SISTER ZACKRISON: News from the Boonies :)

Hey Y’all!

This Monday has been crazy. Happy Labor Day by the way! To celebrate it, we went up to Shiloh Tennessee, and we toured the battle grounds from the Battle of Shiloh. Wow, what an incredible experience. It was hard to picture the loss of so much life. We were able to walk where they walked, and see where they fought. I felt very humbled to be there, and to witness that. I will need to come back and learn more about the Civil War.

This week has been great! I have tried to focus on finding miracles, and walking with faith. I learned a lot about the timing of the Lord. Before I got to this area, one of the investigators the sisters were working with got married. Her name is Lucy. She married a member, and so they thought that it would mean instant baptism for her. But, she kind of lost interest a little bit, and stopped talking with them. She still came to church, but she didn’t feel an urgent need to be baptized since she didn’t see a deadline. Since being here, the Lord has helped us to make her a focus. This week, we saw her three times! She came to our volleyball night, came to church and stayed for the pot luck, and we even ran into her by accident. That was the true miracle. We went to the park to catch some of a different investigators softball game, and Lucy was working at the snack shack! I know that the Lord helped us to remember the game, which allowed us to be able to see Lucy. We went over and visited with her, and we even brought up baptism. We invited her to pray about a specific date, which is September 13th. She agreed she would. Later that week at volleyball, I was sitting next to her and I was able to talk more about baptism. I am grateful for the spirit which helped Lucy feel open with me. She expressed to me that she feels nervous, but eager at the same time. She told me how much she loved that our church was centered on families, and how there were different things to enrich our families. She longs to have a family of her own to bring to church. That right there showed me that she is on the path to baptism. I was able to testify to her that yes, there was no deadline, but that she would receive even more blessings and be happier if she didn’t put baptism off. I know she listened, and I pray and hope she is thinking more seriously about it. She is a wonderful girl, and I think she will soon desire to be more involved in the church.

I also know that the Lord answers prayers. I have felt a little out of place here in Booneville the past few weeks, but I really wanted that to change. I have been praying about it earnestly. I went on an exchange this week, and realized something really cool. I am beginning to love Booneville! I went to Tupelo, which was great. But, I noticed that I was anxious to get back to Booneville. Why would I if I didn’t like it here? So that was an exciting surprise. I really am growing to love it here. It is still an adjustment, and it has been my hardest one yet. I don’t know why, but I just haven’t been able to adapt as quickly. Some things still stress me out, but I am learning how to embrace the stress, and love the area where I am at. Bloom where I am planted so to say. I am really striving to improve in this area, and to share the Lord’s light with all those around me. Time is going quickly, and I don’t have that much longer to give full time to the Lord.

Another thing I learned this week was that the South really knows how to cook. I mean, I found that out pretty quickly when I first got here, but this week I have been treated to some deep Southern dishes! I tried fried chicken liver, don’t waste calories on that one! It was yucky. I also tried fried catfish. That was alright. I also had fried veggies. I pretended that they were healthy. Our ward had a pot luck for the 5th Sunday, and it was glorious. I haven’t ever been to a pot luck before, and so it was pretty great to start out with a Southern pot luck. I tried to apply it to the gospel. Southern food is smothered in all kinds of goodness. Sauces, gravy, butter, grease…all of it! And the message we have to bring to the world is smothered in all sorts of blessings. We have faith, and repentance, and mercy, and grace, and most importantly, we have the atonement of Jesus Christ. So many things which makes this message sweet. No one will walk away unsatisfied when they fully embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only thing they will have gained is an increased knowledge of the Savior, and how they can come closer to Him and gain Salvation. Now, that sounds a lot better to me than a few extra pounds!

My quote for y’all I may have already given. But here it is. It is by Aristotle. He says, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” I can testify of that. We teach the Saviors words, and we do His works. If we don’t act like the Savior, we will never ever be able to become like Him. We need to do the things that will help us to become like Him, not once, not twice, but continually. We need to make excellence a habit. The Lord needs us. He needs all of us. The Kingdom will move forward at a rapid pace when we learn the art of working together.

I love y’all, I hope this week goes well! Good luck to all those who begin school! Remember to PUSH! (Pray Until Something Happens.)