Hello Again My Dear Family,
Happy Anniversary
to Brent and Kyleen this week! I love your sweet family and you are all
blessings in my life and I admire you and your love toward one another
and the joy you have in being a family and learning and growing
together. Thank you for setting an example of the blessings of a temple
marriage and living in a way that shows the gospel truly blesses
families. Love you and congrats!
We had another wonderful baptism this weekend...two
baptisms! The sweet twin sisters Cheyenne and Sierra got baptized and it
was so sweet. There were a lot of family that came to support them that
aren't members or have fallen away and the spirit was there so strongly
that many hearts were touched. It is incredible to see two sweet children
come with such faith and want to be baptized. The girls asked me to sing
and so I thought it fitting to sing "I Am A Child of God." The Lord
blessed me with a clear voice and the spirit of the message was
definitely felt. After they were baptized they both wanted to get up and
say how they felt and with a beaming smile Sierra stood and said, "When
I was baptized I felt so happy!" And her sister Cheyenne stood and
smiling said, "When I was baptized I felt clean." Simple statements but
it was hard not to wipe away a few tears as they said it with such joy
and the happiness of being clean and following the example of Jesus
Christ was clear in their countenances. It was a wonderful day! I am
very lucky! I have already seen four baptisms in my first five weeks! Other
missionaries who have been here 14-16 months have maybe seen two or three...and if the other four we have with a date all get baptized in September
I will have seen 8 in my first two months of my mission. I am so lucky
and so blessed and it is an amazing thing to see and great experience in
teaching all of the lessons so often. I pray and have faith that this
has set the bar for my mission and it will be hard...but possible, to
keep this going throughout the next 16 months! I'm gonna exercise my
faith!! = )
In other good news...remember Michelle? The woman I
chatted with online in the MTC the very first time I had a real chat?
She wrote this week and told me that she is getting baptized on Sept.
2nd!!! Wahoo!!! Miracles! I am so excited for her and her sweet family
that will be sealed in the temple in a year! Oh what blessings are in
store for them!
I'd like to share something I realized in a lesson this
week as I taught a mother and daughter about the Plan of Salvation and
the Atonement. As we taught, Kim (the mother) asked, "Do you ever feel
like you just don't deserve this? Like you're not worth it?" I testified
to her that indeed she was. I recalled the scripture I had read in the
temple the day before, Isaiah 53:6 & 7. I'll just share 7 for
now..."He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." The Savior was
absolutely and completely perfect. He was betrayed, spat upon, reviled,
bruised, beaten, broken....all innocently. He being perfect came
innocently as a lamb. It says "as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb..." Sheep come to the shearers innocently. Lambs come to the
slaughter innocently....NOT knowing what is about to happen to them.
Jesus Christ came just as innocently, but the difference is...he KNEW
what was about to happen to him....he knew what he would suffer but did
not turn away....he came and opened not his mouth. Would he have done
that if you weren't worth it? All this he did BECAUSE you indeed are
worth it. Even if it was only you who needed saving...only you he needed
to die for...he still would have done it...because the worth of EVERY
soul is great in the sight of God. You are His daughter, and He wants
you back...he wants you to come home and so He provided a way for every
single one of his children to come back. The spirit was so strong in the
room and tears filled her eyes and she could not speak enough to say
the closing prayer as she realized how much her Father in Heaven and
Jesus Christ love her. She text us later and simply said, "Thank you
sisters for being a blessing in my life." She finally came to church and
was as happy as could be and called us her angels = ) I can't wait to
see her and her daughter baptized on September 8th. Their dad was just
baptized about a month ago....he is receiving the priesthood to baptize
them, the whole family will now be baptized, and in a year I'll get to
see them be sealed in the temple!!! It's gonna happen! So wonderful! But
I had a new insight to the Atonement that day as I thought about the
difference between the sheep coming not knowing, and Christ coming and
knowing. I truly stand all amazed. I love my Savior and Redeemer.
Without Him I would have no hope. For that I will forever be indebted
and grateful to him and I pray that my life will always point to Him who
showed the greatest love of all.
I love you all, the work is moving forward! What can
you do this week to help build up the kingdom?! Go and do! Don't sit and
stew! ; )
Your Pioneer Princess and Missionary,
Sister Riggs
