Large Plates
Good week! Baptisms and trios and unprofessional house painting and dreams of opening an arepa truck.
Surprise surprise this week went by in the blink of an eye haha.
Pday was good as always! We had a nerf war, but bishop let us borrow his kid's nerf guns and they had like 20 rounds in each one so we absolutely wrecked everyone else haha. We also had a BBQ with the senior couple and played some beach volleyball at our apartment complex:)
We also were in a trio for a day! Hermana Cummings flew out to her original assignment in Argentina this week so she was with us for a day before we dropped her off at the airport. To be honest it was kind of awkward being in a trio haha.
We also helped paint a house this week! No one there was qualified and the members whose house we were painting had no game plan whatsoever. So we just kind of sent it haha. It was fun but it ended up taking way longer than the members thought it would. We had to leave so the members finished it on their own. But… it turns out the color they picked was only approved by the HOA for doors or trim, not the whole house. So they're gonna have to do it again. Oops haha.
The highlight of this week though was for sure Carmen! When she came to church on Sunday she told us she had a whole week without work and she wanted to take advantage of it. She wanted us to come over every day and teach her! So we went over Tuesday-Friday:) on Wednesday we got to talking about what a miracle it is that she has this week off of work especially when we had all been praying for a way for her to come to church and have time for the lessons again. She said God gave her this week for a reason and she was determined to make the most of it. So we actually ended up moving her baptismal date to Saturday! So we finished all the lessons this week and we had a baptism! It was seriously such a special day. Carmen is elect you guys. I'm so excited to see her keep growing and progressing in the church. I'm not kidding when I say she's General Authority material.
Also a while back Carmen told us she really wants to move somewhere where there's more English so she'll be forced to learn it. We jokingly mentioned she should move to Utah. The joke has evolved and now we talk about it all the time. I've shown her pictures of how pretty it is and told her about all the things there is to do. She's also so excited to go to the temple so the fact that there's so many temples in Utah is really appealing to her too haha. There's lots of options for her but right now it's looking like the dream we've come up with is for her to move there after I get home and then I'll finish my business degree. Then we're gonna open a food truck together and just make the best arepas ever because her arepas are so. good. We'll see if that ever happens but it's now documented here just in case haha.
Small Plates
The parable of the automatic door. God opens doors we don't even know exist.
Okay so I talk about this in pretty much every email but WOW YOU GUYS. Heavenly Father is so in control. He has a plan and it is perfect.
Carmen's baptism this week caused me to reflect a lot on how God guides each of His children to be where they need to be when they need to be there. She is seriously such an amazing person and it has been a privilege to be able to see her grow, and to see how God is providing the way for her to do the things He wants her to do.
It's so interesting as a missionary to observe the way God works in the lives of his children. Because ultimately, the goal is the same, but his method is different every time.
Sometimes, we're going to see a transition coming up in our lives and know we can't avoid it. Those times are when we have to move forward with faith, working diligently, trusting that by the time we get there, God will have given us enough strength and courage to face that challenge. These challenges are things like school, missions, and marriage. They require preparation and, depending on the person, they are things we aren't going to be able to avoid experiencing.
These times in our lives are like walking through a locked door. We know we need to do the necessary preparation (in this case, get a key) before we are going to be capable of passing through.
Other times, we don't see the change coming, but we recognize it when it comes. This can be anything from medical emergencies to changes in friendships or work. There's endless examples of these types of transitions in our lives.
These times are like walking through an unlocked door. You don't think about it until you get there. And when you get there, that's when you take the step to turn the knob and open the door. There's no way to prepare, it's just something we have to do when the time comes. But the minute we try to open the door, we recognize that we do have enough strength to move it.
Other times, we need to transition from one phase to another, but God guides us gently and gracefully from one chapter to the next. We might not even notice his hand in our lives during these times. Things are going to feel like a convenient coincidence, or luck. Or maybe we won't even notice the things that happened around us that permitted us to get to the place we're at.
These times are like walking through an automatic door. We're still transitioning from one place to another. We're still experiencing a change. But God's hand in our lives is so subtle we won't notice it until we look for it. And even then it might be hard to see.
Sometimes God brings us to a door and gives us the strength and the will and the ability to open that door. Other times, he guides us to an automatic door and opens it for us before we get there.
I think we're probably walking through more automatic doors than anything else. God is sending little miracles and blessings to us every second of every day. His timing is perfect. He's guiding us so gently and He's opening doors for us the second we need to step through them.
And we can't even see just how much He really is doing. But just know. He loves you so completely and so individually. Even if you can't see Him opening doors, just know He is. He has a plan and a purpose for YOU. Press forward with faith and trust in the plan He has for you:)
No comments:
Post a Comment