Hello family!
How is life in SLC?
Happy fourth by the way!
We had a pretty good day here! The Howards fed us breakfast and the Crandalls fed us dinner and in between we did our regular missionary work.
When we got in for the night we grabbed ourselves some Bluebell ice cream and sat on our balcony to watch the fireworks. Still as epic as ever. God bless Texas.
The entire horizon as far as you can see fills up with illegal fireworks and they go all night long. It's pretty spectacular. The great thing about Texans too is that they do fireworks the night before and night after the fourth as well so we've still been seeing fireworks every night since.
I truly am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country and I am so grateful that this country was foreordained to be the place that provided the opportunity for the gospel to be restored.
We got to meet the Mortinsen's this week. They are the most adorible family. They have 4 daughters and 2 sons. Their oldest child just left for her mission and their youngest is 5. They are amazing. I think we all fell in love with them instantly. He reminds me a lot of President Pingree. He is just as enthusiastic, kind, loving, humorous, and speaks powerfully just the way that president pingree did. I prayed before we met him that I would be able to recieve a spiritual confirmation that he is truly called of God to lead us at this time. I was worried that it would be hard for me to accept him right away but really I had no problem at all. About halfway through a lesson he was teaching us i had to remind myself that this was the first time we'd met him because it felt as though we'd always known him and he'd always been here. I think that was the Lord's way of confirming to me that President Mortinsen truly has been called of God to be here at this time. I am so grateful for the time I got with the Pingrees and i'm so grateful for this short time I will have to learn from President and Sister Mortinsen.
He shared some things with us that really stuck out to me. One missionary asked him "How do you define what a successful missionary is." In response he first turned us to Preach my Gospel chapter 1 and then he said "You know you are a successful missionary when you are doing all that you can to reach your individual divine potential." It has nothing to do with the amount of baptisms you have. I love that. He also said, "Anyone can serve a mission, that's the easy part, but not everyone who serves a mission becomes a missionary."
He has such a powerful spirit about him just like President Pingree and I am so excited to get to know him.
We had two lessons with Keith this week! We taught him about tithing and fast offerings. We knew beforehand that this might be difficult for Keith because he isn't finacially sound right now and we weren't sure how he would react. But as always his faith blew me away. After the lesson he was ready to go to the church, get a slip, and pay that 10 percent. We told him is was something he didn't have to do until after he was baptized so he decided he's going to start setting the 10 percent aside now so that when he's baptized he can pay it.
He told us that he had talked to his biological father and his father started bashing the church and questioning Joseph Smith, but Keith stood strong and defended the church. We told him that Satan was going to try and do everything within his power to stop Keith from being baptized and Keith understood that he needs to stay strong. He's been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and we also gave him a conference Ensign to read. He came to church on Sunday and even fasted with us. Working with him has been a good reminder to me of how blessed we are to have this gospel and how important it is to accept and gladly follow the commandments of the Lord. The commandments are a priviledge to know and follow.
Kaylee is doing well! Sunday was such a good day. I knew it was my last fast sunday as a missionary so I got up to bear my testimony and as I sat on the stand to wait my turn I saw Kaylee stand up and walk to the front! She bore her testimony and let me tell you it was the most beautiful testimony I have ever heard. She talked about how much this church has changed her life, how much she loved being at the temple, how she knows right now her parents don't understand but that someday she will be baptized. She also told us how grateful she was for us. She always refers to us as "my missionaries." I was so amazed. She is incredible. It was such a blessing to be able to hear her bear her testimony. I can't wait for the day when I hear that Kaylee is getting baptized! That will be a good day.
This gospel is the most wonderful thing in the world and it is true! It ALWAYS changes us for the better. It helps us become our best selves and helps us reach our divine potential.
The Kingdom of God or nothing!
Love,
Sister Gregson
Temple session with the Pingrees
Do any of these people look familiar?
Temple
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