Dear Family-
Sorry about not getting a group email out last week- some of the other sister missionaries got sick and we went to help them, but ran out of time to come back and finish emailing. Oh well : ) Lots to tell. It's hot and humid here, but the work is amazing. We have been praying and working hard to find new investigators and found 10 new investigators these past couple weeks! All miracles, each and every one of them. One family is from Spain, another from Mexico, and still another from Colombia! We have been able to teach some powerful lessons and feel the guidance of the Spirit strongly this week. One day both my companion and I got sick and were down most of the day. So the next day we decided to redouble our efforts and work as hard as we could. We explored some of the farther parts of our area ( some beautiful Texas ranches), knocked and contacted people for several hours, and were able to find three new investigators and teach six lessons!!! I know Heavenly Father is leading the work and leading us to teach his children. With another family we have begun teaching, we had the nicest let down, no-thank-you lesson ever. We began teaching the Restoration and they were eager and intent on us. As we moved onto Joseph Smith and the First Vision, both of us felt the spirit in the room change. We realized that they weren't going to accept our message, but we knew we needed to share it anyway. We taught and testified powerfully of Joseph Smith, and in talking about it afterwards, we both said how our whole souls burned within us from the power of the message and the Spirit. They listened to us and politely said "no thank you, we are fine." They are very strong Catholics and do not want to change, but they were very kind about it. They wouldn't accept a Book of Mormon, but invited us to come back anytime and share another message, if we need water when we are in the area,etc. They even wanted to take a picture with us after the lesson! I know we did as we were supposed to in teaching and testifying to them and that is prepared them to one day accept the message of the Restoration. So the next missionaries that come along will build upon that. In other news, besides teaching an English class, we have also started a family history class to help members and investigators with their family history. One sister we helped a few weeks a go came up to us yesterday at church to tell us excitedly that she had been able to complete the baptism and confirmation for her sister. This is such a happy work. My companion taught me this acronym for JOY and how we are able to find joy by who we put first. J is for Jesus- if center our lives first on Christ everything else falls into place. O is for others- as we serve others before Yourself we can find true joy.
In my studies, I found this insight that was powerful for me. In Genesis 1:27 it says " God created man in his own image". As Elder Wilcox said, " Why would He start there if He didn't also intend to end there? An entirely new perspective awaits those who see "His own image" as the finish line and not just the starting block...Jesus opened to us the possibility not just of returning to God's presence but of returning with His image in our countenance (Alma 5:14)" Just after studying this, in one of our lessons, our investigators told us that they "could see Jesus in our faces". Probably one of the most beautiful compliments I have ever received.
2 Nephi 25:23 says "for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." But I've learned that is by grace that we (you and I, all of us) are saved after all we (Christ and us) can do. I believe it was President Monson who said, "Two people can do anything as long as one person is Christ." Sometimes we worry so much about what is our part, right? And what is the Lord's part? I think the scientist in me wants to make it an equation or a ratio or something to help me quantify the division of responsibility in order to reach the line. But I've definitely learned that "it's not about height, but growth. We don't reach heaven by seeing Jesus' grace supplementing our works, or our works supplementing his grace. Heaven is not reached by supplementing, but by covenanting; not by defining a ratio, but by building a relationship; not by negotiation, but by cooperation and union. Instead of seeing two parts we might do well to see two hearts working in conjunction and being conformed to the same image " (Continuous Atonement, Brad Wilcox).
Lots of love,
Hermana Kristi Koerner
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