Kallie

Hello y'all! 

This past week I have focused a lot on Faith and the importance of the Book of Mormon. As I read in Mosiah 5:7 it said "your hearts are changed through faith on his name..." We are only going to change if we have that faith, as well as the desire to change. God works by power, but his power is usually exercised in response to OUR faith. 

We increase our faith in Jesus Christ through actions. As we choose to keep the commandments and to act on the things we feel are right, we will increase our faith. We have all gone through trials and will continue to go through them. I have seen my faith in Jesus Christ grow as I have relyed on him for help through prayer, scripture study, and attending church.

I read on a little further in The Chapter and the 12 verse says "I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you." That really stood out to me because sometimes people don't know Christ, or have the desire to learn who he is, but still expect him to help them through those hard times without putting any effort forward. It reminds me of a story where three men are brought into a room, the man who is interviewing them asked them all a simple question, "who is Jesus Christ? The first man said "oh he died for our sins, he is our older brother" the man said correct, go into this door. The next man came in and the same question was asked. He responded "he is the messiah, he wants us to live with him again" he said correct go into this door. The third man came into the room and dropped to his knees and said " my Lord, My God!" We all need to be able to be like the third man, and recognize Jesus Christ when he comes, by doing so we will recognize him and his voice. 

Being a missionary can defiantly be hard but, I have started to discover  my faith increase when I decide to study the scriptures, I have the opportunity to study them for 2 hours, they are precious hours that help me dedicate that time to the Lord. While I strengthen my love for the gospel it has helped me strengthen my faith. It has also allowed me to understand the doctrines of the gospel on a missionary level. 

The best way I have found to learn about the gospel  is to seek to do as Jesus did. As a missionary we need to Be friendly with everyone we meet. Go the extra mile and help people beyond what is expected, service!!!! Service is a great way to show people service and love. As a missionary you learn to love people on a deeper level, Christlike charity shines through Us  and we find the strength that we need to continue to allow his Light shine and faith grow. I've found that seeking to do God's will and striving to live like Jesus Christ taught us to live, has allowed me to grow each and every day! 

Sister Buckner and I are doing great things here in Harrisburg, we love the work and are doing great things. We have recently started working with an investigator named Naroo. We met Naroo on Saturday and started talking about

the Book of Mormon and how it can bless our life. We invited him to church and he came. He originally met the Elders the week before and we happened to run into him and teach him. He loved church as well. We met with him after church and invited him to be baptized. He said he would be baptized if he knew it was true. We also met Maria. We picked Maria,  one of our former investigators, she came once to sacrament with her baby Amy in April. She was happy to see us and glad to be working with us again. She is in a much better place now to investigate and learn more. 

I hope you all have a blessed week, remember to trust in God and his timing. It may be hard, but I promise it will all be worth it! 

With Love,

Sister McCulloch