Hello!
Did
I mention recently how much I LOVE serving the Lord? How wonderful it
really is? How many miracles we see each day? How blessed we are to be a
part of this work? That the church is totally true? In case I
haven't... I LOVE MY LIFE. Seriously! This week was FANTASTIC! Father
in Heaven never ceases to amaze me with how involved He is in this work
and what a sacred opportunity it is that we have the blessing of being a
part of. Life sure is good.
I spent the past week in a new area. Maplewood 2
East. Right next to the area that I spent over a year in (Hermann
Park). They border one another! We attended the same church building
and it felt so good to be back! To see the people and enjoy the area
again! :) It sure does hold a special place in my heart! It's been a
blessing to be here. But now my "special assignment" is over and it is
time to return to Alief! Which will be wonderful, as always! Life is
just too good and too easy serving together here. And I know that
sounds strange... but it's true. And we both know that missions are to
stretch us and help us grow and together, life is just too good. But we
sure did appreciate the little "tender mercy" from the Lord to get to
serve together for a week! I learned a ton from Sister. Draper and a
lot about how I can better serve. :) Love the work.
We met with an active sister this past week and it
was a very eye opening and "scary" lesson. She is struggling with her
testimony big time. And it was really sad to sit and listen to her
express her concerns and doubts. We couldn't say anything to make it
better. She isn't willing to listen. She was polite but definitely
didn't want us there. She is a kind lady, raising 2 kids and married to
a return missionary (who is also struggling). We were both heart
broken for her and just pray she won't allow her doubts to crowd out her
faith on the principles she does know to be true. It reminded me of
President Uchtdorft's talk in the past general conference that we must
"doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith". A wonderful reminder and
example that I experienced this past week. We are all going to have
questions and doubts and wonder sometimes, that is how it works. It's
what we do with all of those that truly matters though. We must turn to
God and seek answers to our questions and not turn away from God during
those times of need. Jospeh Smith was the perfect example in this
matter. He had tons of questions, turned to God for truth, and received
so much revelation. And so can we. Doubt your doubts. Not your
faith.
I met an inspiring couple this past week. They are
both from a Middle Eastern country where they were raised strict Muslim.
The kind of Muslim where you don't change your religion, or you will
be killed, along with your family. Think about that. Your life. On
the line. And your family. As we talked with them about why they
decided to join the church, even though their lives and the lives of
their family back home are at stake, they expressed a powerful and
simple testimony. The love of God. They said they didn't know that God
loved them. They didn't know He cared about them as individuals and
that He knew each of them by name. They had no clue that God is a God
of LOVE. No idea. As they began meeting with missionaries, they felt
this love for the first time in their lives. That love of God.
Powerful. And they still risk their lives each Sunday
as they come to church. They hide their church materials in their
dresser drawers among their clothes and this they do because they love
God and they now know that God loves them.
We street contacted/OYM'd (Open Your Mouth) Zack
this week. He was a man of faith in God. He was telling us all about
how he goes around serving people and started telling us about how he
helped this old lady across the street one day. He said "I parked my
Cadillac in the middle of the road and helped that lady across the
street". We both were a little confused when he said "Cadillac" due to
the fact that his bicycle was 3 feet away from all of us. And then at
once we realized that he was referring to his bike as the "Cadillac".
We both had to hold back from laughing out loud! People say the
funniest things! :)
I got to see Elder and Sister Owens this past week!
Since I am in the same building as the Hermann Park Ward, I saw a few
of the members throughout the week and the Owens were one of them! Once
again, so good to be with them again! To "catch up" and to "reminisce"
on the times we had! I sure do love those two! Their examples and
charity have meant all the world to me! All the world. And eternity!
:) To infinity and beyond! :) (That's Toy Story, right?... Hmm... I'm a
little separated from "the world", can you tell?... haha... and the
best part is that I LOVE it)
Speaking of being separated from the world! Best
thing ever! Except when you go the Houston Rodeo and you get THROWN
right back into the world! But hey, we can still be in the world, as
long as we aren't of the world. Phew! So... the HOUSTON RODEO! So
much fun! On Saturday
the Knight's took us to the rodeo! They are a young couple in the
ward. She is a member and he is a non-member. They are wonderful! :)
The bought us tickets and spoiled us rotten! Really. Spoiled us
rotten. We had tons of yummy food! Including fried pickles, cowboy
burritos, fresh squeezed lemonade and my all time favorite was the fried
cookie dough! Seriously! So good! Don't knock it until you try it!
SO GOOD! Yum. We rode the Ferris Wheel! It was Sister. Draper's
first time on a Ferris wheel and needless to say she was a little
anxious... and since we're being honest... so was I! So it was a riot!
We laughed ourselves silly and by the end, we were thankful for solid
ground! :) The actual rodeo was awesome as well! There were
contestants from Utah even! So that was pretty cool! Represent! :) My
favorite part was the Mutton Busting! Little 3 to 5 year old kids ride
a sheep and whoever stays on the longest or "rides the sheep" the best
wins! It was adorable! :) We had a wonderful time! :) I also got to
see the Patterson's (a super awesome young couple) from Hermann Park
Ward! Which was awesome, of course! :) The day was great, but the best
part was the missionary miracle we had! We of course prayed to have a
missionary opportunity while at the rodeo and has our bags loaded with
copies of The Book of Mormon and whatever else we would need. We were
walking through the display booths and a man came up behind us and said
"sisters, do you have a Book of Mormon". We found out that Brother.
Randall is a member from Georgia and here with his daughter and son in
law. His daughter went inactive when she married her husband (Mike).
Brother. Randall's daughter and Mike are going through a rough time and
so she asked her father (B. Randall) to give her a blessing.
Afterwards, Mike (non-member) asked if he could have one as well. He
had never had a Priesthood blessing before and by the end of it, he was
in tears. He asked "what was that?". Brother. Randall and Mike spent an
hour talking about it. Mike said it felt as if somebody reached down
and wrapped his arms around him. He had never felt anything like that
before in his life. Brother. Randall said that since then, all Mike
wants to talk about is God. Mike and Brother. Randall were sitting at
their booth when they saw us walk by. Mike pointed us out to Brother.
Randall and Brother. Randall chased us down and asked us for a copy of
The Book of Mormon. We gave Brother. Randall a copy of The Book of
Mormon and by the end of our conversation he gave it back to us and said
"actually, can you go and give this to Mike?". We of course said YES!
So we did. Mike told us about the blessing and tears welled us in his
eyes as he explained feeling the Spirit for the first time. He was so
excited to read The Book of Mormon and said "at this point I don't even
want to be here at the rodeo, I just want to go home and start taking
the missionary discussions and feel the Spirit more in my life". He
said when he married his wife he thought he was "saving" her from her
religion but now he sees that she was just "rebelling" and she is ready
to go back now and he is prepared to accept the Gospel. My friends, The
Church Is True. God is real. Miracles happen.
With Love,
Sister Kunzler
Serving My Lord
Petting The Goats at the Rodeo!
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