Sharing The Word of God!

Empanadas, Super Sisters, and oh how you have to love this work!

Dear Whanau,

  Wow! What a week! THank you for your patience with my lack of repsonse to anyone's emails last week. We had a Zone p-day in Christchurch, which was so good! It was fun to be able to get to know the sisters better and enjoy sometime with them looking at the Botanical gardens, eating out at the mall's food court and just being able to rejoice in our call as missionaries of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have had a wonderful week! I hope you all have has as well. :)

     So, I heard this awesome quote from our mission president's wife Sister Hudson, "The power behind you is greater than the problem before you." Wow. Think about it, the Power behind us (the Lord our endowments, our covenants, you fill in the blank) is greater than any problem before us. I really love that. this has been a subject of contemplation lately as I have thought about this remarkable statement. I know it is true. In accordance with this, we all took a photo as Super Sisters at Zone Conference, I will attach a photo in the next email. :)

   We had a surprise birthday party for our investigator at one of the member's home. She is from Argentina-- the member, and made empanandas. Ah, she also has a Spanish Accent! I love it so much; I miss hearing the Spanish language, you don't hear it often hear, usually just the Polynesian one.

   WE had transfers last week. Sister Olamaleva and I are staying together for the next 4 weeks then she is going home! Crazy! I think I will finish in Timaru, but we will see what the Lord has in store for me.

Miracles:    We met a former investigator who saw us when we were at the Salvation Army store. She said hello and invited us over, and since then we have gone and seen her. Wow! I am just so grateful the Lord lets us be a part of his miracles! She told us how she has been reading the Book of Mormon since we saw her and she feels so close to God and feels the way she felt when she first found God in her life. I have such a testimony about the Book of Mormon. I know truly that we will be and draw nearer to God by reading and following the principles in that book than any other book( self-help, historcial accounts, etc). Truly I would invite anyone who is struggling, wants to know and have direction in their life to read this book. It will change your life.

    Also the a fore investigator mentioned told us to see one of the people on her street, we decided to just door knock the whole street.... equals we found 3 new potential investigators who would like us to come back.! The lord blesses us so much. Thank you also for all your prayers on my behalf and the missionaries around the world. You have no idea how much they help and strengthen us. I am so grateful for your prayers. Thank you for all of your support.

  I loved this quote from Elder Eyrung from his talk "Bind up their wounds" Novemebr 2013 ensign

He was talking about how his Bishop invited him to come with him to some visits and he didn't know why he had chosen him "...but the Lord knew I would someday be a Bishop inviting those whose faith had grown cold to come back to the warmnth of the Gospel., THe lord knew I would someday be charged with the priesthood responisibility for hundreds and even thousands of Heavenly Father's children who were in desperate temporal need. you cannnot know what acts of ... service the Lord is preparing you to give." I know this is true. Everything you go through, every calling you have, every expereince you obtain in this mortal journey is preparing you for things the Lord has in store for you. (see Ether 2:25 in Book of Mormon page 491).  Let us Hearken to these words "Behold I am Jesus Christ, the Saviouur of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts, and let the solemnitites of eternity rest upon your minds." (DOctrine and Covenants 43:34)

   I hope you all have a wonderful week! Let me know how following the challenge of Elder Ballard to find someone to introduce to the missionaries has been going. I would love to hear the stories. :)

Love you all!

Sister Sudweeks

P.s. New exciting news! We can teach single men and the ELders can teach single woman. WHich means we cans stay in our areas and be more focused in our area as the place we ahve been called to!!!! SO exciting!

Kia ora everyone! This is going to be really fast because we are having a zone p-day today! Wahoo :) How exciting! Which means we will be driving to Christchurch, it is like driving to Idaho Falls, so we have a bit of travel to accomplish, but I will send pictures and tell you all about it next week :)

This week has been a great one, lots of fun things happening. WE had zone conference which was amazing! :) SO cool. We are allowed to teach single men now! What a huge rule change. I defintiely know with all my heart this is GOd's work and is being guided by Him. I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful fantastic week!

•This quoute really stood out to me, when I read it. I thought you would all enjoy it. I was really touched by how the Prophet felt. It really touched me about how important it is that we always cultivate spiritual experiences in our own lives and remember how we felt when we had those experiences. 

Read the following quotation, in which President Joseph F. Smith describes his feelings at the time of his baptism:

"The feeling that came upon me was that of pure peace, of love and of light. I felt in my soul that if I had sinned—and surely I was not without sin—that it had been forgiven me; that I was indeed cleansed from sin; my heart was touched, and I felt that I would not injure the smallest insect beneath my feet. I felt as if I wanted to do good everywhere to everybody and to everything. I felt a newness of life, a newness of desire to do that which was right. There was not one particle of desire for evil left in my soul. … This was the influence that came upon me, and I know that it was from God, and was and ever has been a living witness to me of my acceptance of the Lord" (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 96).

Now read what President Smith said about his feelings long after his baptism:

"Oh! that I could have kept that same spirit and that same earnest desire in my heart every moment of my life from [the day of my baptism] to this. Yet many of us who have received that witness, that new birth, that change of heart, while we may have erred in judgment or have made many mistakes, and often perhaps come short of the true standard in our lives, we have repented of the evil, and we have sought from time to time forgiveness at the hand of the Lord; so that until this day the same desire and purpose which pervaded our souls when we were baptized and received a remission of our sins, still holds possession of our hearts, and is still the ruling sentiment and passion of our souls" (Gospel Doctrine, 96).

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hmmm.... going home

Dear Whanau,

    Hello! Kia ora! Hola! Bonjour! (sp?)

   Wow! This week has been crazy busy, but oh so good. First I want to say sorry if no one gets a reply this week, I might only have 30 minutes total to write today and I am already half way done after writing President... but know you are all in my thoughts and in my prayers :)

    So this week I went home.... not literally home to Pocatello, but Rangiora. It was such an interesting experience for me, which I am afraid is hard to describe. other than the words I felt like I Was going home. It was so fun to see people I knew, Pheonix and Mili, Sister Delany, Sister Fraser. I didn't get to see everyone but a couple of them-- their reactions were priceless. It is wonderful how it says in Alma 17:2 is so true. It doesn't matter how much time passes between those you love, because when you see those you love it doesn't feel like much time has passed at all.
 Elder Nelson shared this which I relly liked. it is so true we are to help the lord with his Work and His Glory, which is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. "Begin with the end in mind. He used an analogy to explain the important qualities of leadership, stewardship, and the power of partnership: A heart surgeon does not perform an operation alone but works with an assistant, an anesthesiologist, nurses, and others. Each member of the team plays a vital role in safeguarding the life of the patient. "A successful operation is followed by a period of intensive care; later, when the patient's condition is stable, he or she is transferred to constant hospital care and then is ultimately released to the tender care of loved ones at home. A successful outcome depends upon good communication, cooperation, and commitment by each member of the team at all levels. If a complication should ensue, immediate steps are taken to rescue the patient, and nobody quibbles about whose job it is to save the patient's life.
"Likewise, a successful outcome with either a new or returning member reflects complete cooperation among the bishop, ward council, ward missionary leader, and full-time missionaries. They work as partners. They sense their combined responsibility to care for the spiritual life of each precious son or daughter of God."

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Sudweeks

Why do you follow Christ?

Dear Whanau,

    Hello and Happy Father's Day! (or at least yesterday was Father's day here in New Zealand!) How exciting, eh? We had a great Sabbath. My companion and I had gotten roses and a little cute saying to hand out to all of the Father's here in Timaru. My companion put all the roses in the Lapels of the Fathers. it sure did look nice. We also went and sang Hymn 319 Ye Elders of Israel to all the Fathers during the last hour of Church. How Grateful I am for my father. I know I have learned so much from him. How Grateful I am for my Heavenly Father also. Without both of my fathers I wouldn't be the person I am today.

     In church today, we hear lots of beautiful testimonies about our Savior Jesus Christ and all that he does for us. One testimony in particular has really touched me and caused me great introspection and thought. She shared how she was including in her paper why she follows Christ. She pondered about the reasons why she followed Christ-- because she is happier, only through Him can we find peace, etc... and then she asked her daughters, one of them after great introspection said " He is real." The certain truth she knew at a tender young age. This truth has shaped and will shape the decisions she will make for the rest of her life. How true it is. Jesus Christ is real, I know this with all my heart, I know this because of the feelings I have when I repent, when I strive to live my promises I have made with God, the way I feel when I pray to our Heavenly Father. I know Christ is Real, He does Live and He did come to earth to atone for our sins. May this eternal truth penetrate our hearts and instill in us a desire to Follow Christ, as you ponder why you follow Christ in your life today.

      We had a great lesson with one of the couples we teach and her son this week! They all speak French, but one who does the translating. Sometimes it is difficult because we try to make things simple but it seems to be more complicated the less I speak! Haha but the Spirit makes up for that! We had a wonderful lesson with them as we watched the Restoration movie in French. I know that the Spirit of the Lord is always present when we share the Gospel, even a tidbit will be verified by the Power of the Holy Ghost to all who listen.

      We role played with one of our members this week about how to speak to her friends about the Gospel. It was so fun to see her so excited to share with her friends! It reminded me of how I felt when I first arrived into the MTC, and how excited I was to share my feelings with other people. I know you can find great tools and resources on how to share the Gospel in PReach my Gospel Chapter 10. Let these wonderful tools help you in sharing the Gospel if you find it a bit intimidation. I know it can be a little scary but it's worth every bit to share that joy with others.
I hope you have a great week!

I know this is Christ's CHurch on the Earth today

Love you all.

Sister Sudweeks