Working in the Lord's Vineyard

Dumela again!

I know I just talked to you but I still have lots I want to tell you! Before I do though, I want to thank everyone else who emails me. I am so sorry that I don't have time to reply to each of you but I do read every one and I am so thankful for your testimonies and your support!

Well this week was super super busy. We taught 20 lessons this week which is significantly more than we have been teaching. It was great! A couple lessons in particular were really note-worthy. To give a little background, Sister Anderson and I have really been trying to improve the way we teach this week. We have really been trying to teach more by the spirit and according to each specific person's needs rather than just teaching set lesson plans. And it has made all the difference in the world. One of the lessons that we really did well with this was with a woman named Violet. She is the same person we helped move the other week. We were teaching her about the plan of salvation. I got the feeling that I should ask her if and how she has felt the atonement in her life. all of a sudden she just got up and left. Sister Anderson and I we so confused. We just sat there not really knowing what to do. She came back in after about a minute and she was in tears. She then shared some really personal stuff with us that allowed us to testify of how truly amazing the plan of salvation is and we were able to help apply specific principles about it to her exact situation. She was still really emotional when we left. I think that through us, the spirit was really able to testify to her.

Another awesome lesson was with a woman named Mrs. Daniel. She is incredible. We were planning going over the plan of salvation with her too but when we got there, she had already researched it in the scriptures and the pamphlet. She basically taught us the entire thing flawlessly. Sister Anderson and I kept looking at each other in awe, wondering if this was really happening! Then she started asking some questions about really deep doctrinal stuff about the last days and the resurrection. We were worried that the answers might be too much for her to handle but we answered anyway and she completely understood! It was amazing! The Lord truly does prepare people for this message.

Another thing about this week that has been really fantastic is that I am learning so much more than I ever though possible from the scriptures. I am reading in the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi right now. Honestly, I usually just skim over them cause I just don't get it. But this week I have taken the time to use every resource at my disposal pretty much to be able to understand. And I do! So much! And they are some of my favorite scriptures now. I have learned more about the atonement than I ever have before and It has strengthened my testimony more than I can even express in in an email. One word that I particularly love is the word intercession. I took one morning of my personal study and used the whole hour studying about that one word. I would encourage everyone who reads this to do the same. That word in the context of the atonement is truly incredible. Another chapter I studied was Alma 5. I went through and looked at every single question he asks, reworded it in terms that relate to my life as a missionary, then answered all of them. It was a really great reflection on where my focus is and where is should be.

One more high point this week is that the Lord placed us in the right place at the right time. We were supposed to meet one of our investigators at this park but she didn't show up. So we decided to do some contacting. Most successful contacting ever! We placed 6 copies of the Book of Mormon, got return appointments with 2 people and got the information of 4 other people so we can set up appointments with them! And we could tell they were actually interested. You pretty much know which appointments are going to fall through and we feel so good about everyone. One of the women we talked to said she felt like God was telling her to go to the park today. She had never been there before but she knew she had to be there. When we handed her the Book of Mormon she said that she knew the reason she was supposed to be there was so she could meet us and get this book.

Now Ill tell about a couple fun/ funny things from the week! Sister Anderson and I decided to make a "Mission Bucket List" It includes, along with a few other things:

-Read the Book of Mormon in 1 day (you know you're a missionary when you get really excited to spend an entire P-day reading the scriptures haha)

-Teach 30 lessons in 1 week. 

-Eat a mowpane worm (I might have misspelled that)

-Learn my testimony in Setswana

-Read Jesus the Christ

-Visit a village

-Return with honor!

Another funny thing is something that happened while we were tracting. It was my turn to do the little introduction so I knocked on the door and a guy wearing only boxers answered. I felt super uncomfortable so I just awkwardly relayed our message and prayed he wouldn't ask us to come in. Next to me I could tell Sister Anderson was just trying to not just laugh. I have no idea why it was so awkward but it seriously was! Luckily he told us he wasn't interested. We just walked away laughing. Again, I don't know why it was so funny but it definitely was.That tracting day wasn't all bad though! we met a hilarious lady who introduced herself as Sheila the Bold. We actually taught her a lesson this week and she is a hoot. People here are so funny. I love it.

Ok now the last story I want to tell is the reason I picked that as the subject. We were in the car on our way to an appointment. We were talking about Violet. We helped her move but a week later she decided to move back to her old flat cause she was having problems with the landlords. Sister Anderson said "Wow her landlords must have been awful" but for some reason I though she said "Working in the Lord's vineyard must have been awful!" I was so confused! I just said "Umm Sister Anderson, We kind of are working in the Lord's vineyard..." Once we figured out the mistake we both could not stop laughing. So now we say that all the time. "Working in the Lord's vineyard must have been awful!" Good times.

Well I am still loving the work. I am tired all the time but it is the best kind of tired. My testimony is growing more and more every day and I see the tender mercies all around me. I love you all so  much!

Love, Sister Gehring

Not quite as cool as a lion but just about as cute.

 

Not quite as cool as a lion but just about as cute. 

The little kids all love to try on our name tags. The little boy in front of me is Gao’s grandson. His name is Temo. The girl between us is named Fina. But mostly we just call her “Pincher.” She loves pinching. It was cute at first but has quickly become quite annoying. We love her anyway though.