Monday, April 29, 2013

pickles & cookies



obviously i struggle with subject lines haha. well, it's finally warming up here! this weekend it got above 55 for i think like the first time ever hahaha so people are coming out of their houses & we've been studying outside and talking to people, and i even got a dog lick up the nose hahah. :) so it's been nice. does a lot for your mood, sunshine & warmth :)

 

in other news, last week we went to a ward baptism (we invited two families with primary-age unbaptized kids....... but neither of them showed up, bummer) but the refreshments afterwards....... okay, this is the weirdest wisconsin thing. PICKLES. wrapped in CREAM CHEESE. wrapped in HAM. sliced up into little.... pickle cream cheese ham stackers. it's the weirdest thing hahaha and i've seen in more than once at more than one home so it's not just an anomaly!! bizzare hahaha. not bad tasting..... just like super weird hahah.

 

Brother Y continues to be amazing, he told us about a "missionary experience" he had at work... he works at State Farm, and someone came in to get insurance, and they were having a hard time and talking about how they couldn't afford stuff, and Brother Y asked her if she'd ever thought about involving God, and then said that his church has Sisters & Elders who will come to her house and asked if she would like that! What the what!!! hahaha it's just SO Brother Y. (she said no, but that's irrelevant. what if everyone was like that?? how many would say yes? how many could have more of the blessings of the gospel in their lives??) also, in his "spare time" he's translating the Doctrine & Covenants into Hmong. yeah, no big deal... hahaha. kind of awesome :)

 

it's kind of been a slow week, lots of people canceled/rescheduled so that's been kind of a bummer, yay back-up plans! haha. it's been pretty good though, we've got some good exciting plans coming up so that's good. we met with Brother Y & Sister G (gospel principles teacher & favorite mexican woman ever) & talked about how to help the hispanic community feel more connected to the ward, and Sister G's like "I know!! I can make a pinata!! & we can break it!!!" hahaha. so now we're planning a pinata picnic next month! Elder E & I tossed out the idea of filling it with Book of Mormons & pass-along-cards, dvds, etc...... we'll see ;) haha. also our G.P. lesson last week was on family history, and guys. it's like the greatest thing ever. i'm like mad i can't do it right now hahaha so you can!!! it's so much fun!!!!!!! we got to get just a taste of it, so that we can help others to do it. & we had a new missionary meeting on friday in oshkosh which was good. President invited us to use family history & the members more, and role-plays (which i love but sister d'addabbo hates hahah.) and, s m got to come out with us on wednesday! that's sister m's 17-year-old daughter, she's planning on a mission after high school & she's awesome :) hooray, testimonies!! :)

 

hmm. i can't really think of anything else, news-wise.... lame haha sorry about that! :) oh i did get some really sweet letters this week from family that meant a lot to me; so thanks family :) you're the best!

 

well, this week in the Book of Mormon I've been reading in Mosiah 7-10, and just thinking about sneaky satan and how king laman, kind of like satan, "gave up" a little bit of land and zeniff thought he was getting this great deal, when really king laman was just tricking him and planning on taking him into captivity the whole time. over & over & over again zeniff is described as "over-zealous" and i can't for the life of me figure out if he's a "good guy" or a "bad guy" haha most characters in the Book of Mormon that's pretty clear but not Zeniff... so I've been thinking, I don't think it was a bad thing to want to show mercy to the Lamanites & return to the land of the nephite's inheritance, because just a few generations later Ammon & Aaron & the rest get called on missions there! I think the mistake was that Zeniff wanted it in HIS timing, not the Lord's. he was over-zealous to possess the land of his fathers & this blinded him to King Laman's (pretty obvious) trickery. "Yeah, sure you can have this land! I'll just tell my people to clear out & you can have it for free! No problem!" yeah, that's a red flag hahaha nothing worth having was ever got easy! (that applies to missionary work too i think ;) & i can't figure out how to grammatcially fix that sentence, oh well.) as thomas paine once said, heaven knows how to put a proper price on her goods. :) So anyways, just like President Eyring said, "Our own desires, rather than a feeling of “Thy will be done,” create the feeling of a pavilion blocking God... my desires for professional success might have created a pavilion that would make it hard for me to find God and harder for me to listen to and follow His invitations." I think that's what happened to Zeniff. Good idea, wrong timing. Listen to the Lord, Zeniff! next time like 100 people die and you're smitten with famine & sore afflictions on your way somewhere, stop & think for a second if God might be trying to tell you something hahah. :) Also, King Laman is kind of like wanna-be King Amalikiah (see Alma 47... esp. verses 12-13), and they're BOTH like satan - willing to "give us" what we want, make us feel like we're in control, like we're getting a great deal, everything's going great, but then WHAM - you're poisoned by degrees / attacked by lamanites & brought into captivity / in miserable sin land forever. yep, that's how he works! he makes you feel like you're getting tons of "freedom" but the price is way too high. whereas our Heavenly Father WANTS us to be TRULY free - forever!! (see 2 Ne. 2:27-29 -- interesting verb choices!!!! notice the differences!!!!) That's why we have all the commandments & everything. to give us REAL FREEDOM. not fake tricky satan freedom. take note, people. :)

also, why do laziness & idolatry always seem to go together? (mosiah 9:12)

The good news is, the Savior WANTS to Forgive :) (see mosiah 9:17-18) He hears our cries & answers our prayers. see also Daniel 10:12, Exodus 2:23-24, & Psalm 34 (a personal fave).

Also, note the people's 0 tolerance attitude for wickedness & sin. Compare: Alma 30:19-21, & Helaman 6:20-21, 36-37. :)

also, if you're ever curious about how much power satan has, look up 1 Ne 22:26 & Helaman 5:12 :)

 

also, i just like Joshua 21:45 :)

 

okay, that's enought scripture stuff i guess :) it's just the best!! guys, the church is true. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know He lives! I know Heavenly Father answers prayers. I know He loves us, & I know everything happens in His timing. I know He knows us perfectly, that He is aware of us, and that He wants to give us every good thing :) Hooray, gospel!! :) :)

 

favorite hymn this week: Jesus, Lover of my Soul :) also so grateful for the beauty of the earth, & for all of you!!

 

 

 

love, love, love, love, love ---

 

 

 

Sister Cecelia Proffit :)

 

 

xoxoxox

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