Chapter 20: Child of God

March 20, 2023

Chapter 20: Child of God

Hi y'all!! This week was a weird long one. Not a ton happened each day that I'm dying to share, so I'll spare you the day-by-day rundown and just give you some highlights.

First of all, I think my body decided it was going to have allergies. Everything is starting to get vibrantly green again, and all the flowers are blooming. Azaleas are everywhere! They're so beautiful! But also the sheer amount of pollen in the air is almost ridiculous. AND it sticks to everything! So most any surface outside has a layer of yellow dust on it. To all of you with allergies, I'm so sorry. We had a member meal this week and I asked them if they knew where to get some local honey, (my fabulous Dad suggested I get some to help with the situation of my face wanting to die), and they had a friend, so they reached out and got some local honey for me!

Sister Sherlock and I had the mega role play on Tuesday for dcm. (District Council Meeting) I was literally so nervous for it. It was our first role play together, and we really hadn't done a whole lot of teaching with the people in our area, so we were still figuring things out some. But it ended up going much better than I anticipated, and I am very grateful we chose the mock lesson that we did. I feel much more prepared to actually go out and teach that lesson with the suggested improvements.

Flossie went to the Temple!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I got to go!!!!!! Sister Moorhouse did a mini exchange with me so that I could go be at the Temple with Flossie. It was such a tender experience. There's something so special about watching your first convert go to the Temple and help their family make the same Covenants and receive the same blessings as they recently have. I definitely was crying happy tears. Jamie got to come too!!!!!! It just makes me so happy seeing them at the Temple.

Columbia, South Carolina Temple

At Burger King after the temple

The miracle I want to share this week is with our friend Benita. She was a yellow dot we were struggling to get in contact with. We'd knocked her door a couple times, but she only ever talked to us through the door. I was so determined to get inside her door after our last through the door contact. So this time when we knocked and she shouted "WHO?" through the door, we just didn't answer. It worked! She opened the door! And immediately let us in. We had such a spirit led conversation about God and Christ and powerfully testified of the Book of Mormon to her. She was so grateful and could feel the Spirit so strong. It was amazing. It was definitely the spiritual boost I needed.

Our active teaching pool is still pretty small, but I'm okay with that. We've been focusing a lot on less actives and part member families. We've seen a lot of miracles come from that as well.

One of my favorite things to do is to bare testimony of divine identity. The moments that get me the closest to crying are when I'm prompted to testify of the Love Heavenly Father has for his children. It is one of the most important things I could share with someone. Because if they don't understand or recognize their divine identity and potential, nothing else we share will have much meaning to them. We have everything we do because God loves us. He wants us to grow, and to feel joy. Most importantly, He gave us His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, die, and rise from the grave so we can return to live with Him. One of my favorite primary songs is "I am a Child of God." How grateful I am for the knowledge of that truth. I hope you know just how precious a child you are to Him. He is always there listening and watching over you. Pray, pray to Him and ask to feel His love. Then wait, ponder in the scriptures and you will be filled.

Always with love,

Sister Ray

Pictures:

St. Paddy's day!