Dear Family &
Friends...
I finally made it to the
country on my mission! I am so thrilled!
The area is huge and very different to
where I have been sent in my previous areas. The people here are incredible. The members here are so happy and I feel very
loved and welcomed into this Ward. It
was funny because I saw the Ward Mission Leader on Tuesday and he said, you
might want to begin preparing a talk because you are giving one on Sunday. Perfect! I gave it on the light of Christ. I'll share a
brief portion of what I talked on:
"And the Spirit
giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit
enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the
Spirit." D&C 84:46
Every human being that
you see walking on this earth has the light of Christ which inspires men and
women to do good. Because everyone has
the Light of Christ, we can know good from evil. We must not confuse the light
of Christ with the Holy Ghost. The Holy
Ghost is a personage of Spirit and the light of Christ is a spiritual influence
and enlightenment that leads men and women to do good. I had a personal experience that goes along
with this.
Sister Kloepfer and I
miraculously got into a gated community to visit a member. As we were driving, we couldn't help but put
our car in park, car still running, and get out to talk with this sweet
family---a father with two young children no older than 5. As we began bearing testimony of Jesus Christ
to this young father, he quickly turned and pointed to his daughter riding her
bike and said, "she would be the one to talk to about Jesus Christ." As he had had a very little belief in Jesus. As he called her over, her name being
Isabella, we told her that Jesus Christ is real and that He loves her. With eyes wide open and jaw dropped which
turned into a smile, she excitedly looked up to her dad with an 'I told you so'
kind of look and repeatedly everything that Sister Kloepfer and I just said. As her father ran off to grab her brother who
began to ride his bike into the road, she asked a question, "Did God make
us?" We answered her yes, He did
make you and me and your family, in heaven. With her dad walking back towards us, she
exclaimed, "Daddy, Daddy! Did you
know that God built us?! He made
us!" The sweet spirit and wonder
that came from this young child was unforgettable. She felt what was called the light of Christ
at that very moment and the Holy Ghost confirmed those truths to her heart when
she learned them.
A miracle that Sister
Stitt (who serving in Gainesville) and I had when we were on a trade off here
in the Whitehouse Ward area was that we went tracting (knocking on doors) on
this street and we knocked into a home with a woman that had us come in right
away. It turns out that Doris was a
member of the Church and missionaries hadn't knocked on her door in 20 years. Her records aren't even in our area so this
was us being led to find her. We were
able to bear powerful witness of the Book of Mormon. When Sister Stitt and I were double testifying
to what each other said, it was like the Spirit was tangible. It was really felt there.
Sister Sandberg is incredible! She has been serving in the Whitehouse Ward for 6 months already. She has a fire for missionary work and we have so much fun finding people. She builds the Sisters up that we serve with and leads with love and boldness. She always has interesting facts to share with me. She has a beautiful testimony of the Book of Mormon. She has already graduated college at BYU-Hawaii and will be pursuing her Masters degree in Dietetics. She wants to be a registered Dietician. Not only that but she leads killer workouts in the mornings. I haven't worked out that hard since before day 1 of my mission. I LOVE serving with Sister Sandberg and I hope I get to serve with her for both of my final transfers. She taught me a Tahitian dance that we performed in the Ward Talent show this past Saturday. It was so much fun!
Sister Sandberg is incredible! She has been serving in the Whitehouse Ward for 6 months already. She has a fire for missionary work and we have so much fun finding people. She builds the Sisters up that we serve with and leads with love and boldness. She always has interesting facts to share with me. She has a beautiful testimony of the Book of Mormon. She has already graduated college at BYU-Hawaii and will be pursuing her Masters degree in Dietetics. She wants to be a registered Dietician. Not only that but she leads killer workouts in the mornings. I haven't worked out that hard since before day 1 of my mission. I LOVE serving with Sister Sandberg and I hope I get to serve with her for both of my final transfers. She taught me a Tahitian dance that we performed in the Ward Talent show this past Saturday. It was so much fun!
There is a scripture
that stood out to me yesterday in my studies. This is Moroni speaking, the final prophet,
and final faithful disciple of Jesus Christ after the destruction of this
nation-- "And I am the same who hideth up this record unto the Lord; the
plates thereof are of no worth, because of the commandment of the Lord. For he
truly saith that no one shall have them to get gain; but the record thereof is
of great worth; and whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord
bless." (Mormon 8:14)
I love this scripture
because he talks about the plates itself, being materialistic and of no worth
even though they are of gold. But the
record, the writings itself are worth more than what man would say the worth of
the plates are. This is true. The writings contained within each page of the
Book of Mormon are of the most valuable in my life. I treasure them daily as I feast upon them. It's because the blessings given from Heaven
are far greater to me than any monetary possession.
Until next week.
Love, Sister McCook
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