Lord, save me

Hello everyone, how's it going? This email is really long so I'll just jump right in. On Tuesday morning Sister Cook picked us up to take us to Pocahontas for district meeting. On the way out there she noticed a woman sitting on the side of the highway in the freezing cold and brutal wind. Sister cook whipped the car around and offered the woman a ride. She was trying to get back to Paragould to see her kids and had been walking for like two days. Sister Cook is such a good missionary. She explained the restoration to the woman and we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. On Tuesday night sister hall and I took a trip out to Jonesboro. We jammed to mo tab the whole way. We stopped in Brookland to see a less active sister in the branch. She has been sick for about a month. We called her the other day and told her we would pray for her. When we saw her that night she said, "y'all must have prayed for me because the morning after you called I felt so much better". Prayers are answered. The first thing we did after studies and lunch on Wednesday was go to visit a member of the branch and his mom. His mom was really nice but wasn't interested in learning about the church. We told the member that we had missed him at church recently and he told us that he wanted to have his records removed from the church. Long story short, he had so many out of this world ideas about life and God and the gospel. At one point he said that Noah (like Noah and the ark) was an alien. He also asked sister hall if Obama was a part of her patriarchal line. So, that was wild. The day got better after that though. We have been teaching this man, Charlie and his wife Tina. We found Charlie a couple of weeks ago, which was a miracle. We were looking for a potential investigator in our area book and they weren't home, so we tried the house next door. Charlie answered and said that he had been baptized 35 years ago into the church and that we could come back sometime. So, on Wednesday we had a lesson with them which was SO good. We talked about Jesus Christ and His atonement and the spirit was so strong I started to get weepy a couple of times. Charlie shared with us that 35 years ago (before he was baptized), he went through the hardest time and the lowest low of his life. He said he prayed one night and pleaded with Heavenly Father to help him and that the next morning the missionaries showed up at his door. He told us that it has been a similar situation recently as he has been feeling in a rut and asking God for guidance. And then we showed up at his door after 30 years of no contact with the church. Charlie said that he has the same warm feelings now that he had 35 years ago. Stuff like that makes you realize how aware our Heavenly Father truly is of each of His children. "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?" (Matthew 18:11-12). Thursday was a really slow day overall but we did have a miracle! Most of the day we tried so hard to have lessons with our investigators and less actives but everyone was busy, not home, etc. We tried everyone. Multiple times. Anyways, the other day brother VanFleet told us that he had met a couple of Marshallese women at a gas station on Kingshighway. They asked him if he was Mormon and when he told them he was, they said they wanted to come to church. He gave them his number so that they could call for a ride to Book of Mormon class on Wednesday, but they never ended up calling. Brother VanFleet didn't really know where they lived besides an apartment complex within walking distance of the laundromat on Kingshighway. So, sister hall and I decided we would try to go find them. We drove up and down Kings and only saw one apartment complex, so we decided to try it. We walked around the front part of the complex trying to look for signs of Marshallese life. We didn't feel that we should try knocking any of the doors on that side of the building so we began working our way towards the back. As we did, we saw a woman walking down from the upstairs apartments. We asked her if she knew a woman named Norma. She pointed to herself and said "that's me". We were shocked. We had prayed for Heavenly Father to help us find them. I guess we just didn't expect to find them that fast! The highlight of Friday was that brother Les and Ma fed us steak and baked potatoes for lunch (which is actually called dinner in the south apparently). I don't think I've had steak sense I've left home. It was soooo good. We talked about the Bible and Jesus and had a good time. It's cool to be able to feel the spirit with people from other denominations when you're talking about true doctrine. We have had a lot of lessons with Richard this week. In one of them we read Mathew 7:24-27 which says, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it". I love these verse and the principle of building yourself a firm foundation to support you in trial and against temptation. We talked about how studying the scriptures, praying, coming to church, getting baptized, etc. all build our foundation in Christ. I asked Richard why he wanted to follow Jesus Christ. He said it was because of everything He has done for him and that Jesus is like the ladder between him and heaven. We talked about how Jesus has asked us to follow Him and be baptized (2 Nephi 9:23). In response to the subject of baptism Richard said, "we will see" and he keeps saying "maybe next time" whenever he doesn't keep a commitment that we extend. I testified to him that I KNOW what it's like to always say, "we will see" and "maybe next time" ("Maybe next time I'll do better. Maybe tomorrow I'll change. Maybe someday I'll repent. We will see") and how miserable it is to live that way. That you just have to decided, "enough is enough" and that TODAY is the day you're going to change. Now is the time to repent and be better. From now on you'll follow Jesus Christ and never look back. I have been thinking about the atonement a lot this week. This morning I read in Mathew 14 where Jesus walks on the sea and the disciples are afraid when they see him. The verses read, "But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matthew 14:27-31). I like to think of the wind and waves that caused Peter to sink as sin, fear and doubt. As Peter began to sink he cries, "Lord, save me". There's no phrase, in my opinion, that better illustrates our plea to the Savior as we drown in the sorrow of sin. And immediately Jesus stretches forth His hand and pulls us out, where we would otherwise sink. A few things that I've learned about the atonement are 1. "His hand is stretched out still" (2 Nephi 15:25) 2. "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more" (D&C 58:42) 3. Although we can be fully forgiven of our sins, the consequences of our actions don't always go away immediately. Like Peter, after being pulled out of the water, was presumably still wet and cold. BUT, he was no longer drowning. I am so thankful for the atonement. 

The highlight of this week was that Charlie and Tina came to church!!!!!!!! 

I love y'all and I want you to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. The atonement is real. Use it everyday, everyday, everyday!

Much love,

Sister Bailey Guthrie

PICS

Marshallese dresses
Marshallese flag
Marshallese food
More compi
The district 3

Throwback to face timing my fam