Hello loved ones!!
Okay so this week seriously just blew right by I kind of don't even remember what we did this week haha. But I'll do my best to recount what happened this week because it was a good one.
Oh well first of all before I forget...I totally met someone here who knows John McCreedy! And the best part is, he's all the way from Jamaica! His name is Raman Roof and he is from Kingston and we visit his sister throughout the week. And he was here visiting her a few weeks ago. So I knew it was a long shot but I asked him if he knew and Elder McCreedy who served in Jamaica a few years ago...not expecting the answer I got he said "Yeah I know him! Elder McCreedy! Big, really really really tall, white guy right??" Haha and I said "yep that's John!" I thought it was so funny that I met someone all the way from Jamaica, in Philadelphia who knows John McCreedy haha it was awesome.
Anywho, sister Veater ad I are still trying to get to know the area but we are loving it and loving the people. So one cool experience we had this week was when we had a lesson with one of the recent converts named Amos. Amos is from Liberia and he was baptized in October. He is such a faithful member and has such a strong testimony. And he understands the doctrines of the gospel very well. Well he has a friend living with him right now whose name is Phillip. And Phillip sat in and was pretty intrigued by what we were teaching Amos and so he started asking a lot of questions. And before we even got to start answering his questions Amos started answering them! It was such an amazing experience to hear Amos, this newly joined member of the church, bear his testimony to his friend of the things he had come to know are true. He was bearing testimony of The Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith and I was just all smile I couldn't help but feel so happy by what I was hearing this new convert say to his friend. It was such a a amazing experience.
Then yesterday we had one of our investigators who will be baptized this month come to church. And after church we had a lesson with her and she is quite on track to be baptized but she is struggling with overcoming some Word of Wisdom issues. And yesterday we had a member come with us and his name is Brother Holland. And then suddenly my two companions and I all had the same thought to ask her if she would like a priesthood blessing and right then and there she accepted and a brother holland was able to give her a blessing. The spirit was so strong!! It was such Ana making experience! She has been progressing quite well and I,l keep you posted on her progress!
Something I learned this morning in my studies real quick:
One of my favorite
There is a scripture that I love in 1 Nephi is in chapter 7 verse 17 where Nephi has just
been bound with cords by his brothers and he prays to the lord and
says "O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou
deliver
me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I
may burst these bands with which I am bound” and it has always
occurred to me that Nephi prayed to the Lord for the strength to
overcome this trial he was facing...rather than praying for the lord
to just take it from him. Elder Bednar puts it better than I do...
"Do you know what I likely would have prayed for if I had been tied up
by my brothers? “Please get me out of this mess NOW!” It is especially
interesting to me that Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances
changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his
circumstances.
And I believe he prayed in this manner precisely because he knew,
understood, and had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement.
I do not think the bands with which Nephi was bound just magically
fell from his hands and wrists. Rather, I suspect he was blessed with
both persistence and personal strength beyond his natural capacity,
that he then “in the strength of the Lord” (Mosiah 9:17) worked and
twisted and tugged on the cords, and ultimately and literally was
enabled to break the bands.
The implication of this episode for each of us is straightforward. As
you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the
Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to
change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to
be changed. We will become agents who act rather
than objects that are acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:14)."
I loved this. And I have learned personally that for myself the lord will hardly ever remove the mountains in front of us but he will always help us climb them. I know this gospel is true and I love it with all that I have and am! And I will always do my absolute best to stay true to the gospel!
Love you all!
Until next week!!
Love always
{Sister Amy Callaway}
P.s. The really tall guy is 6"9 and it's pretty funny when this little 4"11 sister is standing next to him...ill send pictures some time! Love you all!
Okay so this week seriously just blew right by I kind of don't even remember what we did this week haha. But I'll do my best to recount what happened this week because it was a good one.
Oh well first of all before I forget...I totally met someone here who knows John McCreedy! And the best part is, he's all the way from Jamaica! His name is Raman Roof and he is from Kingston and we visit his sister throughout the week. And he was here visiting her a few weeks ago. So I knew it was a long shot but I asked him if he knew and Elder McCreedy who served in Jamaica a few years ago...not expecting the answer I got he said "Yeah I know him! Elder McCreedy! Big, really really really tall, white guy right??" Haha and I said "yep that's John!" I thought it was so funny that I met someone all the way from Jamaica, in Philadelphia who knows John McCreedy haha it was awesome.
Anywho, sister Veater ad I are still trying to get to know the area but we are loving it and loving the people. So one cool experience we had this week was when we had a lesson with one of the recent converts named Amos. Amos is from Liberia and he was baptized in October. He is such a faithful member and has such a strong testimony. And he understands the doctrines of the gospel very well. Well he has a friend living with him right now whose name is Phillip. And Phillip sat in and was pretty intrigued by what we were teaching Amos and so he started asking a lot of questions. And before we even got to start answering his questions Amos started answering them! It was such an amazing experience to hear Amos, this newly joined member of the church, bear his testimony to his friend of the things he had come to know are true. He was bearing testimony of The Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith and I was just all smile I couldn't help but feel so happy by what I was hearing this new convert say to his friend. It was such a a amazing experience.
Then yesterday we had one of our investigators who will be baptized this month come to church. And after church we had a lesson with her and she is quite on track to be baptized but she is struggling with overcoming some Word of Wisdom issues. And yesterday we had a member come with us and his name is Brother Holland. And then suddenly my two companions and I all had the same thought to ask her if she would like a priesthood blessing and right then and there she accepted and a brother holland was able to give her a blessing. The spirit was so strong!! It was such Ana making experience! She has been progressing quite well and I,l keep you posted on her progress!
Something I learned this morning in my studies real quick:
One of my favorite
There is a scripture that I love in 1 Nephi is in chapter 7 verse 17 where Nephi has just
been bound with cords by his brothers and he prays to the lord and
says "O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou
deliver
me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I
may burst these bands with which I am bound” and it has always
occurred to me that Nephi prayed to the Lord for the strength to
overcome this trial he was facing...rather than praying for the lord
to just take it from him. Elder Bednar puts it better than I do...
"Do you know what I likely would have prayed for if I had been tied up
by my brothers? “Please get me out of this mess NOW!” It is especially
interesting to me that Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances
changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his
circumstances.
And I believe he prayed in this manner precisely because he knew,
understood, and had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement.
I do not think the bands with which Nephi was bound just magically
fell from his hands and wrists. Rather, I suspect he was blessed with
both persistence and personal strength beyond his natural capacity,
that he then “in the strength of the Lord” (Mosiah 9:17) worked and
twisted and tugged on the cords, and ultimately and literally was
enabled to break the bands.
The implication of this episode for each of us is straightforward. As
you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the
Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to
change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to
be changed. We will become agents who act rather
than objects that are acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:14)."
I loved this. And I have learned personally that for myself the lord will hardly ever remove the mountains in front of us but he will always help us climb them. I know this gospel is true and I love it with all that I have and am! And I will always do my absolute best to stay true to the gospel!
Love you all!
Until next week!!
Love always
{Sister Amy Callaway}
P.s. The really tall guy is 6"9 and it's pretty funny when this little 4"11 sister is standing next to him...ill send pictures some time! Love you all!
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