Crocodiles In Our Lives

Not too much has happened this week, but it has been a good one!

We've got 3 investigators that I think have so much potential! I’m so excited to continue to work with them and help them learn more about their savior!!

First we have a lady named Leila. We met her one day when we were just walking down the street. We shared the plan of salvation with her and her mother and they loved it! We've taught them the restoration as well. She is 30 years old and has been recently divorced and is still trying to get back into the swing of things. Our last visit with her we talked about courage. We shared the Mormon message about Esther. If you haven’t seen this video I would highly encourage that you watch it. It’s mainly for women but I love it! It talks about the courage Esther had, then gives three examples of women today. Super good!! But Leila loved the video and I think it helped her a lot. We are hoping to continue to work with her this week.

Next is Luci, we are still working with her and helping her to feel more comfortable with things. She came to church with us yesterday and participated so much! She loves it! She’s progressing every day. She tells us that she shares our messages with everyone at her school and shares the book of Mormon as well. Ha she isn't even a member but is already a missionary! I love it!

One of our investigators, Val, decided to show more of an interest this week. She is six months pregnant and her husband is away working a lot right now so she gets pretty lonely sometimes. She is neighbors with Luci. We went and talked to her about the book of Mormon again. Ha, it was a funny conversation. I guess there is a group of people that has a name similar to Mormon that did human sacrifices and painted their faces and stuff so she was a little skeptical about the book of Mormon for this reason. She thought we did the same rituals. But we explained everything to her ha. She even came to church with us yesterday and really enjoyed it! So hopefully she will continue to progress!

We have lots of people we've been trying to contact but haven’t had a lot of luck so we just keep trying! We ran into one of the less active members this week which was great! He lives really far out so it’s hard to visit him so it was perfect that we ran into him! He has a really strong desire to return to the church and asked for our help so we are trying out best ha. Our phone doesn’t have any more credits on it right now so it’s a little challenging at times but it’s all working out :)

You’re probably wondering about the title of this email. Crocodiles in our lives. Let me explain. Last Friday we had an activity with the ward. We started off by asking them a bunch or random questions. When they would get them wrong, one person would have to do push-ups to pay for their errors. In the end we talked about the atonement and how Jesus Christ paid for our errors. I told a story that my companion in the MTC told me

One day there was a little boy playing in a swamp near his house. His mom was watching him through the window. When she looked out the window she saw a crocodile on the other side of the lake headed towards the boy. She hurried and ran out trying to get the boys attention before the crocodile got to him. The mother reached the boy the same time the crocodile did. The mother grabbed the boy’s arms as the crocodile grabbed the boy’s legs. She fought for the boy. Not giving up, she was finally able to pull him to safety.

Years later this same boy was on a talk show sharing his story with the world. The host and audience of the show asked to see his scars on his legs, but they boy wouldn't show them. He said the scars on my legs aren’t important. The scars on my arms are what matter. The fact that my mother wasn't willing to let the crocodile take me. My mother fought for me and pulled me to safety. She saved me.

Many times in our lives, we have crocodiles at our legs trying to pull us down and it can be very easy to let him. But we must always remember we have a savior. He is there waiting for us to reach up and take his hand. He is there to pull us to safety. So when life gets hard, look for the scars on your arms. And always remember that there is always someone to help you.

I am so grateful for my savior. I’m so grateful that I am able to repent for my sins and become clean. I know that he suffered for my sins. But he also suffered for our weaknesses, our failures, when we are feeling sad or depressed, when we feel weak and feel like we can’t move on. He knows exactly how we are feeling. He is there to lift us up and get us back on our feet. We should always remember him.

Have a fabulous week!

Sister Steadman