"Let it Snow, Under a month left, Stages of Book of Mormon Conversion."

B.L.O.G.


Hello hello hello.

Let me begin by saying. OH MY GOODNESS IT SERIOUSLY SNOWED THIS WEEK. I couldn't help but singing, "It's beginning to look a lot like Potsdam!" Although thankfully, everyone is assuring me that Saratoga is NOTHING like a good old fashion Potsdam winter. I don't think I could endure another one of those. But yes, the snow has stuck and winter has arrived. I busted out my heavy coat and then a small tear glistened on my cheek.

in other news,

This week I hit exactly one month left until I arrive home. bah. Let me just tell you, the stress has begun to set in. I mean, it's just both exciting and terrifying all at the same time and it just leads to this ball of anxiety in my chest. I keep going forward though. No worries.

Ok.  Let me tell you a few very exciting things about this week.

1. Glenn has officially invited his parents to take the missionary lessons and they said YES! hurray! Only, they live in Clifton Park, which is not our area. BUT the cool thing is, Sister Lloyd is currently serving there, and she is one of the missionaries who found Glenn! So it is exciting for her to now be able to teach his parents and have Glenn sit in as the member present. Glenn is way cool guys. Also, I'm going on exchange with Sister Lloyd this weekend, (very excited), so hopefully we can teach them together :)

2. We are still meeting with our Mexican friend. He still doesn't speak English. But we have been bringing all the Spanish speakers in the ward so they can translate for us. But I keep thinking, "Man, it would be nice if my mom and dad were here and could just teach this guy!" Haha. Also I keep thinking, "It would be cool if I could understand what you were saying right now!" but what do you do?

3. We had a really bomb lesson with this old guy. He had met with missionaries about a year ago, but had ended up dropping them. Well we went back, (and thankfully we had our friend Katie with us who just got home from her mission), and we were able to teach him the restoration. It was such a powerful lesson. He told us he was thinking about becoming a Jehovah's Witness, but that he had never felt anything like he felt with us before. It was awesome. But then a couple of days later he called us and was like, " I don't think you girls should come back." Guys, we were so frustrated. What is this all about? We find seemingly solid people, and then teach them an awesome lesson, and then they drop us. Well, we had had enough of that, and we were close to his house... so we decided to drop by. We got talking to him and he said, "Yes, I just don't believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet." So I said, "Well, did you pray about it?" "no" he says. We then testified how he could never know and never feel that peace that he felt before if he didn't pray about it and keep meeting with us. He was still hesitant. So then I said, "So, you really never want us to come back?" "Well... I guess you girls can come back sometime next week." It was awesome. I know that the spirit really does help us when we put our faith in Christ and never just give up!

4. I also had a really awesome experience this week at District Meeting. Our meeting was focused on the Book of Mormon. During the meeting our district leader gave us a couple of minutes to sit and think about our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and then if we wanted to we could come up and share. As I sat there thinking I gained this revelation that I thought was pretty cool.

I think my understanding and testimony of the Book of Mormon has come in stages.

Stage one: Believing. All growing up, I liked the Book of Mormon, I believed it. It was all good and cool. I believed it, because I was taught it and it was there.

Stage two: Testimony. In high school I started to have questions. I started to actually read the Book of Mormon on my own and pray about it. I received an answer from Heavenly Father that the Book of Mormon was truly God's word. I had gained a testimony that it was true. I would never doubt that. Even if I didn't read it every day, or understand everything, I knew it was true.

Stage three: Conversion. Then, in my college Book of Mormon class, and most definitely on my mission, I have become more converted to the Book of Mormon. No longer do I just know it's true because Heavenly Father told me so and it logically made sense. Now I have had experiences reading and feeling its power. I have seen it change others. I LOVE reading the Book of Mormon now. I understand the stories and I strive to live it.

Anyway, that is my story for today. Like I said, this week had  A LOT of ups and a whole lot of downs. But I have felt Heavenly Father's help and my understanding of what the Atonement means to me has increased. I guess it's just another experience on the pathway to Christ.

That's all I got guys.

XOXO,
Sister Langford