Ok so this week was awesome!!! As you can tell from the pictures, we had a great p-day last week and we spent some time at the park and in some beautiful neighborhoods!
Highlights of the week:
We met a homeless man in the park who didn't really want to talk to us. But we talked to him anyway :) and ended up teaching him the entire restoration lesson, and sharing uplifting scriptures. He didn't want to meet up again (or tell us his name) but it was a really cool experience.
Saturday we went on a hike with our YSA's to Top of The World. It was super fun! And what a view! We could see Catalina Island without any fog or anything.
Yesterday was packed full of incredible happenings. We got a new bishop in our family ward - and guess who it is? Our ward mission leader Brother Andrizzi! So now we will get a new ward mission leader.... But the ward also threw a fun ice cream party to say thank you to Bishop Packer after church, and we had a blast. Scott and Paul both came, and we felt like proud parents watching them fit in with the ward and make friends and get involved. Scott and Justine still have a beautiful happy glow around them, and Paul is really making amazing progress. The party was just so fun to be a part of. There were several people there who rarely come to church, and we got to meet people and talk and everyone felt the spirit and felt loved and it was just like a big family picnic.
We had two really cool lessons with Paul this week. The first was at the Thatcher's home. They are just absolutely incredible people. Paul really respects and looks up to Brother Thatcher, and they are like our grandparents in the ward. Sister Thatcher always has a smile, and is just a sweet person and you can't be around her without feeling loved. You also can't leave her house hungry. After we had dinner with the Thatchers and Sister Walters (a sweet lady we like to visit occasionally... she's also James E. Talmage's granddaughter!), Paul came to do a scripture study with us. We pulled out Alma 32, and talked about the (sometimes forgotten) first half of the chapter, which talks about humility. But then Paul mentioned something about his name, and the Spirit hit me so strong. I knew what he needed to talk about! We then went through Acts 9, which is the story of Saul, or better known as Paul the apostle. We went through it verse by verse and it was so fun to watch him learn the story and take hope from it.
Then just Saturday night we were planning for his lesson later and we were talking about repentance and the atonement and the Spirit just hit us! BAM! We knew exactly how to explain what we've been trying to teach him for weeks! He is so ready to get baptized and he says it will be in November! :)
Last night was my favorite, though. Sister Bauer and I got to sing at a YSA fireside. We sang "Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide," which is about the men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. It is an inspiring and beautiful song, and the Spirit filled the room as we sang, thinking about the simple plea the words carry: "Abide with me, 'tis eventide, and lone would be the night if I could not commune with Thee, nor find in Thee my light. The darkness of the world I fear would in my home abide. O Savior, stay this night with me, behold, 'tis eventide." They are literally saying, "please... stay. I'm so scared that if you go, the darkness will return. Please, just stay a little longer and let us be in your presence." I was so scared that when we sang that the message wouldn't be there, but I prayed that the Spirit would come, that we could sing with our hearts, and I felt it deep in my heart as we did. Shouldn't we all ask the Savior to be with us?
So my ponderize scripture!! Psalms 146:5 "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God." Have hope! Have faith! Be happy!
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Sister Heather Bambas
California Irvine Mission
heather.bambas@myldsmail.net