Baldwin Village Week 8

Hi All,
Ah what a fantastic weekend it was for the church everywhere!! It was CONFERENCE WEEKEND! YEAH! Pretty much better than Christmas for missionaries. At the end I'll include some highlights that I lifted from lds.org from some of my favorite talks...or at least, the ones that i put stars by while i was listening :) haha  Other than conference we also had a really good week here in Baldwin Village. The work in the USC ward is really picking up, and Sister Morgan and I have had some awesome spiritual experiences with those that we are teaching. They are progressing along nicely and I can really see the growth in them, especially from when we first started meeting together. It's really beautiful to see how when a person is reading, praying, and studying with real intent, the conversion that starts to take place within their hearts, just like was talked about a conference. 

The weather here has been nice. It's starting to cool off a bit - this week it's going to be in the 70s all week so it will finally start to feel like fall! 

This upcoming week we have zone conference - which I am really excited for! I love when a bunch of us missionaries have the opportunity to get together and strengthen one another. Not only do our testimonies grow, but I leave zone conferences with a new fire for the work, and goals to help keep me motivated during the transfer! Hopefully there will be more exciting news to report this next week :)

Well, please forgive me for this short and very vague email. this week has just kind of been a blur and the only thing still on my mind that I can actually focus on is conference! So, I'll leave you with my love and some quotes! Until next week!

 

Hermana Hensley

"Becoming Goodly Parents" L. Tom Perry

Our strengthened family cultures will be a protection for our children from “the fiery darts of the adversary” (1 Nephi 15:24) embedded in their peer cultures, the entertainment and celebrity cultures, the credit and entitlement cultures, and the Internet and media cultures to which they are exposed constantly. It will help our children live in the world and not become “of the world” (John 15:19).

"The First Great Commandment" Jeffrey R Holland

My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if, at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind” (Luke 10:27; see also Matthew 22:37–38). And if at such a moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord.

"The Caregiver" Henry B. Eyring

With all your differences in personal circumstances and past experiences, I can tell you something of what lies ahead for you. As you keep the faith, you will find yourself invited by the Lord often to serve someone in need when it will not seem convenient. It may appear to be an unpleasant and perhaps even impossible task. When the call comes, it may seem you are not needed or that someone else could easily give the succor.

Remember that when the Lord lets us encounter someone in distress, we honor the good Samaritan for what he did not do as much as for what he did. He did not pass by on the other side even though the beaten traveler on the road was a stranger and perhaps an enemy. He did what he could for the beaten man and then put in place a specific plan for others to do more. He did that because he understood that helping may require more than what one person can do.

Lessons in that story can guide you in whatever your future holds.