Chapter 54: Equally Yoked

November 13, 2023

Chapter 54: Equally Yoked

Here's last weeks email!

This was a super eventful week! We started the week off at mlc. We're changing things up a little bit with accountability, so we had a long discussion about what our new accountability should look like. We didn't really come to a solid conclusion. There's too many voices and opinions happening all at once to figure out a "standard of accountability" that both works for the whole mission altogether, and the zones individually. But we're a step closer, so that's good at least.

•mlc, we all wore pink!

Tuesday evening after mlc, we just barely had enough time to make a couple visits. Our last visit for the night was with our new friend Bill! He had put in a request online to meet with us. We pulled up to his trailer, it was dark and we couldn't see much but an outline of someone sitting at a table outside. We had a really great meeting with him and set up a time to come back and talk some more with him!

Wednesday we went on a mini blitz with the Sister APs/ Lead stls. Sister Grover and I got almost attacked by wasps a couple of times.

Friday was zcm. I feel like it went pretty well! We talked about a lot of things, and the missionaries were all pretty receptive to what we brought to them. I'm excited to see how our zone grows!

At mlc and zcm for the discussion parts, we talked about pride; what pride is and what pride looks like in missionary work. President Hamblin gave a really good discussion on it that us and the zone leaders then took to our zone. He started by reading some scriptures in Abraham 3 and read about what our purpose here on earth is. Verse 23-24 tell us that we are here to "prove" ourselves. Will we do the Will of God? Then we jumped over to some scriptures in the Book of Mormon. We read in Alma 30 about Korihor, the Anti Christ. Korihor goes about the land and is ridiculing the people for their belief in Christ, His Atonement and Gospel. He asks the question, "O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things?". In our discussions, we talked about how because of Korihor's pride, he doesn't understand the true purpose of a yoke. In Matthew 11:28-30 Christ invites us to take upon us His yoke. We do this by making covenants. From Korihors' perspective covenants are nothing more than another set of rules and regulations; that those who make these covenants are becoming restricted by binding themselves to Christ. But that is not at all what covenants are. Christ tells us that His yoke is easy, and that the burden is light. When we are equally yoked with Christ and pulling with Him that is where we find strength through trials.

I've been praying a lot this week to remember and be aware that I am equally yoked with Christ. And It' been amazing! There are things about missionary life that normally would stress me out, or cause me to overthink. Such as going on exchanges, being stressed about friends showing up to church, messing up my words while I'm speaking and other things. But as I've been praying, I've felt the ease that comes from the yoke of Christ. My stress seems to just wash away as I hand those things over to my Savior and pull with Him rather than by myself. Life and missionary work are much more joyous when we remember that we are equally yoked with Christ.

Our amazing friend Tara has been experiencing this too. She put in a media referral a few weeks ago, and as we've been teaching her about Jesus Christ and His Gospel her life has been flooded with His light. She's read more of the Book of Mormon in the first week than any of my other friends I've taught. We did a church tour with her on Saturday and talked all about the Sacrament, and how we invite Christ into our lives through the Sacrament. As we were sitting there in the chapel, having just watched the Book of Mormon video where Christ gives the Sacrament to the Nephites, Tara told us she wants to be baptized!! That was the most amazing putting someone on date I've experienced! And it had just about nothing to do with us! It was Tara, the Savior, and her witness through the Holy Ghost. God put her on date that night.

Tara!!