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| Sara is improving her cooking skills? |
Dear Dad, Mom, Andrew, and Hannah,
Thank you for the letters mom! And pictures of shoveling snow. That looks fun :) I'm glad I'm not the only who's cold outside. Also the Christmas card is cute. Yay Bezdjians.
Sister Bown is a really good example of patience. I am really grateful for her patience with me, with people on the street, with members, with investigators, and with other missionaries. She is really willing to wait until the timing is right and the Lord's timing, not ours. I have never known someone who does not get antsy in lines or frustrated when investigators haven't kept their commitments. She is truly patient. She also taught me something about the Spirit this week.
Thank you for the letters mom! And pictures of shoveling snow. That looks fun :) I'm glad I'm not the only who's cold outside. Also the Christmas card is cute. Yay Bezdjians.
Sister Bown is a really good example of patience. I am really grateful for her patience with me, with people on the street, with members, with investigators, and with other missionaries. She is really willing to wait until the timing is right and the Lord's timing, not ours. I have never known someone who does not get antsy in lines or frustrated when investigators haven't kept their commitments. She is truly patient. She also taught me something about the Spirit this week.
We had a meeting with one of our investigators and it was going well when all of the sudden she started yelling and being really angry about some people who have manipulated her and treated her wrongly and caused her a lot of harm. Then when I said she needed to forgive those people she got REALLY mad and started yelling at me. "Bezdjian! You're only 21 years old! I'm 60. You have no idea what those people did to me! Jesus Christ forgave, true, but he was miraculous. What would YOU do if someone....Don't tell me I have to forgive them!" etc. etc. And just yelling and swearing in my face. It was so lacking the Spirit that Sister Bown and I just looked at each other and we knew we needed to leave. So we left and later that night Sister Bown said something really interesting. Every night, before we go to sleep, we ask each other "what were you grateful for today?" and when I asked her she said for that terrible meeting. She was grateful because it helped her differentiate better when we have the Spirit in lessons and when we don't. Leave it to Sister Bown to see the positive in every situation. I'm lucky to have her as a companion!
Something I learned from the scriptures this week: As we were reading 2 Nephi 31 this week I thought a lot about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also taught it many times this week so I was pondering it more. I thought about how sometimes it is so easy for me to focus on the baptism, rather than the path that leads to it and the path that follows. It is more important to focus on the doctrine of Christ than just the act of being in the water. I feel that as we focus more on helping our investigators have a humble attitude and repentant heart, they themselves will want to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. I also thought deeper about how the gospel of Jesus Christ really does change our attitudes, desires, and natures so that we become more like Him--more forgiving, slower to anger, more helpful, less selfish.
Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: Hope. Preach My Gospel says that hope is "the abiding trust" that the Lord will fulfill His promises as we keep His commandments. I was thinking about that more this week and how I need to have the patience and the hope that the Lord will bless us with what we need and in His own timing. I think it's crucial to remember that.
Something I learned from the scriptures this week: As we were reading 2 Nephi 31 this week I thought a lot about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also taught it many times this week so I was pondering it more. I thought about how sometimes it is so easy for me to focus on the baptism, rather than the path that leads to it and the path that follows. It is more important to focus on the doctrine of Christ than just the act of being in the water. I feel that as we focus more on helping our investigators have a humble attitude and repentant heart, they themselves will want to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. I also thought deeper about how the gospel of Jesus Christ really does change our attitudes, desires, and natures so that we become more like Him--more forgiving, slower to anger, more helpful, less selfish.
Our Christ-like attribute for this week is: Hope. Preach My Gospel says that hope is "the abiding trust" that the Lord will fulfill His promises as we keep His commandments. I was thinking about that more this week and how I need to have the patience and the hope that the Lord will bless us with what we need and in His own timing. I think it's crucial to remember that.
A few times this week some people were pretty rude to us but every time, we saw blessings afterwards. For example, this lady on the street was being really rude to me and I felt really sad after when I was walking away. Well it took 2 streets later, but we met a family who exchanged numbers and is willing to meet and talk with us. I know that the Lord's timing is the best and that He really is involved in the work here as well as our everyday lives.
Miracle story of the week! Well the Elders met this girl named Ania on the street on Tuesday and she is really cool. She is searching for the truth and she believes in God and doesn't like praying to saints. We just met her yesterday and it was a great meeting. She also has braces and is just super cute. Her outlook is so positive, even though she's seen rough parts of life. Pray for her please!
Other news:
*The Reeds have gone to Katowice :( But the Sheley's (pronounced Scheeee leeees are here and are so, so nice!
*Andrew came to church! Without Ola and the kids, which was really cool. When he saw us walking to church he said it was nice to hear our voices. yay!
*We have our health. A lot of our members/investigators are sick right now. I hope none of you at home are sick!
*I love you Mom, Dad, Hannah, and Andrew! You are literally the best. I pray for you everyday.
Thank you for all you do and for who you are.
Sister Bezdjian
Thank you for all you do and for who you are.
Sister Bezdjian
Hi sister Bezdjian,
ReplyDeleteHow are you?
We got your letter, THANK YOU so much ;-)
I can see that you are doing well. God is involved in your life here. We miss you.
We met you some months ago and I don't understand why people were rude to you. You and your missionaries are wonderful. There is love and friendship amongst your Brothers and Sisters and I can't understand why people could be so rude.
You are in our hearts. We will pray for you. We miss you and love you.
All the best,
Darek and Marzena K. from Gdynia.
BTW:
Please forgive me if I made some mistakes but you know my English is not good. I hope it will be better in the near future because I've started learning it.