Hello! Our new Sister from temple square arrived Wednesday!! OODALLALEY!!! She is INCREDIBLE! And I love her so much. Her name is Sister (Victoria) Carter and she has been out for 10 months or so. She's from southern California and she is simply wonderful. Its been a ton of fun to be working in a three some. I love Sister Meier and Sister Carter so much and I thank God for allowing us to work with one another, to grow and to strengthen each other. Sister Meier gets her new mission call tomorrow!! Craziness
SOOO MANY MIRACLES!! This is God's work! We were stopping by a members home to follow up with her and see what revelation she had received from God for us, but she wasn't home. We also checked on her two neighbours that she had referred to us, but neither were home. As we were walking back to the car, all three of us were drawn to the house across the street. We knocked and spoke with the father of the house, Brian. He talked with us for a few minutes - expressing that he was far too busy to make time for church and he kindly turned us away. As we were walking away, his 24 year old daughter, Ashley Bogle, had ran from the house to meet us by the garage door. She desperately asked us if we were with a church and if we would be willing to talk to her. Let me tell you about Ashley. She has had a very, very hard life. She was just released from the psych ward, having had attempted committing suicide twice, suffering from Bipolar, depression, and many addictions and psychological ailments. She's been in a very dark, angry, miserable state for years and she was reaching out to us for help. She has never been taught about God and Jesus Christ and she craved to know more. She wants to change, she so desperately wants to be happy, and God sent us to her doorstep to help her. We sat on the doorstep and started teaching her and after the prayer, she was in tears. She she felt so different, that these tears were nothing like she had experienced before. It was such a powerful and miraculous experience. God loves her! He is aware of her and wants her to be happy. What an honor it is to be part of this work, to be able to love His precious children.
The Seipels are struggling. When their oldest son Sam died, Sharon turned to alcohol to numb the pain. And because she is held captive by the alcohol, she and her family cannot progress. Its so heart breaking to see. If she would just turn to our Savior and let him heal her, how light will be her burden, how free from pain will she be, and how great will be the progression of their family! Keep them in your prayers. We're going to bring President Riggs with us to a lesson this week hopefully so that they can experience the power of the priesthood.
Sister Carter shared an incredible quote with us, and I couldn't help but weep as I read. Howard W Hunter said:
"Our Father in heaven... loved his Son, Jesus Christ, better than Abraham ever loved Isaac, for our Father had with him his Son, our Redeemer, in the eternal worlds, faithful and true for ages, standing in a place of trust and honor, and the father loved him dearly and yet he allowed this well-beloved Son to descend from his place of glory and honor where millions did him homage, down to the earth, condescension that is not within the power of man to conceive. He came to receive the insult, the abuse and the crown of thorns. God heard the cry of his Son in that moment of great grief and agony, in the garden when, it is said, the pores of his body opened and drops of blood stood upon him, and he cried out "father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me..." His Father looked on with great grief and agony over his Beloved son, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer, and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so he bowed his head,, and hid in some part of the universe, his great heart, almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh , in that moment when he might have saved his Son, I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only love of his Son in mind, but he also had love for us. I rejoice that he did not interfere, and that his love for us made it possible for him to endure to look upon the sufferings of his Son and give him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without him, without his sacrifice, we would have remained, and we never have come glorified into his presence. And so this is what it costs, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men."
I am so grateful for our Father in Heaven. My heart is so full in gratitude for His infinite love and mercy, His patience and compassion, His wisdom and power. How great is our God! Our Father in Heaven! This is His work and His glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. His whole purpose is for us to be happy, to have a fullness of joy! He loves us, more than we can comprehend. Pray to Him. Glorify Him. Ask for His help and His guidance. What a remarkable gift it is that we can talk to Him in prayer. This week I've really learned not to take prayer for granted. I want to be more like Enos - wrestling before God, praying all day and night, struggling in the Spirit, praying and laboring in ALL diligence (Enos 1). How many of us are praying like this? With ALL energy of heart? I know I have much to improve, and I am so grateful for our Lord, for allowing our Savior to atone for us so that we can change! I love repentance. I am so grateful for it!
Little Thought: Many people say that they are too busy to learn more, to make time for God, to do the things He so lovingly beckons us to do. Another missionary said that BUSY stands for Bound Under Satan's Yoke. Powerful huh! We should put God first, He should be our focus, our priority.
Good luck in school this week!! You are in my prayers. I truly do care about and love each and every one of you. I'm so excited that Sister Panda Lake will be with you soon! Love you!
Glory to God!
LOVE SISTER JULIA JEPPSEN
 |
| Sister Carter and Meier :) |
 |
| This is Ashley - she is soooo great! |
 |
| I love my companions |
 |
| Sharon and Angela haha. |
No comments:
Post a Comment