Sunday, January 17, 2016

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Hello everyone!! 

I hope you are all doing well and had a good week! Because w sure did here in Philly! 
We had a good week of finding new people and sharing the video called A Savior Is Born with everyone! And we have seen miracles come from using it! I invite you all to do the same and to share those videos with your loved ones! Oh also fun fact, it has been 70 degrees here the last few days!! Like what the heck?? Where is winter?? Anywho...

From sharing the video we found a lot of new potential investigators. And we also went on exchanges this week. And we had a cold experience while we were on exchanges. So after doing some accountability with Sister Foster we left to go an try and contact a referral that we had received for  copy of The Book of Mormon. Well the address that was given doesn't even exist and so we were kings bummed about that but then Sister Foster said "well we were sent here for a reason!" So we walked up and down the street and then over the bridge and still, nothing. There was no one on the street for some reason. But as I looked back up at the top of the bridge I saw a man walked toward us and figured, "well there's our reason!" So we started walking toward and stopped and talked with him! He said his name was Jeff and that he was on his way to the convenient store to buy some candy or something because he was low on sugar because of his diabetes. So i first quickly reached in my bag and offered him the only thing I could find In there which was a small Life Saver candy. He looked very weak and so I gave it to him hoping that would be able to hold him off even just a little for so that hopefully we could share the video with him. And as we did he loved the video and it was something that he really needed at the time because he told us that he wants to have faith in Christ. He needs something greater to hold onto because he has lost almost everything right now. He has lost a lot, including family. And so we asked him if he would be willing to meet with us and be able to strengthen his faith in Christ by learning about his teachings and life. Jeff invited us to come back and teach him more so we will be seeing him soon! It was a miracle! I was so grateful for the opportunity to meet him and help him know in that moment that God loves him and is mindful of him. 

Also we had our ward Christmas party this week and we sang at it!! Ugh! Talk about scary! But we sang "Do You Have Room For the Savior" and boy were we nervous haha. We practiced a little bit throughout the week and it all turned out well. It was really fun too. 

And then yesterday we all gave talks in sacrament meeting! Last week on Tuesday a member of the bishopric called us and we missed his call on accident. But when I looked at the phone again in the car and who it was sister Veater said "oh no, you know what that means..." Haha. So I called him back and sure enough he asked us each to speak! Our topic was The Atonement. And he asked us to pick a hymn from the hymn book to use as the basis of our talk. And yesterday at church I was the second to speak and I accidentally took up most of the time!! I gave sister Veater hardly any time to speak! But she said that was okay she still did great. But I honestly feel like this talk was more for me this week than anyone else. I had been studying for my talk ever single day this week. And with all that I have learned about the Atonement over the course of this week and over the course of my mission, my thoughts and feeling of the savior and His atonement cannot be adequately expressed in words. Sometime I feel like Ammon when he said "I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." (Alma 26:16) but this week I have become so much closer to Him. As I have tried to study and learn more about what He did and more importantly WHY He did it. The hymn that I chose for my talk was hymn number 185 called Reverently and Meekly Now. And I also chose a talk from a Elder Holland called He Loved Them Unto the End. And in it Elder a Holland highlights a point that I had never really thought about before. The fact that the Savior had such perfect love for us, and because he possessed that charity, and we learn from the scriptures that "charity never faileth...[and that] all [other] things must fail." But because charity never faileth, that means that it never failed the savior either. I think we have to remember that even the savior said "oh my father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." Meaning even the savior asked if there wasn't another way, even the savior asked if He really had to follow through with this...but because He had such perfect love for each and everyone of us He said "Not my will but thine be done." That charity, the pure love He has did not fail Him in that moment. In fact it was the one and only thing that really saw him through, to the end. Sometimes I think we forget what an extreme act of pure love the Atonement of Jesus Christ really was. 
And I also think of it this way, the Savior loved every person enough to suffer and die for them. And He willingly went through that pain, so that we would all have a HOPE of returning to live with God again. But how do you think He felt and does feel have willingly taken upon Himself all of that pain and suffering for each and every person and knowing that most of them won't even accept and use His gift. How perfectly He has loved us, and we must love Him too for what He has done for us. Elder Holland said in His talk:

His disciples, understandably, were weary (or in other words: tired) and soon fell asleep. What of Christ’s sleep? What of his fatigue? What rest or slumber will sustain him through such an agonizing ordeal? That is simply not his concern here, nor does it ever seem to be. He will endure. He will triumph. He will not falter nor fail us." 

Because of His perfect and enduring love for us. I stand by Elder Holland when he said,

"I testify that there is one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all transgression. One thing only never faileth--and that is the pure love of Christ...Only the pure love of Christ will see us through." 

For surely brothers and sisters that pure love is what saw Christ through, to the end. His pure love never fails us. Not now. Not ever. Not ever. 

The Savior said, "Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen." To me when I read this verse i think of the Savior saying, "this is what I did for you. Please, please do this for me." In return for the in indescribable gift that he has given us, all He requires of us is to keep His commandments.

The fourth verse of the song reads...

  1. At the throne I intercede;
For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend,
With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore,
Prayerful, watchful evermore,
And be constant unto me,
That thy Savior I may be."

My knowledge and testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is one of the most priceless gifts that I possess. I invite you all this Christmas season and through out the coming year, and for the rest of your lives to discover more of why. And to continue learning all you can of the Savior and His atonement. I promise you that as you make an effort to strengthen your testimony of the Savior and His atonement will change your life if you let it. I testify of the truth of this gospel with all my heart. It's true. And I invite you all to find it out for yourselves if you haven't already. And if you have then I invite you to keep discovering the gift.

Love you all!!
Until next week! 
~Sister Amy Callaway~
Picture of us singing at the Christmas party! And then pictures from exchanges, and a cool picture from the Christmas party we took! 





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