Well the past week was also amazing! We had a lesson with Josh and turns out, he's already following the Word of Wisdom! Hes also been reading from the Book of Mormon every day! He came to YSA Sports night on Friday and on Saturday he came to a baptism for a girl the elders taught. All that AND, he came to 3 hours of church! He's so good! Still not dated, but we're hoping this week!
So I've got a brilliant excuse for why my email is a day late. Yesterday the north half of the mission got together and went on a church history tour. Some of the sights we saw included:
-Preston Town Centre where the first missionaries arrived and saw a banner which read "Truth Will Prevail" which is our mission motto still this day!
-The flat Gordon B Hinckley received his father's famous letter instructing him to "forget himself and go to work".
-The flat the first missionaries lived in and were attacked by evil spirits on the morning of the baptism of the first British saints.
-The River Ribble where the first baptisms of the British saints were held.
-The oak tree where Elder Holland pondered at during his mission, "Holland Oak".
There were some more but thats all I can recall. I cannot even begin to describe the incredible spirit that was with us this day. This month marks 181 years since the first British saints were baptised. Since then, 7 prophets and numerous apostles have shared the gospel in this beautiful country. I feel blessed every day to walk in the footsteps of so many amazing missionaries (that includes you, Dad!).
I've also been so happy to hear Sister AnnaClaire Smith and Hermana Aubrey Conrad's farewell talks and hearing the stories of their relatives leaving their lives in England to emigrate to America for the sake of the Church. In this tour, we saw a tiny glimpse of what those early saints went through. I am so grateful to be serving somewhere with so much history. I just can't put into words how much I love my mission!
I know that this is the lords work. A scripture I loved this week was found in section 112 of the D&C (This revelation was received on the day Elders Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde first preached the gospel in England)
Verse 28 "But purify your hearts before me; and then go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel unto every creature who has not received it;"
Every second I'm here, I feel so much that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. I love this gospel and I love this chance I have to share it in a country so close to my heart.
Love you all!
Sister Gilland
England Manchester Mission
District Pics in the beautiful land of Downham, Half the mission in a chapel, cute sister Dunlavy (beastie from the MTC). I love my mission family!
Belief is the reason we go on a mission. It is the motive for preaching about Christ and sharing/Proclaiming his love. Faith is understanding we are children of God and our Heavenly Father. May this definition of faith bless you in your life. Faith is defined again and because faith has an inherent joy it gives us a solid foundation that we finally have the peace we have been searching for.
ReplyDelete"Many believer's feed themselves on what God hasn't done. When I dwell on what hasn't happened, I create the atmosphere for the spirit of offense to arise and to thrive. When I dwell on what hasn't happened, I legitimize unbelief. I live with a sense of justification, for not believing God.
Faith in the purest sense is the ceasing of resistance. even when there's no physical evidence, when the other evidence is present. Not feeding ourselves on what God hasn't done Faith in it's purest form is the absence of resistance
Heaven is a place where everyone is celebrated, some are more honored but everyone is celebrated. All men and all women shall be judged on the light which they have received. Heaven is a permissible culture. God's nature is eternally permissible. These statements protect us from credit.
Faith in the purest sense is the ceasing of resistance, even when there's no physical evidence, when the other evidence is present. Not feeding ourselves on what God hasn't done. Faith in it's purest form is the absence of resistance. Faith doesn't deny a problems existence, it denies it's influence. He or she was someone whom aridity and desolation never disturbed for he or she had a deeply rooted, and a vigorous faith.
Now we can act as we have always dreamed. Now we can act as we have always been. Now we can step into the light and gather the sunlight instead of blocking out our possibilities. Instead of blocking out our joy. Variety will bloom in/under the sun. We can show off our best, we can enjoy other people's gifts. We can blossom where we stand upon the joy that faith provides us. Upon the joy that faith inherently has, which blossoms the entire field of flowers"
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDYaxabUfkA - The Definition of Faith