The weather here is getting to be really nice. I don't freeze to death anymore. It's still a bit chilly, but totally manageable.Not a ton of new stuff. The area is nice, but we are still on a desperate search for people who will meet with us! We did, however, have an incredible fast Sunday.
I've never really had a strong testimony of the law of the fast. Even as a missionary...I know the doctrine and I know what blessings come from fasting, but every time fast Sunday comes around...it's kind of like...ugh...fast Sunday. Not eating for 24 hours while doing missionary work takes quite a toll on the body. Walking up stairs, my legs would feel like lead. But despite that I don't like to fast, I know that it's something we need to do, and that we'll receive blessings from it. Even if we aren't full aware of what those blessings are.
But recently I've been thinking. I can't treat fasting like that anymore. I can't just do it cause I'm supposed to. I wanted to get to a point where fasting would become an opportunity to look forward to. It's a tough thing to accomplish...but this last fast Sunday I had many occurrences that helped me realize this as i experienced the blessings that come from fasting.
All week we've been finding(translation: searching), and not seeing too many results. But it was pretty miraculous, right after we began our fast we found a potential investigator who stood and listened to our message while we stood in the RAIN! (No worries, she had an umbrella...but we probably looked really weird dripping in our rain suits.) Later on that evening we housed into someone who we were able to make an appointment with to come back and teach a lesson next week! After that we were able to meet with a less active member, who let us into her house, and we were able to talk and get to know her better.(alot of the time when we visit less actives, they're not there or not interested) The next day(Sunday) as I sat in sacrament meeting I "received a revelation" on something I have been wondering about for the past little bit. As I sat there pondering tons of random scriptures started to pop up in my mind, and as i read them together, I was able to find the answer I had been seeking. Later on in the day, we had our first lesson of the week which went really well. It was to a young "couple" (They're 16 and 17... found while streeting). The boy(16) had read the Book of Mormon and said he thought it was "sugoi" (amazing). I don't know about his girlfriend, but it seems like he has alot of interest and wants to continue learning! We had some amazing youth help us in our lesson and they fellowshipped the two VERY well. Afterwards we ALL went to a shokuji-kai (buffet dinner)at a members house, and had a ton of fun. Fast Sunday was incredible!!! Tons of small miracles occurred throughout the day. I know that these special blessings come because of our efforts in fasting. My goal is to try and always remember this and from now on to look forward to the opportunity to fast. I challenge all of you to try it as well. When you count the blessing you see when you fast, I promise you will be able to strengthen your testimony of the fast, cause it did for me.
Anyways, that's the big story of the week.
Well, hope to hear some fun stories this week!
Love you!
sister Osterloh
