Faith Over Logic

¡Hola a todos!

Wow, what a blessing it is to be a missionary in Mesa right now. Every week just gets better!

We started teaching a new friend named Sara. She is the mom of Brother Bryan, one of the branch members. Brother Bryan is a convert to the church, and Sara took a few of the missionary lessons while he was serving his mission. We aren't exactly sure why she stopped taking the lessons, but it has been a few years since then. She wasn't really interested in learning more until recently when she was praying about which church to go to. As she was praying, she received the prompting to start meeting with missionaries again. We had our first lesson with her last week. We held the lesson in the Bryan's home, and it was such a sweet experience for Brother Bryan to be there with his mom and share his testimony with her. 

When we first started teaching our friend Jalil, we were a little nervous because he has a strong religious background in another church and studied for many years within that church. We weren't sure if he would be open to learning more or if he would end up bashing us. Throughout the time that we've been teaching him, he has been incredibly open-minded. Its amazing to see how the Spirit has been able to speak to him because of his open-mindedness and willingness to study the Book of Mormon for himself. Last week, Jalil read several chapters of the Book of Mormon. During on of our lessons, he told us that he knows that its true because it just makes sense. It was so cool to hear him say that because he knows more about the Bible than anyone I have ever met. During Sacrament meeting yesterday, Jalil bore his testimony. He said that although he thought he was coming to the U.S. to work, he knows that God brought him here for a greater purpose - to learn about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. He testified of how the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and eternal families has changed his life. That knowledge has brought him so much peace because he now knows that the joy he feels with his family won't end after this life. 

Our friend Marisol also bore her testimony during Sacrament meeting yesterday. She has incredible faith, and it was amazing to hear her talk about how she trusted in the Lord as she left her home country and traveled here to the U.S. Last night, Daniel and Marisol accepted the invitation to be baptized. It has strengthened my testimony to see the miracles that God has worked in Daniel and Marisol's lives and the changes that He has helped them make to more closely follow Him. 

The friends that I have taught throughout my mission have shown me what faith in Jesus Christ looks like. I've learned that choosing to act in faith might not always be choosing to follow logic. One of my favorite Book of Mormon stories is when Nephi goes back to Jerusalem to get the brass plates. Nephi and his brothers tried to get the plates and were nearly killed. Nephi knew that getting the plates was important and that the the Lord would provide a way. He didn’t know how he was going to do it, but he was led by the Holy Ghost. Elder John H. Groberg of the Seventy said that in life, we should “be willing to take reasonable risks. We live in an age of reason, logic, facts, and figures. These can be useful if kept in subjection to faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. But if they ever take precedence over faith in Him, then they are not useful and can be very harmful. I have found in my life that most of the good decisions I have made may not have been made if they were based solely on logic or reason… Nephi was determined to do what God wanted him to do even with logic to the contrary… I suspect had he listened only to reason, Nephi and his brethren would still be waiting outside the walls of Jerusalem. I sometimes wonder if by our listening to reason and logic too much, and not trusting God enough, we may find ourselves waiting outside the walls of His holy city.” Like Elder Groberg, most of the good decisions that I have made would not have been made if I based them purely on logic or reason. There are many things in life that simply don't make sense. However, our God is a God of miracles. I testify that God always knows best. May we always put Him first and choose to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost is my prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I love you all!

Con Amor,

Hermana Kendrick 














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Power Of The Book Of Mormon

Image
¡Hola amigos y familiares! It was a busy week with Zone Conference and lots of lessons with our friends. There is so much work to do in this area and its awesome!  Our friend Blanca and her two kids, Ashley and Gael, told us that they want to be baptized but aren't quite ready to set a date. Blanca is a little nervous about being baptized because her extended family isn't very supportive of her wanting to join our church. We had one of our lessons with Blanca at the Laytons house, and the Laytons did an amazing job of responding to some of her worries. We are continuing to pray that her and her kids will be ready to set a baptismal date soon.  Daniel and Marisol are doing so well! Last week, they told us that they are ready to change what they need to and commit to following Jesus Christ. They come to every church activity and refer to the branch members as their family. It has been so neat to see how quickly they connected with the branch, and now you would think that they...
Read more

I Made It To Phoenix!

Image
Hola everyone! I made it to Phoenix! My mission President and his wife (President and Sister Eyre) are amazing! I already love them so much. My companion is Sister Farnsworth. She's great! She's been serving for 14 months, so her Spanish is really good. She does most of the talking in our lessons haha.  When I was getting ready to leave the MTC, the wheels on one of my luggages broke. Two of the guys working at the reception desk tried to tape them on for me. Needless to say, the airport was an interesting experience. Before I left the MTC, I received a priesthood blessing from one of the Elders in my district. During the blessing, the Spirit in the room was so strong. I know that the words the Elder said were from God. I was able to feel the comfort I needed before coming to Arizona. I am so thankful for the priesthood and priesthood blessings. I know that priesthood power truly is from God.  My final devotional at the MTC was a video of Elder David A. Bednar. He talked about...
Read more

Be In The World

Image
Hola a todos!  I hope that you're all doing well! We had another lesson with the Romero family and they are doing so well! Their goal this year as a family is to come to all of the branch activities. They have lots of friends in the branch and the members have been great at helping them feel welcome. We have been praying hard for the Romero family to open up more, and every lesson it seems like they feel a little more comfortable with us.  Last week was Zone Conference week, and President Fisk introduced a new mission initiative called "the lost coin." As a mission, we started teaching quite a few people last year but only a small percentage of them ended up getting baptized. This year, we are going to focus more on using the tools that we have to find those who were taught by missionaries last year and in years passed. Then we are going to check up on them and see how we can help them to continue learning. We have lots of amazing tools as missionaries and it will be awes...
Read more