Sore Butts and Tan Lines

Howdy, howdy! 

Here's some Michigan facts for ya'!

There are no mountains. None. They don't exist.

All that you see in the distance is trees and sky.

That's it. No mountains.

Michigan is flat as a board, or so I thought.

Michigan may have 0 mountains, but it is definitely not flat.

How do I know that?

I WAS ON A BIKE ALL WEEK!!!

Yah, so Sister Taylor and I get lost all the time.

ALL THE TIME.

Now we're out of miles for the month. 

Luckily Elder Hart let us borrow his bike and a family in the ward let us borrow one of theirs.

My butt has been so sore and I have a really cute shoe tan line.

Now it looks like I have permanent shoes.

Yah, so bikes.

It's been real fun.

My thighs are screaming and so are my buns, but we've seen so many miracles and it's been so worth it. 

We taught 13 lessons this week.

13!

Our goal was 8.

It was all the Spirit baby!

I love that guy! 

Here's some fun times we've had: 

-One day we went 5 miles south.

Or, we were going to.

It was more like 6.

We missed our turn (which is super normal for us) which we would have known if our GPS worked.

It only works when it's plugged in.

We found out we missed our turn when we got to the border of our area.

So, we turned around and went back. It had to be a mile away from our turn.

On our way back we missed the turn again. Yup.

Don't worry. We found it.

Then we rode around the apartment complex for about a mile knocking on members and less actives doors.

No one home.

So we rode 5 miles home.

Well, more than that because guess what.

We got out on the wrong side of the complex and rode half way around it until we knew where we were going, which again, wouldn't be a problem if we had a working GPS instead of hand written directions.

We were tired.

I was mildly upset.

I said a prayer.

I asked that we could meet someone on the way home that would make it all worth it.

I said "amen" and guess what.

There he was.

God sent him.

We had to talk to him.

So, what did I do?

I rode past him. Yup.

I rode past him. I did. SO STUPID!

I thought, "nah, not him, he doesn't need this"

YES HE DOES! EVERYONE NEEDS THE GOSPEL! UGH!!!!
SISTER HEYWOOD WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!

I immediately repented. And when I said "amen" I saw him.

There he was.

God sent him.

We had to talk to him.

So, what did I do?

I stopped. We talked to him. We had an awesome lesson. A good solid lesson!

He's not interested in learning more, but he was very grateful and we felt good.

He'll be converted one day. :) 

-The next night we were riding all day. We had already found an investigator, so that was cool.

Now it was getting dark. Real dark. We needed to head home soon.

We were on a street we felt inspired to go to and hadn't found anyone.

Sister Taylor was in front of me. Way in front of me.

I saw a house.

 

"Knock on it."

 

No. No. We need to get home. The sun is almost gone and Sister Taylor is way up there with her huge calves bulging and legs working to get up the hill (her calves are so huge! I want them.)

"Knock on that door."

No. No.  We need to get home. The sun is almost gone and Sister Taylor is way up there with her huge calves bulging and legs working to get up the hill.

What was I doing.

Why was I being so stupid.

"Kay, I'll do it. This is the last door. Just this one before we go home."

I called to Sister Taylor, she turned around, we knocked on the door, got some water and a new investigator.

The Spirit is amazing. I'm really working on trying to listen to every Spiritual prompting I receive and then using the Spirit to give me strength and courage to do what he asks. 

Listen to the Spirit. I promise you won't regret it. 

(Let me interject here, a lady at the library just asked if I was ok because I don't have a jacket on and it's getting cold. I don't know if she was seeing if my temperature is ok or if my sanity is ok.) 

-One more miracle:

We were going to see a less-active then another after that.

On the way to the first I felt like we should go to the second, so we turned around.

We met a guy at the bus stop.

He was so excited about the Book of Mormon and said he's going to read it.

SCORE!!!

We were so excited that we forgot to get his number and address.

Hopefully he gives us a call. He has our card. :)

I studied something really cool this morning.

Leviticus.

Have you ever read Leviticus. I don't think I have. That was probably the year in seminary I didn't get stake honors.

I just read the first two chapters today, but I found a cool scripture in one of the cross references.

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Be ye therefore ^afollowers of God, as dear children;

 2 And ^awalk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an ^boffering and a ^csacrifice to God for a sweet smelling ^dsavour.

I love that.

"Be ye FOLLOWERS of God."

Following takes work.

Faith without works is dead.

You can say, yah I believe in Christ. I believe in his commandments.

But it's not enough to say so. You have to pick up your feet and walk.

Are you a follower of Christ or an observer of Christ.

BE A FOLLOWER!

NOT and innocent by stander, carelessly watching others choose the right.

It's like the game follow the leader or Simon Says. You don't follow, you're out. You lose.

You don't follow Christ, you’re out, you lose. That sounds mean, but it's true. I want to win. I want to be in the Celestial Kingdom (or the cool kids table as one of our investigators calls it). I want you to be there too.

If that means you have to throw away immodest clothing, do it. If  you have to replace the F-bomb with some more dignified language, DO IT! If you have to quit using drugs or drinking alcohol. Do it.  

Repent if you mess up.

Something I thought about today was that we have to repent.

But don't repent because you aren't perfect. Repent because you want to be perfect. 

Mosiah 1:

Search the scriptures and keep the commandments and the Lord will bless you.

You will receive exaltation (v7).

 

BUT if you will not do those things, you will become week and fall into destruction (v13).

 

This is WHY we need to be followers of Christ. To avoid destruction and to live with God again. 

Mosiah 2:

Serve. Serve. Serve.

That's all I can say. You are blessed when you do, so do it.

If you're a leader, labor with everyone. Don't just tell them what to do and sit back and relax.

God doesn't do that.

This whole week on my bike I thought about my mom teaching her cycle classes. I imagined her sitting on her bike saying, "Come on push! Let's tap up that resistance just a little more! Ok, get your butt out of that seat and go! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Good job guys!"

Then I imagined God saying, "Come on push! Let's get up this hill. Get your butt out of the seat and go! You can do it! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Good job Sister Heywood!" I felt Him riding next to me, just like my mom rides with her class.

Did I want to get off my bike and sit on the side walk and cry?

You bet I did.

At one point I almost did.

But guess what guys. I felt God riding next to me. Smiling and laughing with me and pushing me on. I know He was there. It's silly, but He was.

God is with us. He loves us.

Because He loves us He has given us the Book of Mormon and restored His church through a prophet.

I know this to be true with all my heart.

I love you all!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Heywood