Sister Jamie Bundy

Quarantine Week 6: Facebook finding

Hello again all. This week had its ups and downs. Just like every other week I guess. It was mostly good though. The biggest highlight of our week was finding someone new to teach named Andrew! I don't know if any of ya'll saw the awkward video I made and that my mom posted on her Facebook but Andrew saw it and really liked it! He commented that he was interested in learning more. My mom got him reading from the Book of Mormon and before she got me to set a lesson up with him he was already through the first book of Nephi. So that was just way cool. We had my mom join us for our first lesson with him and it went awesome! He had so many great questions and was just really interested. We committed him to pray about baptism because he said that he already knew that the Book of Mormon was true. Which was just amazing. We set up a return appt with him and we also took a  virtual Priesthood Restoration Site tour with him! It was just awesome!! (I encourage you all to go take one as well. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and completely free! go email chloe.shepherd@gmail.com to set one up;) You won't regret it) We got ahold of the Elders that live in his area and we had them join our lesson. They were very good and bold teachers and just within that lesson, they had him committed to being baptized on May 17th. Wow. It was pretty cool and we are SO excited for Andrew and hope that he continues progressing. We were sad to have to let the elders take over with his teaching because it was really great getting to know Andrew and teach him, but we know that he is in good hands now:) His missionaries will take good care of him and I know they'll do great. It was all such a miracle! I KNOW, that through all the interactions that my video got, both the good and the bad, that it was meant specifically for Andrew. There's no way it wasn't. It strengthened my testimony that the Lord is preparing people always, and all places. He can use the light we shine to find them. And I was grateful to have been a part of that finding process for Andrew. He told us that he had been a part of a lot of different Christian churches but didn't know anything about our faith and just wanted to know and wanted to know what it would take to become a part of it. It was really cool experience and I hope he continues accepting the Gospel into his life.

Another tender mercy and miracle that happened this week also happened because of something really small. So we went out to get some fresh air. I remembered that the car needed gas so  suggested that we go fill it up. As I was coming up to get in the drivers seat, there was a lady sitting in the car next to ours with her window rolled down. I didn't notice her at first so when she said "I like that picture of Jesus you have in your window" It kind of startled me haha. I don't know why this is a thing, but a lot of the missionaries will stick a pass along card in the driver seat window. I didn't ever think that anything would come of it, but I did the same to be cool and fit in;) So this lady noticed it and liked it I asked her if she wanted one for herself. She said that she would love one. Thankfully, I had a whole stack of different Jesus cards in our cup holder. I not only gave her one but I gave her a couple different ones. She said that she was the only "believer" in her house and that she plans on hanging those nice cards up around her house. I thought that was so awesome. She was really sweet and I guess she lives in our apartment complex so we will probably see her again. It was really cool to me to see how something seriously so small could have had an impact like that. I can't count how many times I've had the cards I've offered people be rejected, or how many times I'd have to convince people to take one. The Lord is in charge of this work. And He's a lot better at doing it than any of us are hahaha. He knows the ones He is preparing and He knows the best timing of everything. We just have to be doing our best and following the Spirit and He'll put us at the right place, at the right time.

So, something that one Zone has been doing to try to help us all stay busy and have something to look forward to is by giving us different challenges every day. And if we do these challenges then we get a certain amount of points. At the end of the transfer, whoever gets the most points, gets a prize hahaha. So these challenges are pretty simple but some of them have been pretty fun. One of the ones from this week was to recreate and film a scripture story and keep it under a minute long hahahaha. We all had too much fun with that. I would say that my personal favorite was the Zone leaders recreation of David and Goliath hahahaha. I think it was just a good excuse to throw rocks at each other It was very entertaining to watch hahahahaha. We did Samuel the Lamanite. Basically just an excuse for me to stand up on a wall while I let my companion throw sticks at me hahahaha. It was too much fun.

Those were just some of the little miracles I saw from this week:) Its been really nice to be able to have more time to learn and study the gospel as well. My studies have been more fruitful for sure and it has been a great way to receive personal revelation. Something that I've been trying to do more is have a question in mind before I study. There was something really cool that I learned from one of my studies that I wanted to share with you all. So the question I had in mind was "Everyone seems to have a different definition of 'exact obedience', Why? How can I know if I am being 'exactly obedient'? So I wrote this question down and everything and began my studies. Guess where I happened to be reading that day? hahahah thats right, the war chapters yesssss. So, in Alma 53 the people of Ammon, who had made a covenant with the Lord that they would never again take up arms to fight and kill, saw all the war and bloodshed that was happening around them and felt a need to help defend their country. They were planning on breaking their covenant with God so that they could do this. Helaman stops them because he knows they would be better off staying in a good standing with the Lord than breaking covenants with Him. So then they're like "Ok, well our sons didn't make those covenants. Lets send them to war." So then their sons, also known as the two thousand stripling warriors, also makes a covenant with the Lord to defend their country. I compared these two covenants.

Verse 11 says: they had taken an oath that they never would shed blood more; and according to their oath they would have perished; yea, they would have suffered themselves to have fallen into the hands of their brethren

And verse 17 says: And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage.

Soooo, I don't know about you guys but, I've personally never seen, heard, or read anything more opposite of each other. Both groups of people clung to their covenants, and BOTH were exactly obedient my doing so. There were a couple things I learned from this:

1) Sometimes it can feel like "rules" or "commandments" can be a roadbock and can hinder our progression or our aid in furthering the work. But the Lord has promised that He provides a way. He always does and I've learned that His way  always turns out better in the end.

2) Because we all are different, our relationships with the Lord are also DIFFERENT. The callings we have, the things we are expected to do, certain promises or covenants we all make with the Lord are different, therefore requiring our performance in keeping those different covenants to be, that's right, different! Even the universal covenants we make at baptism and in the temple have different meanings to us all, and yet, if we all are doing our best to keep those covenants the best way we know how and understand, we are being exactly obedient.

3) Our leaders are here to help us and remind us of our individual covenants. I,

Of course there's more that can be learned here but I thought it was pretty cool have my question be answered like that. I hope you all take time to ask questions and seek personal revelation in your scripture studies and other in other ways. I promise He will speak to you, if you listen.

I love you!! Have a great week!

Mission office:

721 Paxon Hollow Rd Ste B

Broomall PA

19008

My address:

716 Wharton Dr

Newark DE

19711

-Sister Bundy