Amusement Park Flashbacks

Hey Everyone!

So this past week has definitely been a rOlLeR cOaStEr! Which isn't too surprising, since everyday in mission life is NEVER what you expect or plan for it to be. But instead of the normal "Splash Mountain" kind of days or the occasional "Pirates of the Carribean" excitement, this past week was a little bit more like the one time that my friend Emily and I spent @ Santa's Workshop riding the "Tilt-or-Whirl" a whopping 8 TIMES IN A ROW. Wooof. I hope you can all visualize that beautifully now :)

But General Conference was EXACTLY the "funnel cake" or "cotton candy" pick-me-up that I needed! I LOVED Elder Holland's talk in the Saturday Morning Session. It was one of those talks that just resonates in my mind and mainly because I was able to put it into action literally hours after it was given.

As Missionaries, it is pretty common for us to meet the occasional "Bible Basher" or "Mormon-hater". Especially here in SD where everyone did their research with Mitt Rommey and most likely found their information on "less reliable" resources. After awhile you just learn to brush it off your shoulders. But this past Saturday, my faith was truly tested!

Sister Mims and I had decided to go to the park and chalk out some quotes and as we were there this man walked up to us and started asking us about what we were doing. We started talking about Christ and he was so happy to see young people sharing their faith in Christ. But then I asked him if he had heard about the Book of Mormon or knew anyone that was LDS and that is when things started to get interesting. He was a very intellectual man and started listing all the reasons why he couldn't believe in our religion just like the normal bible-bashers. But then he started to get in my face......and a year ago....maybe even a day earlier...I would have definitely not reacted the way I did.

He started telling me that I have a "bad seed" planted in my heart and that our church just takes the truth and twists it. He even told me to "graduate high school and move on to college" in my religious views. But the whole time he was talking to me, the words of Elder Holland just kept replying over and over and OVER again in my mind. When he finally took a breath, with all my heart and energy that I could muster, I just stood up for my beliefs and bore my testimony with all the power and authority that I have as a set-apart Representative of our Savior Jesus Christ. After I finished talking, I realized that I was shaking the Spirit was pumping through me so powerfully! I could tell in his eyes that he felt the truth that I was testifying of and that he felt the Spirit just as strongly as I did. After a second though, he blinked and that light was extinguished from inside of him and he used his agency to deny the power he felt. I left him with a mormon.org card and invited him to check it out if he has any more questions and that was that.

After that experience, I feel like my testimony and faith in this Gospel is even stronger and more powerful than before! I am SO grateful to have a modern day and living Prophet on the earth today and I am SO grateful for the truth that I have in my heart. This Church is TRUE and Jesus Christ is coming faster than we think! SO continue to "Defend your faith and defend your God"! He WILL bless you!

I love you all!
xoxo Sister Morgan