Sister Huber Takes Houston: July 14th, 2014

the quest for the T E N S

what. a. week.

last night when we were driving home, I literally felt a huge load lifted from my shoulders haha. I'm exhausted. I think thats the only word to describe what I'm feeling right now! But it was SO worth it! And there is so much to tell you!

So like I said last week, Sister Loo and I set a goal to pass out 70 BOMs in one week- 10 each day. The week started out really rough. Monday we didnt have any, and Tueday we only had 5. So we kinda started to freak out a little bit and really had to just put every ounce of faith we had in the Lord in order to make this goal happen. Let me tell ya- when you prayerfully set a goal in faith, the Lord ALWAYS provides a way to accomplish it! Last night we successfully passed out our 71st Book of Mormon for the week :) We passed them out in just about every way possible! In the car, through fences, in parking lots, knocking doors, the college campus, all in this nice Houston weather! Lots of sun but it was all part of the adventure! Looking back we have no idea how that was even possible, but the Lord literally put people right in our path who were prepared to hear the gospel and accept the Book of Mormon. Along with that, we taught 54 lessons this week :) I'm still so amazed! We walked more than I probably ever have in my whole life, and just talked to every single person we saw. We got lots of referrals for other missionaries in the family wards, but we know that we will see the blessings in our own area and receive more YSA's in lots of other ways!

Joseph got baptized on Saturday! So he had been going back and forth with being baptized on the12th. And he had a few hang ups, so we just assumed that we were going to push it back a little bit until he was more confident and had a stronger testimony of the gospel. So on Wednesday we went over to teach him, and he said that he still wasnt completely sure about it and that he needed more time. We taught him ALL of the commandments in one lessons, which was a lot haha. But for some reason we felt that we needed to! At the end of the lesson we all knelt down and told Joseph to pray about the things that he is struggling with in his testimony, and to pray and ask HF the date that he should be baptized. So he ends the prayer, and we all stayed on our knees and asked him what he was feeling. He was like, "Well, the first thought that came into my head was July 12th... Yep. The 12th. Thats what God is telling me right now.. soooo... I guess I'm getting baptized on Saturday! This Saturday.. Wow. Alright!" hahaha. He had to coach himself into the whole thing. But it was really cool because right then he received an answer to his prayers, and he couldnt doubt the answer that he receieved. He said he just had to put all of his faith in God and go forward with it! We threw a baptism together in just a couple days and it all went great! He really feels at peace with himself and the decision that he made, and his testimony has already grown so much since then! Yesterday at church he was just so happy and said that he felt so good about it all :)

M.. is gettting baptized this saturday, and V.. is the Saturday after that! And then we set a date with Bejamin for August 3rd :) So many miracles!!!

All 5 of our recent converts got their temple recommends yesterday and tomorrow we get to go to watch them all go do baptisms for their first times! I can't think of anything in this world that is better than this! We are so excited :):) They're seriously the best :) I really don't think things could be better here! :)

Interviews with President Mortensen to top off the week! He committed us to extend 25 ITL's (invitations to learn) every day. Talk about a stretch right there! I think the most we've ever had in a day is 30. And that was a crazy day haha. So to do 25 every single day is really going to push us! But we gave him our word so The Lord is going to provide a way! I know its just another way that He is going to bless us :) I've learned to never put limits on the lord!! Everything in life is all dependent on our faith and on our obedience!

I want you all to know that I love this gospel with all of my heart. I know that our Savior lives and that He loves each of His children! Over the past couple months I have really been studying the Atonement and trying to understand it better & it has changed my outlook on everything. The Atonement is everything. My love for my Heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ has grown so much, and as I have come to know them better, I have felt my relationship with them turn into something that I have never experienced before. They have become my closest friends <3 I read a talk this week by Elder Holland called Missionary Work and The Atonement (you all should look it up and read it :) and this is just a part I really liked:

I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price. For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul. If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,”¹⁶then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way. The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Missionary or not, I think this applies to everyone. Christ performed the Atonement for each of us, personally. And when you let him into your life, and you submit to the Father's will just as Christ did, your life will be filled with a joy that you have never experienced before! Christ is the way :) & I am so grateful for him.

I love you all so much and am so grateful for each of you! Have a great week! :)

xoxo sister huber