was with a less active member. She has expressed to us that she has very strong feelings against the church. But she has always been very welcoming to us. We had supper at her house last night, and when we asked if we could share a message with her, she informed us that based off of what the church did this week and many other things, she is officially having her name removed from the records of the church. She expressed that it had nothing to do with us, and we are still welcome in her home. She then gave us the paper work to give to bishop. This is heavy stuff! It broke my heart! I'm not sure what has happened in her life to cause such strong feelings, but I know that she is just one of many who will choose to leave.
I know that this policy addition is extremely controversial and the farthest thing from popular, but if we really trust in Heavenly Father, then it doesn't matter what we think. This isn't our church, it is His. We chose of our own free will and choice to take His name upon us, and now we need to defend it! I know that this policy change is for the benefit of all men everywhere, although it doesn't seem as so. When we raised our arm to the square just a few weeks ago, we sustained the first presidency and twelve apostles as prophets! And we vowed to support them. We already made our decision! We sustain them, and we support them. Regardless of world view and opinion. Being a Latter Day Saint isn't easy, but who ever said it would be?? I know that the Lord will give us the strength to stand up for His gospel if we commit to doing so. We must be devout defenders of the restored gospel in all topics and situations. I'll step off of my soapbox now, but I hope you will reflect on where your testimony stands. ️
I love my Savior so so much. I already feel like I don't have enough time to study His teachings, and I have more study time than ever! I am so beyond grateful for His endless love and grace. It has carried me this week through the thick of all the craziness. He really gets it! And I know he is always looking out for me. This gospel is so true! And I love that I get to represent the greatest big brother in the world. I hope you guys had a great week. I can't wait to hear all about it!
With love,
Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed
An interesting title for this week comes from the funeral we were able to help with on Wednesday. A less active member's husband passed away, he was in his 70's. He used to be an amazing member of the church, but then fell into inactivity, and started hangin out with his "biker dudes." It made for an interesting mix of people at the funeral! But his family did an amazing job of having both humor and testimony. It was one of the best funerals I've been to! The two hymns we sang were Abide with Me, tis Eventide and God Be With You till We Meet Again.... Not cool! I almost lost it, but I kept it together! It was a beautiful service full of wonderful stories about his life.
Something I've been focusing my efforts on this week is how we can best serve the members of our ward and build relationships with them. We have a very dedicated ward council, and I want them to know that they can trust us! We've really been trying to reach out to the families we are assigned to, and then reporting back our efforts. I want to show that although we are young, we are capable of completing tasks efficiently!
We have a new investigator named T! She works at the Home Hardware! One of our members works with her, and she referred her to us. She just had a friend in a house fire that is now on life support. It's a really tough situation, but it has sparked a lot of questions about the Pre-Mortal life and the After life. She wants to know if there is anyway her friend can be saved because her friend doesn't acknowledge God. Golden question! We are teaching her the Plan of Salvation on Wednesday! I love her so so much already. I feel like she is "my" investigator! I can't wait to see where this journey takes her. She's an amazing person with a heart of gold.
A sad thing we experienced yesterday was with a less active member. She has expressed to us that she has very strong feelings against the church. But she has always been very welcoming to us. We had supper at her house last night, and when we asked if we could share a message with her, she informed us that based off of what the church did this week and many other things, she is officially having her name removed from the records of the church. She expressed that it had nothing to do with us, and we are still welcome in her home. She then gave us the paper work to give to bishop. This is heavy stuff! It broke my heart! I'm not sure what has happened in her life to cause such strong feelings, but I know that she is just one of many who will choose to leave.
I know that this policy addition is extremely controversial and the farthest thing from popular, but if we really trust in Heavenly Father, then it doesn't matter what we think. This isn't our church, it is His. We chose of our own free will and choice to take His name upon us, and now we need to defend it! I know that this policy change is for the benefit of all men everywhere, although it doesn't seem as so. When we raised our arm to the square just a few weeks ago, we sustained the first presidency and twelve apostles as prophets! And we vowed to support them. We already made our decision! We sustain them, and we support them. Regardless of world view and opinion. Being a Latter Day Saint isn't easy, but who ever said it would be?? I know that the Lord will give us the strength to stand up for His gospel if we commit to doing so. We must be devout defenders of the restored gospel in all topics and situations. I'll step off of my soapbox now, but I hope you will reflect on where your testimony stands. ️
I love my Savior so so much. I already feel like I don't have enough time to study His teachings, and I have more study time than ever! I am so beyond grateful for His endless love and grace. It has carried me this week through the thick of all the craziness. He really gets it! And I know he is always looking out for me. This gospel is so true! And I love that I get to represent the greatest big brother in the world. I hope you guys had a great week. I can't wait to hear all about it!
With love,
Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed
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