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| Sorry my pictures didn't come through last week, but I celebrated 15 months in the mission field on July 17! |
The big update for this week is that we have officially been given the OK to go into phase 1! Basically what that means is that we can go to in-person district council, we can have in-person lessons with our friends, we can have daytime exchanges, and we can do service. Everything is still socially distanced and with masks of course, but we are still excited. Unfortunately most of our teaching pool in in the high-risk category, so we aren't able to meet with them in person, but we are excited nonetheless. Especially because church is officially starting next week! And we are giving the first talks in sacrament meeting.
This week had some ups and downs in our teaching. Our friend Michelle who has been progressing really well said she wouldn't be baptized, but thankfully we were able to start teaching our friend Joe again after his surgery!
Random highlight from the week is that we found 3 monarch butterfly chrysalises near our house last week, and yesterday right as we walked past they broke out and fluttered right past our faces! It was magical.
We had mini zone conferences via zoom this week, and as part of that we read the talk, "careful vs casual" by Becky Craven, and I was also asked to give a short thought on obedience. So I centered my thought around one paragraph in particular:
"There is a careful way and a casual way to do everything, including living the gospel. As we consider our commitment to the Savior, are we careful or casual? Because of our mortal nature, don’t we sometimes rationalize our behavior, at times referring to our actions as being in the gray, or mixing good with something that’s not so good? Anytime we say, “however,” “except,” or “but” when it applies to following the counsel of our prophet leaders or living the gospel carefully, we are in fact saying, “That counsel does not apply to me.” We can rationalize all we want, but the fact is, there is not a right way to do the wrong thing!"
Isn't that amazing!? if there's one thing I have learned on my mission it's that exact obedience to God's laws brings blessings. We can't be 'casual' about it. Too often we find ourselves in gray areas where we justify our actions and think that it's probably okay. But we truly find more peace and joy as we choose to do the harder careful thing rather than the easier casual thing. Whether that be in modesty, tithing, language, the TV shows we watch, we will always be better off for erring on the cautious side.
Have a great week!
Love, Sister Potts
P.S. Enjoy some pics of our food adventures this week. Sister Lifferth is whipping us into shape with lots of veggies & flavorful healthy dishes!
FUN FACTS: Early Baptisms
1. After the aaronic priesthood was restored to the earth by John the Baptist in 1829, the first person to be baptized was Oliver Cowdery by Joseph Smith.
2. Right after, Joseph was baptized by Oliver Cowdery.
3. The next person to be baptized was Joseph's Brother Samuel, who had gained a witness for himself during the process of finishing the translation.
4. Sometime before April 6, 1830 there were 6 original founding members who were baptized. Besides Joseph, Oliver, and Samuel, there was also Hyrum Smith, David Whitmer, and probably his brother Peter. The accounts vary slightly about who they were but these are likely.
5. Then after the organization, several more were baptized, including Joseph's parents. Of the experience his mother wrote, "Joseph stood on the shore when his father came out of the water and as he took him by the hand,” remembered Lucy Mack Smith, “he cried out Oh! my God I have lived to see my father baptized into the true Church of Jesus Christ! and covered his face in his father’s bosom and wept aloud for joy as did Joseph of old when he beheld his father coming up into the land of Egypt.”
