June 2007

My monthly letter is late because I am here in New Mexico. I spent the last two weeks of May in my home town getting ready for my daughters wedding. What an experience! She was a beautiful bride and the rain we had all week took the day off.
Sunday in church the speakers were talking about service. One return missionary told about being in a town in Colorado where the townspeople would just say "Go away! and stop bothering me!. As missionaries do they prayed about what to do. The answer was be of service. So they put on their P-Day clothes and went to ask the farmers what they could do to be of service. After they spent several weeks putting up fences, stacking hay bales, and even roofing one house the town decided these missionaries must have something worth talking about.
Our Sunday school lesson was about living a life like Christ taught in the
parables-- a life of service.
Again in Relief Society, we learned to forgive and to serve others.
After church my daughter came up from Albuquerque to talk to the Bishop about the wedding. I was pleased an surprised to see her running from one of my friends to another sharing hugs and best wishes. Though they hadn't seen much of her for several years they all wanted to help with her wedding. I am grateful that their spontaneous offers of service and love were given this week
to me and my daughter.
I also took note that those who offered help were the Relief Society Presidents I worked with, my visiting teachers, visiting teaching companions, or those I taught. Relief Society and the visiting teaching program was truly inspired. What better way to make lasting friendships, than from gifts of service.
I got a note from my niece this week that I’d like to share part of because it echoes my feelings “I am volunteering to help out as needed with Primary teaching, or in the case of this past Sunday, I had the opportunity to teach the Relief Society lesson.
That was a real blessing, as the topic was “faith to move mountains.” I related the incident from when our family first moved to Cape Girardeau. We didn’t know anyone, had no family around, were adjusting (badly) to the humidity, the bugs, the very strangeness of our new surroundings and I wanted “home”. Which all of my life up to this point has been in and around the mountains. . And I thought to myself – I have faith – I have been a member of this church all my life. I went to Primary, I went to Seminary, I graduated from a Church college – I can move the mountains here and have a part of home with me. Needless to say (in case you haven’t noticed) there are no mountains in Cape Girardeau! So was I weak in the faith – did I not have even a grain of mustard seed’s worth? And, truthfully, I wasn’t praying to have the mountains move, but I did need something to make this place welcoming. And it took faith – to move my mountain of shyness and passivity and waiting for others to make me feel welcome – to reaching out and meeting new people and exploring Cape and learning to make this home. I still miss the mountains (and still dislike the humidity and the bugs) but to move away to someplace else – would mean leaving home. I have remembered that faith is what gets us through – and I am truly grateful that my faith is sufficient to the task and what I lack in ability or determination is made up through the grace of a Father in Heaven who loves me and knows me as his daughter. With God, all things are possible.”
So to all – enjoy your challenges, smile at the rain clouds, and know that you are loved.

Wendy

This week in my daily Bible study I ran across this scripture.
2 Corinthians 9: 7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver