November 25,2019 The Lord's Work

Hey Family and Friends! 

At the beginning of the week we set a goal to hand out a book of Mormon Every day. When Monday rolled around our district decided to work as a whole to see who could hand out the most book of Mormons... they may have underestimated how determined sister Wilde and I are when we set our minds to something. 

The next day we set a goal to hand out 10 book of Mormons. 

We prayed, trusting God would be able to guide us to know where to go to hand out that many book of Mormons. With a bag filled with books we headed out. 

We biked around Texas City with a book of Mormon in hand at all times. (Yes, it is a little tricky to bike with a book of Mormon in one hand and a heavy bag filled with books at your side, but it is 100% worth it!) 

We went by a park with a box of chalk and started drawing on the sidewalk. After only a few minutes kids began to flock around us. We had drawn a picture of the book of Mormon as well as a picture of the temple. The kids LOVED it. They began drawing picture of Jesus with the chalk and even tried to copy our drawing of the book of Mormon. We were then able to talk with the childrens parents and we handed out 9 book of Mormons there! 

We were so close to our goal and as we packed up and began biking around Texas City once again I thought of a girl who we work with at the food bank, Cricket. Cricket loves chatting with us and she is always so friendly. I told sister Wilde "let's find Crickets house!" 

Well... We had NO idea where she lived! We had NO clues as to what her house looked like or where it was located, only that it was near the food bank in Texas City. 

I knew we would only be able to find cricket one way. 

We prayed. 

As we biked to an area and began knocking I soon turned and walked back to my bike. "This area doesn't feel right." I told sister Wilde. We got back on our bikes after only knocking 2 doors on the street and we flipped around and kept going. 

Soon a small house with a bright red door came into our view. I slowed my bike and looked at the house. 

"What are you doing?" Sister Wilde asked. 

"Thats her house" I told her, pointing at the bright red door. 

As we were crossing the street we spotted a girl behind the house leaning on an old car. 

It was cricket!! 

We biked over there and were able to talk with her and give her a book of Mormon. She said we could come back any time and pointed to the bright red door saying she lived right there. 

There was NO way we could have found Cricket in all of Texas City without prayer and action! 

As we biked away, we were overcome with this warmth and recognition that our Heavenly Father loves us and KNOWS us personally! He heard our small prayer to find Cricket, and we were lead right to her. 

That day we didnt just hand out 10 book of Mormons as we had prayer for, but we handed out 12! 

When we focus on putting all our efforts into the gospel we will be blessed with more then we ever could ask for. 

The next day we set our goal to hand out 3 book of Mormons. It was a rainy day! As we biked around and knocked doors we weren't seeing any success! 

I thought in my mind- What are we doing wrong? How can we better introduce the book of Mormon so the people we speak with will want one?

Still, no matter how we changed the way we introduced it, no one would take a book of Mormon. 

Suddenly a thought came to my mind. 

You need to humble yourself. 

I thought of our excitement about handing out so many book of Mormons the day before. Then I thought about the effect it may have had on others who didn't see such great success. 

I realized that this was God's work, not mine. It is only through the spirit that we can help convince others of the truthfullness of the gospel. It wasn't because of our efforts alone that we were able to hand out so many book of Mormons the day before, but it was through the spirit and God's love. 

Sister Wilde and I said a prayer and humbled ourselves before continuing on. With our faith still strong that we would be able to hand out 3 book of Mormons before the skies opened up, we knocked on 3 more doors. 

At all the house we knocked on, there was someone there who accepted a book of Mormon. 

Some missionaries see immediate success, others do not. No matter who you are, you need to recognize that this is God's work, not yours. 

Give yourself up for the work! 

Trust in God, pray to him, and then be willing to put all your efforts into strengthening HIS work!

I love you All so much! I hope you have the best week ever and know how much I love you! Keep being your best self! 

Baking adventures