Full of the Spirit-May 27,2013

Hey everyone!!
Welcome to the family Emmitt!! That's so exciting, he looks like a
stud!! I can't wait to meet him! This week has been awesome, like
always! I'm just loving it here and loving being a missionary. This
week we met with Sammi a couple times who has a baptism date in June.
Well we found out he has a problem with alcohol and so we have been
focusing on the word of wisdom. Ha but he just is having a hard time
accepting it and doesn't really understand why we have that and stuff
and yesterday during our lesson with him it was getting super
frustrating cuz he wasn't taking us serious and he was just crackin
jokes and being his goofy self and the lesson was just going nowhere.
its soo hard to keep him focused!! And sometimes its hard for me to
stay focused cuz he just cracks me up. Haha but finally my comp was
just like "Sammi let's pray about the word of wisdom right now!" ha he
was soo caught off guard and he didn't want to at all cuz he knew we
were right and he didn't want to be proven wrong in front of us. Haha
it was so funny but we finally got him to do it and we knelt down
together and he prayed and asked to know if what we were telling him
was true. His prayers are so amazing they always bring the spirit so
strong, i love when he prays! But anyway after he was finished no one
moved or said a word for probably a solid 5 minutes and you could just
feel the spirit so strong. And it was a huge miracle that Sammi was
able to stay quiet for that long cuz he just likes to talk haha and
you could just tell that he was really listening and focusing on his
feelings. it was sooo cool! When we all stood up he had tears in his
eyes and just said "I feel guilty" and we just asked him what he felt
and he just said he knew it was true and that he needed to stop. Gah!!
The church is true everyone! It was such a sweet experience! I know
Heavenly Father knows us all individually and he truly does hear and
answer our prayers. We also met with Lachelle and Lomar this week. We
met them before and they are so awesome but just weren't interested
when we talked to them the first time but for some reason we felt like
we needed to go back and visit them. I was soo nervous haha i didn't
know what they were going to do or how they would feel about us coming
back haha but when we got to their apartment a huge thunderstorm
rolled in and it just started downpouring like crazy! We knocked on
their door and Lachelle opened almost immediately and told us to come
right in. Turns out she is very very afraid of thunderstorms and when
she is at home alone she ends up just hiding in a corner all scared
until it is over. Haha she is very funny. But she was so grateful we
were there and it was just incredible timing cuz we were able to be
there with her during the storm and teach her and she said she was
just praying for company when she saw the storm rolling in. Its so
amazing how the Lord works! He loves all of his children so so much!
It amazes me. So we taught her about the restoration and got many of
her questions cleared up and she is so prepared. She already lives
such an amazing life and she's just an incredible person! I am so
excited to see where this gospel will take her, i know she will make
an incredible member of this church sometime soon! The spirit is
always so strong when we teach her and she just told us that when we
come over she feels a very special spirit and she knows what we are
telling her is true and that she just wants to be a part of it! She
told us how amazed she was that we didn't just give up on her the
first time and that we were insistent and came back anyway. There are
a few things we need to work out with her but i'm stoked to teach her
and see where she will go from here! I just know how important it is
to always be in tune with the spirit and i continue to learn the
importance of it the longer i am here! I know that our father in
heaven knows each of us individually. He knows these people in
Virginia ten times better than i ever will and i know that i can bring
them to this gospel if i am worthy and if i'm constantly striving to
have the spirit with me. I know how important prayer is and that
having a prayer in our hearts can really allow us to overcome those
small daily challenges and i have found that it really helps me get
through the hard moments of each day and helps me to bounceback and
have a better attitude and be able to recognize the good in each day.
Cuz really there is so much in each day that we can all embrace and
cherish. I know it's so easy to get down when our day doesnt start off
in the way we would expect and its hard to bounceback and try to not
let that one small thing ruin our whole day. But i've come to
recognize that prayer is so important in every minute of each day to
help us especially during the hard days. We aren't always in
situations where we can kneel down and pray but i know Heavenly Father
hears those prayers in our hearts and he is waiting to hear from us
and waiting to bless us. I know that! I know that Christ knows
everything we each go through, he has been through it all and even so
much worse that the things we go through. He is my best friend that i
turn to when i need to be lifted up cuz he has felt every pain i've
gone through and will go through. He is the most loyal friend i have
and I know he knows me, better than i even know myself and i'm so
grateful for him and that i can turn to him for anything cuz he knows
my every need. I've studied about the Atonement a lot this past week
and the biggest thing i have learned is what Heavenly Father expects
from me not just as a missionary but just always. He expects me and
all of us to just do our best. If we do our best every day and try our
hardest to be obedient to the things he has commanded us then he is
pleased with us. But i know its not always easy to do that and i know
how hard it is to be exactly obedient to those things we are asked to
do, but because of Christ and his atoning sacrifice we can repent and
just keep trying to do our best every day cuz we aren't perfect and we
will mess up but as long as we are doing our best and trying harder to
be a little better then we are doing and becoming what Heavenly Father
would want of us. I know this church is true! I gain a stronger
testimony of it every day. I love being a missionary and i love
teaching and testifying of something that has blessed me so much and
givin me so much comfort and strength my whole life! I love that i
have the opportunity to share this message with the people in Virginia
24/7. There is nothing better!! Hope to hear from ya'll soon! Love and
miss ya'll tons and tons!!! Have a good week ;) XOXO

Sister Roosendaal



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--
Michele Roosendaal
"Have a GREAT Day"