“A Vision of the South,” a prophecy from President Spencer W. Kimball. “Make no small plans: They have no magic to stir men’s souls. This is the vision I have for the South. I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the Church than all other English-speaking missions in the world together. There are great hosts of marvelous Baptists, members of the Church of Christ, Methodists, and Catholics who are honorable people, and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love him. As they see the church veering off to the right or to the left of those basic teachings, they will begin to search for the truth; and as pivotal teachers come into the church and have influence they will see the time when we will baptize hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands, in your day you will see a million members of the church in the South. There will be temples plural in the South States. What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people. The missionaries love the South. We are making great strides and expect to continue.”
I feel so lucky to be able to assist in the work here in Louisiana! Let me just give you a couple examples to show you how true this prophecy is. This week was really good, we met this lady named Latricia. Her daughter Gabrielle had ordered a Bible online so we were stopping by to deliver it. We met her mom instead and ended up talking to her. This woman's faith was like nothing I had ever seen before. But the cool thing was is that as I stood there with her I could feel that my faith lever matched hers. By the way if you ever want to grow your faith spend some time in the south, they sure know what they are doing. Any ways we talked to her about the Bible and about how much our God loves us and how aware He is of us. It set the perfect setting for us to talk about the First Vision and then support it with the Book of Mormon. She was very skeptical because she is so solid in her beliefs and she has already been saved... in 2006 she said she fell to the ground so she knows that it’s legitimate, you can tell that the spirit really has impacted her life. It made me just yearn for her to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. Quick tangent we have a recent convert Frances who testifies how different it is to actually have the gift and to just be influenced by the Holy Ghost she says that its the greatest blessing in her life! Back to Latricia though she was very protective of the beliefs she has. I would ask her if she believed God could talk to us more or reach out to us once again and every time she would agree and just go on for 5 minutes about how we cannot even think about limiting God! But then she would turn away the thought of another book of scripture. I just look at her and think one day you will understand! I am just grateful for God's hand in the work and that it’s just my job to present it in a way people can feel the spirit, and I mean the spirit was there strong! She loved us and after some more teaching and a lovely prayer she said we could come back and talk to her and her family again. So I pray that she will recognize the need for the additional light and truth that is now in her hands.
We met Ms. Foote this week! Its Sister Neill Foote Marriot's (the second counselor int he General YW Presidency) mother. She is 92 and very Methodist, she was absolutely darling. We shared the scripture St John 14:27. It talks about peace. The peace that Jesus promised us. I love how it explains that it is not how the world gives it. But peace only comes from Him, I have felt so much peace in my life this week. I love that feeling because just like that scripture says peace doesn't come from the world so when we feel it we can know its from HIM.
Pop went and picked lemons and bought an electric lemon juicer, he asked if we could help him out and to juice the lemons for him. We had a blast! Sister Langford would squeeze while I read to her from the scriptures and then we would switch off! So much acid in the hang nails. We probably squeezed 100 lemons. I had to give up 2 of my kitties. It was so sad! Shadrach and Abed-nego headed off to Lake Charles to the Green's son, Andre's house. So no we are down to 3 cats. Its interesting how much I love these cats haha.
We met this really nice lady named Alice. The lady has 9 grandkids under the age of 10 living with her. She has a total of 40 grand kids. I just can't imagine living a life in the way that she is. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have been raised in the gospel with an understanding of the importance of families and the role of a family. If we can just keep on the path all will be well. Sister Langford and I have had some of the most spiritual studies of our lives this week. We were studying the Atonement yesterday and it just rested too heavy on us. Not a bad heavy but a heavy that lets you know it’s there. Almost like a thick Mexican blanket laying on your shoulders. Just heavy enough to let you know it is constantly there. Which reminds me we had this crazy deep and lovely lesson with our Less Active, Carol! She has really been struggling with realizing that she isn't living up to a lot of the things she knows. But it’s really cool how the new year changes peoples initiative. Our visit with her was so spiritual and uplifting that she just knew the time was right. It was really cool because I really developed a testimony in the Lord's timing. I have been seeing this lady for 4 months and nothing has really ever fully hit her at home. But we went in prayerfully and after the lesson I realized how bad she needed Sister Langford and I specifically but not just that, she needed the companionship study that we had had just 2 days prior. It was like God was placing us together and having us study and learn something and then it wasn't until she was ready but because of the placement timing and knowledge she is ready to CHANGE! Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, Praise the Lord, Amen. Brotha and Sista Church Church.
THE GOODS: On Saturday night, Sister Langford and I were SUPER hungry, so we decided to go out to eat. We decided to eat at the "Louisiana-Esque Kitchen" place called Copelands, and it was great. I had crab ravioli, and She had Basil/tomatoes/grilled chicken/cheese/marinara stuff? I don't know, but it was good. When we got there, they told us we would have to wait 10-15 minutes UNLESS we wanted to eat in the free-lounge. So naturally, we were innocent and hungry, and we were like yeah sure, we will eat there! YEAH we found out a little late that that was the bar. We were seated at a booth far from it, but still. PLUS Sister Langford forgot her name tag that day so...it was just awkward. The people were pretty shocked when we ordered waters, and were STILL happily chatting. NOTE TO SELF: In Louisiana, they forget to care about carding you. Once again, keep that in mind when y'all come to visit ;)
Anyways I sure love y'all!
It has been one full week without fear and let me just tell you I am living the life! Don't forget to give something up for 40 days it’s amazing the changes its made in me just in a full week. God Bless and have a nice day!
Sister Macey Kerr
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