Our Heartfelt All
Hola a todos!
Last week seemed to fly by as we were preparing for Zone Conference and our mission leadership meeting. Zone Conference was powerful! President Fisk was inspired to change things up. We usually spend most of Zone Conference listening to speakers, then we break up into groups to practice certain parts of missionary work. This time, there were five groups and we all rotated as we went to different worshops. We focused on topics including working with members, working with ward leaders, physical and mental health, and effective planning. In each workshop, we had time to talk with our companions about how we were going to apply what we learned. It was amazing to see the immediate impact of these workshops and how each companiship left with something they could start implementing in their area that very night. After Zone Conference, we had our mission leadership meeting. It was so cool to hear about all of the miracles happening in each zone of the mission and the plans that are in place to help missionary work keep moving forward.
We finally had another lesson with our friend Yrianni. She is amazing! She told us about what she has learned as she has been studying the Book of Mormon over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, she still has to work on Sundays, but she gets off early in the afternoon. We talked about the possibility of her changing her schedule so that she could work later in the day and come to church in the morning. She was really excited about that idea and said that she is going to talk to her boss.
On Thursday, we had exchages with Sister Locher and Sister Hill. Sister Hill came here to my area and Hermana Rosales went with Sister Locher. Sister Hill is amazing! She has only been a missionary for a couple of weeks and has a powerful testimony. It was so fun to be with her as she is still getting used to being a missionary and trying to figure everything out. She has lots of excitement for all of the new experiences that come with being a missionary and loves literally everyone she meets.
We visited our friend Nohely and her daughter Zoe. Nohely has been coming to an english class that we do at the church building every week. We have become great friends with her because of the class, and last week, she invited us to visit her in her home. President Bennett joined us for the visit. He came to one of the english classes a few weeks ago and helped teach, so Nohely already knew him. Nohely and her family moved here from Venezuela not too long ago and its been a big adjustment since they dont speak much english. President Bennett has lots of connections and even has some friends from Venezuela that he is going to get Nohely in contact with! Nohely is interested in coming to church and we're excited for her to meet more of the members.
The Vía Linda Christmas party was on Saturday night. Keinis came with her daughter Zoe. We were able to introduce Keinis to a member of the branch named Hermana Mora. We had been trying to introduce them for a while now because we feel like Hermana Mora's conversion story could really help Keinis. Keinis and Hermana Mora connected so well at the party, and we are hoping that Hermana Mora will be able to join us for our visit with Keinis this week. Yrianni also came to the Christmas party. We were so excited that she was able to come and meet more members of the branch. The party was so much fun, and the members of the branch invited lots of their friends. Santa made an appearance and the kids acted out a little nativity scene. There was even a camel in the nativity! (I attached a photo below). And of course there was a dance at the end. The Spanish people love to dance and they never have a party without music. They know how to have a good time, thats for sure haha.
Last week, as I was studying the story of the poor widow in Mark chapter 12, I was reminded of a talk given by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf titled Our Heartfelt All. In this talk, Elder Uchtdorf says "Just days before He gave His life for us, Jesus Christ was at the temple in Jerusalem, watching people make donations to the temple treasury. 'Many that were rich cast in much,' but then, along came a poor widow, 'and she threw in two mites.' It was such a small amount, it would hardly be worth recording. And yet this seemingly inconsequential donation caught the Savior’s attention. In fact, it impressed Him so deeply that 'he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.' With this simple observation, the Savior taught us how offerings are measured in His kingdom—and it’s quite different from the way we usually measure things. To the Lord, the value of the donation was measured not by the effect it had on the treasury but by the effect it had on the heart of the donor. In praising this faithful widow, the Savior gave us a standard to measure our discipleship in all of its many expressions. Jesus taught that our offering may be large or it may be small, but either way, it must be our heartfelt all." In a separate talk given by Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge, he says "Everything that you have to give to the Lord has its origin in Him, except one thing: your will. He does not have your heart, nor mind, unless you give them to Him. It is the only gift you have to offer that He does not already have. And so when you give yourself, you truly give everything to Him." When we understand this, we come to see that the poor widow gave much more than two mites. She gave all that she could to the Lord—she gave herself. I have come to realize that there is a big difference between sacrifice and consecration. Sacrifice is simply doing what the Lord wants us to do while desiring to do what we want to do. Consecration, on the other hand, is desiring to do the Lord's will and making our will one with His. I would like to invite you all to read or listen to this talk by Elder Uchtdorf and plan one thing that you will start doing this week to more fully consecrate your life to the Lord. As Elder Uchtdorf said "Your loving Father in Heaven knows your heart." He knows your limitations and is proud your efforts. I know that the best gift that you can give to the Savior this Christmas is yourself. I testify that He loves you and will bless you more than you can imagine as you consecrate your life to Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I love you all!
Con Amor,
Hermana Kendrick
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