Hola!!
First, sorry about the email(s) last week. I don't know what happened. It wouldn't send last week and I tried several times but it just kept saying unable to send. Then this morning I checked the phone and they had just sent... so I don't know what the problem was or why it fixed itself a week later, but sorry about the late emails.
Also heads up in advance. You already know I'm long winded but today I just kinda started and went so this email is looong. But what can I say? I love the gospel and I have lots to say about the things I love.
Now let me tell you some stories about my favorite little kid. I'm gonna make up a name for him... we'll call him Owen. He's eight years old. Loves going to church. Loves Joseph Smith with all his heart. He lives on a street that we walk on multiple times a day and every time he runs out to fist bump us and ask when the next time we're coming over is. He is getting all of his friends interested because he talks about the church so much and is always inviting them to join lessons with him. He also invites himself to join the lesson any time he sees that we are teaching a kid.
His mom said about a month ago that he isn't mature enough to make the decision to get baptized yet and he has to wait until he's 12 to decide.
Then Owen stepped up his game. Without pressure from us or his mom. He started waking himself up to go to church. Normally we pick him up every Sunday because there's a busy street to cross to get to the chapel. Last Sunday he missed his alarm, but instead of staying home he dragged his mom across the street with him so he could come to church anyway. He is still learning to read, but when we told him that even though it was hard, he needed to be reading every day, he started doing it! A couple nights ago he sent us a voice recording of him reading the verses we asked him to read that day and it melted my heart. I'm so impressed with this kid. I don't think I was half as dedicated to the church when I was eight.
And the coolest part is that his mom has noticed as well! We decided to ask her again about Owen getting baptized, and this time she said the answer was still no, but only because she's eight months pregnant and doesn't want to worry about Owen getting baptized until after she has her baby. But she said we can ask again after the baby is born. So four months of waiting just became four weeks of waiting. I'm so excited for Owen to get baptized!
Another awesome thing that happened this week was us finding 29 new people. We had a goal of 26 and I honestly was like, yeah, we aren't making that. Especially when Sunday rolled around (the last day of the week) and we only had 17 people so far, and Sunday is a short day of proselyting because of church and weekly planning. But all things are possible with God, and we found 29 people this week!
I watched a devotional from Elder Uchtdorf this week that was amazing! I didn't know what it was gonna be about beforehand, but it turned out to be about teaching, which is perfect because I spend all my time doing that and I'm always looking for ways to get better at it. He gave us a list of five things to do to improve our teaching:
1. Focus on Jesus Christ
2. Love those you teach
3. Teach by the Spirit
4. Teach the doctrine
5. Invite diligent learning
One thing that stands out to me is that teaching by the Spirit is third on the list. I'm always thinking about how I can teach by the Spirit and help the people to feel it. I'm always praying to have the Spirit with me. Preach My Gospel says that people are unlikely to act unless they are motivated by the Spirit.
But even after all of that, it's the third thing on the list. There are two things above it that are way more important: focusing on Jesus Christ and loving the people. Because who does the Spirit testify of? Whose gospel am I teaching? And how can I possibly bring the Spirit if I don't feel genuine Christlike love for the people I'm teaching?
So not to say that I've been focusing on the wrong thing, because teaching by the Spirit is really important. But ultimately, if you want to be a teacher who can bring the Spirit, you have to keep the focus of everything (in your life and in your teaching) on Christ, and you have to strive to genuinely love the people.
There was also a quote that I loved from that devotional: "Study and reason can find the truth, but only revelation can confirm it." Testimonies are cool that way. The gospel of Jesus Christ just makes sense because it has eternal truths. But even when you believe it's true from a logical perspective, you can't KNOW it until the Spirit tells you. And the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). Every good thing cometh from God (Moroni 7:12-13). For a long time I wanted to believe that this gospel was true... I wanted it so bad because I liked what I was learning and I felt like it made sense. But I was afraid to pray to know because I was scared I would feel nothing and then I would have my answer.
When I finally talked myself into praying, I did feel nothing at first. God answers, but He doesn't always answer right away. Humans are all about instant gratification, but God works on His own timing. I wanted a really obvious feeling that I could point back at and say that I had this epic spiritual experience. But what eventually happened is that I prayed a lot and finally had the thought come to my mind: "June, you already know it's true." I had been living the gospel even though I felt like I hadn't received a witness yet, and eventually I realized that my life was the witness. Because I was living the gospel, I was seeing all of those spiritual fruits that Galatians 5 talks about. Because I am living the gospel, I know what true joy feels like and I understand the Savior's love for me. So I can say with zero doubt that I know it's true. Study and reason found the truth, but revelation confirmed it for me.
So if you're a missionary right now, or a parent, or a person with a teaching calling, or a friend, remember to focus on Christ and your teaching abilities will skyrocket. If you are a human, take some extra time this week to both study and reflect/pray, because studying brings the knowledge and reflecting and praying brings the confirming revelations.
That should probably be it cuz this email is already ridiculously long.
Hermana Cazier
Pics (sorry about the lack thereof)
1. chickens in a tree
2. I'm finally decorating (great timing since the transfer ends next week, but I'm pretty sure I'm staying...) This is not finished yet but it's getting there.
3. this one's really just for my sisters. I made a June sandwich. You'd think I would have learned by now...
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