Mission Challenge - Seven Ways to Increase Faith

  Last Sunday we met with the Macon, GA Stake Leaders, and President and Sister Snow, our interim mission president, and his wife.  They spoke to all of us about faith.  They reminded us of times in the scriptures when impossible events occurred because of the faith of the people.  They asked for our input.  I thought of the parting of the Red sea so the children of Israel could escape from Egypt,  or the victories of the 2000 stripling warriors,  or Queen Esther saving her people by having enough faith to go to the king.  They asked us for scriptures we loved about faith, and we thought of a whole list.  Ether 12:6, 12, 30 -well all of that chapter has always been a favorite of mine.  Then came the idea that if we each exercised that kind of faith, what would happen in our mission?

 We were each invited to strengthen our own faith first, by meeting the following seven committments in addition to prayer, scripture study and all the things we regularly do:
     1.  Repent of something holding you back.
     2.  Sacrifice one thing important to you.
     3.  Ask everyone you meet, "who do you know that needs . . . in their lives?"
     4.  Make the invitation to be baptized the focal point of every lesson not the final point.  (Everyone          has the right to be invited.)
     5.  Teach 20 lessons a week at least.  (Whole lessons not just a scripture or a spiritual thought.)
     6.  Have a ward member present at every lesson you teach, so the new person will already have a friend in the ward.
     7.  Double your recent key indicators.  (People we talk to, lessons we teach.)

It all seemed impossible to me at least from number 3 down - and I thought I had learned to trust, through a lot of difficult life experiences.  The hardest one was #6, because it was something out of our control.  The very next day, we visited two families where the fathers had just retired.  One used to drive the senior elders in years gone by, and commented that he could not find enough to do to keep from being bored.  The other was a stalwart older church man who used to be a bishop etc.  He said a little sadly I thought, that now he only home teaches.  They practically offered their services.  It was so unexpected, and showed me that finding willing helpers was not going to be so impossible after all.

We received our first letter from home.  Thanks Hansen's!  It was fun to go to the mailbox and have such a happy looking envelope.  For the rest of you - this is our address:  
506 Brookwood Drive
Apt O2
Dublin, GA 31021

We are managing to walk most mornings.  We only have time to go one and a half or two miles.  It is such fun to walk through the quiet neighborhoods, and we have a little added incentive to get out early, as it gets really hot once the sun is up.  We miss our mountains and the uphill climbs, but this is much easier.  Here is one of the little ponds we pass on our usual route.

This is the pond at our own apartment complex.  We live in the grey buildings just beyond the water.  Notice how green the grass is here.  A little rain makes such a difference.  Doug has not had any problems with low oxygen counts here.  Maybe there is something to living in humidity at sea level, as his lung specialist advised!

We will be going to the temple in Atlanta on Saturday.  One of the newly activated families is going for the first time.  We are excited for them and are happy they wanted us to come with them.  We finally invested in a GPS - just when we are beginning to know how to get around without the map.  It will be useful in Atlanta, I'm sure.