Words from Sister Brittany Platt in Colorado

"Olo everybody!!

What another great week! I can't believe I've been out on my mission for 5 months. That is just crazy! It's gone by slow, but also fast at the same time. So, this e-mail isn't going to be super long but I wanted to tell you of some cool miracles that happened and then some of things I learned from Elder Bednar (hence the title of my e-mail: MIND BLOWN!!!!)

 

So, this week we got to meet with a lot of Less-Actives and three of our investigators and we picked up a new investigator! We had one of our less-active families come to church (all of them) and they stayed for all three hours! It was awesome. We also had a Part member family come to church and we're meeting with them this week. We got to visit our 2 investigators, Jeff and Sarah, in the hospital and taught them the rest of lesson one. They said they already feel like this church is the true church, and once they get an answer about the Book of Mormon, they'll get baptized!!!!! It was a miracle! And Sarah met with the hospital pastor and told him she was going to become a member of the Mormon church and he got mad at her but she stood her ground!!! It was so amazing!! She should be out of the hospital this week and we're hoping to put her and Jeff on a baptismal date! I wish I could list all the miracles we see every day but alas this e-mail would be SUPER long. Please know that this work is not easy! I definitely have my days and it's very hard here, but I have found that when you look for the positive and the miracles in things, life's not so hard! And it's all totally worth it!

 

Soooooo, Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to speak to our mission and part of the Denver South Mission last Thursday. He was accompanied by Elder's Christiansen and Martino of the Seventy. Oh. My. GOODNESS!!! It changed my life and my mission! We all thought it would be 3 hours of Elder Bednar talking and chastising us but it wasn't! He taught us just as Jesus Christ teaches in the New Testament. He asked lots of questions and we asked lots of questions. And he taught us through the power of the Holy Ghost. He kept emphasizing that the only time we could take notes is if we felt prompted by the Holy Ghost, for he said the Holy Ghost is the ultimate teacher. At the very end, he told us that the pattern of the meeting is the way we should teach people! He said that missionary work is not talking and telling. It's listening, asking questions, and teaching in a way that the Holy Ghost can testify. And giving commitments! He also talked a lot about agency. He said to please not define it as the power to choose, because that's not it at all. Agency is the ability to act and to NOT be acted upon. When we enter into covenants with God, it's not a matter of choosing to obey or not to obey commandments. When we are baptized and make other covenants with God we are going from personal agency to representative agency and the only thing we choose is giving our will up to God. We don't have a choice to obey or disobey commandments! Because we've entered into covenants with God, when we disobey we're breaking covenants. And that's serious stuff! When he told us that, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It made me think a lot about my own agency and how I've been looking at this all wrong. He also said that I/we cannot determine the success of our mission. This is God's work and He determines the success. That's very different from what the world would teach us but it makes so much sense! The only thing I can control is myself! And whether I act or am acted upon. He said to just be good, work hard, do my best, and quit worrying about the success or how things turn out or if/when I get a baptism. He said the only thing hard about life is NOT living the gospel! So true! When we don't live it, we're unhappy because we're breaking covenants we've made with God! He also talked a lot about faith, the Holy Ghost, and a few other things. Something that he said at the end really struck me: He said to always look to the brethren, especially in the future and with future things to come. So, I would pass on that counsel to all of you! Don't get caught up in what the world says, ALWAYS look to the brethren!

 

Well, I'd better wrap it up. I'll leave you all with a quote from Elder Bednar to ponder: "We properly pray for the safety and success of the full-time missionaries throughout the world. And a common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will be led to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people to teach. Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!"

 

Love you all so much and God bless you! Have a wonderful week!"