This week was full of spiritual goodness! It was my 7 month mark (yippee!), followed by zone conference and zone meeting. I'll write about all that went on this week and, at the end of my email, I'll share the things that I learned this week. :)
On Tuesday we had dinner with Sister Rohrbacher- the Relief Society president in the ward. Everyone always asks us what we want to eat, and our answer is always the same: "Oh, whatever! It doesn't matter to us! Just make whatever is easiest for your family!" Cause, seriously, we really don't know what we want to eat. haha. Well, Sister Rohrbacher decided to be the saint that she is and she looked me up on pinterest! haha! She made my FAVORITE enchilada recipe innn theee worlddddd. It was SO good. That's been the best meal so far on my mission! Sister Pritchard and I were looking forward to it all day long. :)
Tuesday night, the Relief Society had an activity that they called "Taking it Back Tuesday". We learned (or re-learned) all sorts of "lost" skills- making pie crust, embroidery, decorating cards, making hand soap, canning, and etiquette. It was such a fun night! I feel like I'm going to come home from my mission and be a trained farmer's wife. Haha! I'm ready! I'm sending home some of the things that I made. :)
Did anyone watch the BYU vs Texas game Saturday night?! I didn't either... But the older couple that we live with (we live in their basement) were watching it. They know that I went to BYU-Idaho... (So I guess that automatically makes me a BYU football fan? haha!) so they were screaming down to me whenever BYU made a touchdown. It was seriously the funniest thing ever. Some 80-somethin' year olds screaming down "TOUCHDOWN! TOUCHDOWN, SISTER GUBLER!!" Hahaha. But, hey, BYU WON!
We went and visited with Jesus- we haven't been able to catch him at home for a really long time. But we had an amazing discussion with him! We pretty much taught the entire Plan of Salvation on his doorstep. It was awesome. But, at one point, he started talking about how he's dating this 26 year old girl... (Jesus is 62.) And he started asking us if it was acceptable... haha! (Again, I'm a MISSIONARY. I'm not qualified to give dating advice.) I gave a quick rundown of the law of chastity (I'm not shy. I get to the point. haha) to which he responded:
"How old are you?"
"I'm 20."
"If you were in love, would you ever date a 50 year old guy?"
Awkward. Seriously. But I just flat out said, "No, Jesus. First off, I don't think that (falling in love with a 50 year old) would ever happen. So, no, I can't say I would."
HAHAHAHA. I don't roll that way. He is one lonelyyyy dude, though. I feel bad. But he felt a little bit better after we explained life after death- that we return to live with God. We don't just disappear into nothingness!
We had a lesson with the Stewart's on Sunday afternoon. As always, it was amazing! Richard is SO prepared. He's even started to tell people about his baptism! He told us that he prayed about everything that we've been teaching, and he knows that it's true! :D I'm so happy for him! Elsie is the same- she's prayed about it and knows that it's true. As I told you last week, she's already been following the Word of Wisdom (even before we taught it!). Rocky is a little behind though. He knows it's true- he feels that it is. But he hasn't read anything, hasn't prayed, and he hasn't been coming to church very much. But Rocky is the type of guy that wants to do everything 100% or not at all. He's getting there. Their entire family is so prepared for the gospel! They committed to keeping the Word of Wisdom as well!!! They are so excited for the gospel (and me as well, can't ya tell?!). Funny thing that happened during the lesson though- Rocky went outside for a few minutes while we were visiting. And while he was outside, he yells in: "Mom! The cops are here!" And here I start freaking out thinking, "Crap. Our investigators are actually criminals. Dang it. What did we get ourselves into?!" Elsie goes outside- turns out that the cops were just trying to find the house for a lost dog. hahahahahaha! I worried for nothing apparently.
New investigators! Seth and Chasey. They were originally being taught by our District Leader and his companion, but they had requested to be taught by Sister Missionaries. (Yay for Sisters!) Seth is a member, but went really less active throughout his life. And Chasey, a non-member, is his girlfriend. We are so excited to teach them! We went over and met them last night and they are awesome!
Zone Conference was great- with Elder Godoy of the 70. I really needed the spiritual uplifting this week (tough week, tough week). And it was (as always) fabulous to see all of my mission friends. :)
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Sister Cannon spoke on Mosiah 5:12-13. Learning to recognize the Master's voice.
"The way we FEEL is more important than what we hear." -Sister Cannon
"Your call is to work after the manner of the Lord, not after the manner of men." -Elder Gay
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President Cannon- How to Become a "POWER" Missionary
D&C 79:1
D&C 109:22-23
Example of Paul- 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 - The SPIRIT is what teaches.
P - Priesthood D&C 84:19-20
O - Obedience Because we LOVE our Father
W - Witness
E - Example "White Shirt Policy"
R - Righteousness The powers of heaven cannot be controlled or handled otherwise
I loved how President Cannon talked about his "white shirt policy". Long story short- his white shirt policy is just things that he has said that he would always do (even though they weren't required of him). For example, he would always wear a white shirt to church, he doesn't drink coke, his family doesn't go do anything on Sunday, etc. And I noticed that I have my own "white shirt policy". My problem is just that I tend to want EVERYONE ELSE to keep MY same policy as well... I need to work on that. haha. In my opinion, when flying an airplane, the higher above the tree line that you are, the safer you are as well.
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Elder Godoy (of the 70)-
I've been having a hard time lately with feeling that I'm growing- spiritually. I had a talk with my companion this week, ya know, just complaining, about how "I could be growing just as much if I were at home". Blah blah blah. Yeah, I've repented of that philosophy. I was way wrong. But Elder Godoy made an analogy that made everything clear. He talked about how your spiritual age is the same as your physical age. Sometimes you cannot see the difference in your physical growth until you look at a picture of yourself from 1 year ago. It's the same as your spiritual growth. You get so used to looking at yourself every day that you don't see a difference. But there is! YOU ARE GROWING. If others from home saw you, they would notice. He also made the point that you are not here on a mission to be who you were before. You need to ALLOW the change to happen within you.
Elder Godoy also gave some helpful tips for sharing the gospel with our friends. Think about what you like about our doctrine and share that with non-members. Is it that we are children of God? That we are sealed as families? Is it that we do work for the dead? Is it that we believe in repentance? Share those points that you most cherish.
Another talk that I had with my companion was about how I feel that (sometimes) I am not receiving blessings even though I am doing my best. There are some missionaries that baptize a million people and everyone loves them and they're so happy all the time... And then there's people like me. People that still question their effectiveness as a mission. People that feel like they aren't doing anything right. People that aren't happy 100% of the time. Elder Godoy talked about how sometimes the Lord holds on to our blessings and saves them for later. He doesn't give them to us all at once (in the form of baptisms), but sometimes he saves them for when you've been home for a couple of years. Or he saves them and gives them to you 20 or 30 years down the line. Other times, he takes your blessings and transfers them to others who need them more than you. He knows what you're strong enough to handle- and maybe that means that you don't need to see a million blessings in happening in your life. I thought that was an interesting point.
Elder Godoy feels very strongly about the parents of missionaries. He asked us: What were your parents last words to you before you got on the plane? Some missionaries (who have had a lot of missionaries in their family) had very wise counsel given to them. Others don't have a huge history of missionary work didn't have much said. But Elder Godoy shared Moroni 8:1-3 with us and promised us that "The Lord will help you and He will answer the prayers of your parents." (I hope you're praying. haha) Elder Godoy told us to live each day like your mom (or dad) was your mission companion. Work so that you know, without a doubt, that they would be proud of you.
The last point that he made to us was: "Don't be afraid to promise blessings. The angels of heaven will back you up." I liked that.
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Zone Meeting
Having the Humility to Change (Christlike Attributes: Humility)
-D&C 12:8 We cannot do this work without humility!
-Alma 5:27-29 --> Alma 26:12
How Can We Realize Our Potential?
-Do not fear man more than God. It is better to be trusted than to be loved.
Don't Judge Who Will Accept (Chapter 9: Preach My Gospel)
-1 John 4:7-11
BECOMING a Missionary
-We talked about how we need to constantly work towards being those "perfect missionaries" that the members expect that we are. WE (as missionaries) know that we are just average joe's. We aren't anything special, like ward members think that we are. But we need to work to fill that role- constantly.
-Keep growing even after your mission. Don't "shrink" when you're released.
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This week was definitely a spiritual feast! :)
Sister Gubler
