Whew! What a week, what a week.
Everything is bigger in Texas! (really...)
The influence of Mexico is also undeniable:
Feliz Halloween!
This week, on Saturday, we had an activity in Chapparal where the whole zone got together with a few members and went out to invite people to their open house next Saturday. It was fun! The Chaparral building is very new, only three years old. It's a beautiful building! A lot of decorative desert flora outside. Very refreshing to get out of my own area and just share the gospel. We even found new investigators for Chapparal Elders! First, we went to a less-active members house to invite her to the activity. She not only agreed to go, she agreed to accompany us to the next house to invite her neighbor as well! She is awesome - and as we walked down the street, we saw a mom with her two daughters working outside. Emboldened, I walked right up to her and gave her a flyer about the activity. She accepted it, and I asked if we could come in and share a message with her. She agreed and we proceeded to teach her about Joseph Smith, the Restoration of the Gospel, and the Book of Mormon. She accepted a copy and promised to read it with her two daughters! It was a miracle. It was as though a weight was lifted off my shoulders - I didn't have to worry about appointments, meetings, making phone calls, or anything! I could just share the pure Gospel!
I kind of wished I could always be that positive - then I thought, "Well, why not?" I made it a personal goal to be just as positive and happy about my calling all the time, not just when things are going my way. I realized the reason why it was so easy for me to be positive and upbeat during was because I thought it was FUN. People will do literally anything if it's fun. Sometimes I get so bogged down with the busywork of missionary work sometimes, like 5-6 hours of church, that it's exhausting - but I remembered that missionary work should also be full of joy and fun! So that's this week's theme - respecting the dignity of my calling, I have decided to have more fun and have a more positive outlook. :)
By way if inspiration, our mission president recently shared this very thing with us. He said:
"Have you ever been in a quiet room of people who are maybe a little down-hearted, and had someone walk in who was genuinely happy and excited to be with those in the room? What happens to the spirit in the room? It changes and people’s spirits are lifted.
It is my experience that 90% of what drives a ward to be missionary minded is the excitement and enthusiasm of the missionaries, and their focus on their work. We saw it in our ward at home. We will always remember Sis. Hatch (now a teacher at the MTC) and Sis. Choppa. They lightened our home a number of times (I was Ward Mission Leader at the time) and our church meetings by their very presence. Missionaries who are excited for the work just naturally radiate warmth and enthusiasm.
We have seen this in various places in the mission. Missionaries who understand their purpose and are intently focused on it, and are happy, can literally change the spirit of a ward or branch almost single-handedly. That is what Susan Fulcher did – a true story, incidentally.
So if things aren't going as well as you'd like in your ward or branch, have a look in the mirror. Smile! Greet people warmly. Be engaged in the work. Be with investigators or members."
Love, love, love,
Hermana Smurthwaite
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