Hello! :)
Well this week has been exceedingly great! :) We've tracted into some awesome people! (a couple of them being new Investigators now!) and have had some great (and intense) lessons! :) ha Some hightlights of the week include an awesome "OYM" (Open Your Mouth/street contact) experience, a new (potential) investigator, an intense lesson turning into powerful testimonies given and strengthened, and an AMAZING OKC temple trip service project!! :)
So, first, the "O.Y.M." :) So one night Sister Draper and I were on our way home and we decided to stop and take some video of the awesome lightening storm because it looked so cool lighting up the sky! :) While we were in a parking lot doing this a guy walked out of a restaurant (he works at) and was wondering what we were doing? (we were close to his car with cameras out and he thought we had hit his car or something and were taking pictures?! hahah we didn't!! :) ) We told him we were recording the storm on our cameras because we aren't from Oklahoma! :) hah He seemed a lot more calm and happy to hear that :) ha later he came back out to his car and i decided to talk to him and gave him a mormon.org card! He was sOOO nice! and is a student at OSU! We told him we were missionaries and more about the Church and what we do and teach and he actually seemed pretty interested! :) He made sure he knew how to get a hold of missionaries if he wants them after he looks on the website and seemed pretty excited to take a look at it! :) it was awesome!! :) I lOvE the Lord's timing and placing!! :) It's incredible!! :)
The next exciting thing from this week happened last night! (Sunday night) We could either go home and do studies (for the last hour of the night) Or we could go visit and see if one of our 'potential investigators' that we gave the Book of Mormon to was home! We decided to do the latter! :) We drove up to the apartment (we had previously felt prompted to tract and specifically talk to him and knock on his door in the past and did and he was awesome! we were able to give him a Book of Mormon then and he said to have us come back in about 2 weeks so that's what we were doing :) ) And he was home!! :) He came outside and we were able to have a great talk and lesson with him! :) He has been reading the Book of Mormon (and praying about it!! :) ) and is in 2 Nephi!! :) He says he likes it and it's just like the Bible (he goes to a Baptist Church and is probably late 20's and graduated from OSU) ! We talked more about he Book of Mormon and shared our beliefs and testimonies of it and related it to him etc. :) It was a great lesson. He is such a gREAt guy!! He is so nice!! I don't know how he's not a member of the Church yet?? He seems like one!! He has such a great light about him! :) He said we could come back and would continue to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! :) sOO sweet! :)
Third thing, the lesson/testimony builder! So we went to visit someone (less active) who is struggling really bad and misses their 'old church' and stuff and said the only thing she would be 'missing' if she didn't come to our Church anymore is 'just the temple.' Now, for anyone who knows me (and the gospel! :) ha) you know that you do NOT mess with the temple!! ha It is never 'JUST the Temple!" the Temple is EVERYTHING!!!!!! it is a HUGE part of the gospel!!! And is the only way back to our Heavenly Father!!! :) It is IN the temple we are sealed together as eternal families and are are able to participate in the sacred and ESSENTIAL ordinances in order to make it back to live with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ! :) I LOVE the Temple!!!! And was able to testify with power and authority (that i've been given as a missionary with this sacred calling) of it's GREAT importance in the gospel of Jesus Christ! :) And through that experience and sharing my testimony of the temple the Spirit was definitely able to testify that to this person (and myself!!) that i KNOW it is TRUE and ESSENTIAL for our Salvation and Exaltation! :) It was a pretty intense moment and i have never been sO bold!! hah but if there was ever a time to be so bold i feel it was then!! Because the temple is truly EVERYTHING!! :) and means SOOOO much to me!! The temple has blessed my life and sOOOO many others as well and i could not deny that or not say anything!! :) I have really been trying to teach and testify with greater power and authority (because i know that we have been given the power to do so as missionaries) and i'm SOOO grateful for this amazing opportunity to do so!! And even though this person may not realize the great importance of the temple YET, i am sO grateful I do and that the Spirit was able to make that known to me through being able to bear my testimony of it! :) President Kimball is right! "Our testimonies are found in the SHARING of them!!" :)
Speaking of temples.. that leads into the last and INCREDIBLE "highlight of the week" that i want to talk about! :) We were blessed to go to the OKC Temple and do a service project on the temple grounds!! :) We were able to get a ride from a member in our ward and bring our Investigator, Xiaodan, to the temple to plant flowers Saturday morning!! And it was AWESOME!!! :) Again, i LOVE the temple sOOOOO much and i cherish each time we get to go!! (especially since i can't go as often since i'm on a mission! :) ) It was so fun planting all the beautiful flowers and being able to be a part of 'beautifying' the temple grounds!! :) ha I am very grateful for this experience and LOVE each time we are able to go to the temple here on my mission because I ALWAYS feel the Spirit there and it helps me remember and refocus on whY i'm here on a mission, sharing the gospel with other, it's so EVERYONE can make it to the Temple!! And recieve those AMAZING ordinances and blessings!!! :) What a blessing!! :)
Well, I hope everyone is doing GREAT!!! and i hope you all go to the temple as often as you can!! :) And see the amazing blessings come into your life and the amazing Spirit you feel from doing so!! :) I love you ALL sOOO much!!!! And the Lord loves you even MORE!!! :D Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are ALWAYS there for you and want you to be happy!! :) They have given us the AMAZING "Plan of Salvation (Happiness)" that as we follow it we will hAvE all the blessings and happiness we could ever dream of!! :) I KNOW this Church is true!! It is truly Jesus Christ's Church restored upon the Earth!! I love it!! and i love you all!!! I hope you have an amazing week!! :) Follow the Spirit!! :) and Follow the Prophet, don't go astray! :) I love y'all! :)
Love, Sister Carlini :)
ps. QofW: “Worthiness is a process, and perfection is an eternal trek. We can be worthy to enjoy certain privileges without being perfect.” —Elder Marvin J. Ashton
"Occasionally, for well-motivated and highly devoted Latter-day Saints, confusion occurs about the differences between worthiness and perfection. Worthiness and perfection don’t mean the same thing! All of us are “works in process.” We can be worthy while still needing improvement." -Elder Cecil O. Samuelson (INCREDIBLE TALK!!!! :) >>>>>"What Does it Mean to Be Perfect?" MTC Devo March 2002)
*Picture Descriptions* : Temple Grounds Service Project!! :) I got to 'place' those flowers in the flowerbed (by the entrance) and then we planted them! :) So fuN!! Such an honor :) And you can't really see in the other picture along the side of the temple but we planted a TON of flowers in that spot by the trees!! It was intense!! And we were able to plant in other spots around the temple as well but sadly the sprinklers came on when we started taking pictures!! hah so i didn't get a lot of the flower shots! :) hah but it as a blast!! :)
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