We have district p-day today and are going to Acadia, so I’ll have to make this a quick one. E cut his hair!!! He looks so great! Smoking is still a work in progress. K is great too, we’ve started sharing chapters with her and teaching over FB. D has still backed off. We have a couple new families and old families we’ve followed up with like the C's and N's who are really interested and ready to go. J. read all of 1 Nephi but still has lots of questions.
Midway through the week we decided to have a get together at the church on the 30th for a message and to dye Easter eggs! We have a bunch of members coming and a few less actives. We’re working on getting more people we’re teaching to come, and the members are inviting friends! :) When members invite friends to come and see, miracles happen. The success in sharing the gospel isn’t in if they accept, it’s in the invitation. Do you invite them because you love them or because someone told you to? Do you do it lovingly? Do you do it with the plan to still be their friend whether they accept or not? Do you talk about the gospel naturally? These are what make inviting friends to learn about the church a joy.
I love the song “If the Savior stood beside me”. The song, as many of you know, is about how or if we would live differently if the Savior was with us. The second verse says...
If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say?
Would my words be true and kind if He was never far away?
Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more rev’rently
if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
I noticed the importance of a line in there recently that I’ve never thought about too much, and one that I know I could improve on from who I was before my mission, “Would I try to share the gospel?” I think most those other things in the song I would specifically try to do each day, and I’d always hope for the chance to share the gospel, but did I actually try to share it myself? I was excited for the opportunity to come along, but that’s not enough! I love the thought of trying to share the gospel with the savior at my side, and I’m grateful that’s how it truly is. :)
We’ve been doing a thing with the ward where we open an Easter egg with a scripture and related object inside, and the ward loves it! For those we can’t visit, we post a picture each day on the ward FB page with the family who did it, so others can follow along. The ward loves it and it’s helping us draw a lot closer to them. :)
Love you all and happy Easter!
Elder Branch :)
