Dear Family and Friends,
This has probably been one of my favorite weeks in the
mission. Like Christmas, I just had the opportunity to testify of Jesus Christ
and the glorious message that He Lives and what it means for all of us! Having
the opportunity to bear testimony specifically of the Atonement and divinity of
Jesus Christ daily this week has filled my heart with so much gratitude and
joy. An invitation we extended throughout the week was to ponder "Because
He lives..." and fill in the blank. To think about personally what that
knowledge meant for us personally. I'd like to share what came to mind for
me....Because He lives, I have hope and can know with certainty that someday, I
will have a cure for my Juvenile Diabetes. Because Jesus Christ was resurrected
and overcame physical death, I will one day be able to have a body free of
imperfections...
Alma 40:23
The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and
joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things
shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.
This fills me with hope to know it is just for this time
here...that it won't be forever...and that hope and knowledge makes it easier
to bear. I also know that in the meantime, through this trial, I am learning to
be like and coming closer to the Savior...and that is why I am here, and so I
am thankful! Because He lives, I will live in a perfected body someday! He is
my cure!
Easter was such a wonderful day...and quite the crazy day! All that
happened between 9am and 4:30pm was just crazy! I was serving at the Mormon
Battalion from 9-12 and took a couple of tours of groups of 20-30 people....and
my first group was 22 people, all one family, and I asked what the occasion was
and Grandpa spoke up and let me know their story. He said he lost his wife 18
months ago and told his children and grandchildren he wanted to take them all
on a trip to San Diego together with some of the insurance money. My heart
swelled and I testified of what a special day it was, to all be together as a
family and know that because our Savior lives, they can know that they will see
their sweet grandmother again someday and their family will be together
forever. Tears swelled and a special spirit was with us throughout that tour.
Then right after we rushed to church to try to get there early to practice...I
was singing a duet "Because He Lives" with a girl in the ward. The
Bishop caught me on the way in and asked, "Sister Riggs did you get my
e-mail this morning?" I laughed and said no and he pulled me in his office
real quick and said, "I know you are already singing in Sacrament
meeting...but would you be willing to sing a song about the Atonement in our
combined meeting in the 3rd hour? I am teaching and I think that would be
wonderful." I said, "Of course I would love to...you are lucky I just
so happen to bring one of my music books with me just in case I sang in a
lesson later tonight!" (I had put one of my Hilary Weeks books in my bag
because we were having dinner with the Bishop's family and I knew they had a
piano and I thought it'd be a great thank you and a great element to add to our
Easter message with them! Thank you Heavenly Father!!!!) So then we ran in to
practice for the song I was singing in Sacrament meeting had a chance for one
run through. The song went great and the spirit was there. The ward choir also
sang "Via De La Rosa" ...which ALWAYS makes me cry and the
testimonies that were born were sweet and powerful. THEN, we got asked to teach
gospel principles last minute because the teacher was out-of-town...YIKES! We
just talked about the Atonement and all that was made possible because of
it....some shared their personal testimony of it and again, there was a special
spirit there.
Our lesson from the Bishop 3rd hour was again all about the
Atonement and the Resurrection. He spoke powerfully by the spirit and my heart
was burning with gratitude. He shared the testimony of Bruce R. McConkie which
is so powerful and so true...And now, as
pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of
God—I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as
pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and
was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King.
This I know of myself independent of any other person. I am one of his
witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in
his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any
better than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and
Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in
no other way.
I echo his words. How amazing that we can come to know ours
Savior so personally and so closely, that we do not have to see and feel Him to
know how real He is and that He lives. We don't see his face, hear His voice,
feel His hands...but we see His miracles, hear His spirit speak to our hearts,
and feel His peace....and through kneeling and praying for His help and for Him
to carry us and walk with us, we come to know Him...that He is our ever loyal
friend...and He is oh so real....experiencing His love in our lives is the
proof....so sure and true that when that day comes when we kneel before Him in
gratitude, He will be so familiar and just as real as He has been throughout
our whole lives. OH IT IS WONDERFUL TO ME!!!
THEN! Right after we met for just 10 minutes with our new
investigator Casmier. He came to church for the first time (good Sunday to
come!) and he LOVED it. He said it was all so incredible and he felt such good
feelings there and that it was by far the best experience he had ever had with
church before and that if God allows it, he wants to keep coming back.....as he
said that, the thought, "invite him to be baptized came to mind." I
thought, "Really? On his first Sunday here and only the second time
teaching him?...wait...YEAH! How perfect...he just sat through 3 hours of
hearing about the Atonement and literally said it was the best and he wanted to
keep coming back and I can testify of how accessing the Atonement fully only
comes through making covenants with Heavenly Father and following the example
of Jesus Christ and being baptized....ok, I'll do it!" It so wasn't the
plan at all...but I testified that he felt what he did because this was the
true Church restored in its fullness and the Lord's kingdom on the earth today.
I testified that what he was feeling throughout those 3 hours was the spirit
witnessing to his heart that this was all true...that it wasn't just chance or
luck. I told him I wanted to invite him to keep coming back and keep meeting
with us and learning and growing...and then I said, "As you continue to
come back and to learn and come to know that these things are true...will you
follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the
proper priesthood authority of God?" My companion was in shock..ha
ha...and he smiled and said, "Yeah! I would!" MIRACLE!!!! We showed
him a little timeline of his journey to baptism and asked if he wanted April
20th or 27th and he said, "I wanna go for the first one!" Wow! So
cool! What a blessing!
THEN we had a great dinner with a recent convert and her mom
who is not a member...and there were tears as we each said what the Atonement
brings to us..including her mom who spoke if the hope it brings in knowing
whatever burdens she carries that He can help....what a special spirit....THEN
we had dinner at the Bishop's and they asked me to sing and I was thankful for
the 3rd opportunity I had in one day to use my voice to sing for my Savior and
bring Him honor and glory as I testified of the Atonement and of His love
through song. THEN, we had an appointment with a great recent convert named
Hugh...whom we hadn't seen in weeks because he crossed over into the mid
singles ward and we weren't sure if we were suppose to keep teaching
him...turns out we still get to...but MAN! What a mistake we made in losing
contact with him...he was in the shambles! But what a change from the beginning
of our appointment to the end...and we are going to see him weekly now...but oh
how we each need the Atonement in our lives and oh how important it is to never
let our guard down....Satan seizes those moments! It's so simple! READ and
PRAY!!! I read this this morning:
Alma 13:20, 28-29
Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said
may suffice. Behold, the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest
them it shall be to your own destruction.
But that ye would
humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and
pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above
that which ye can bear, and thus be led by
the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek,
submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;
Having faith
on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of
God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter
into his rest.
It was such an amazing day! And I had ANOTHER miracle filled
day yesterday as I went on exchanges with Sister Miller....I am out of time to
write about it though...but hopefully I'll get the chance to include some of
the miracles next week. We had 3 incredible experiences teaching with the Holy
Ghost as our 3rd companion who truly spoke through us...I LOVE BEING A
MISSIONARY!!!!
Love you all with all of my heart! ENJOY CONFERENCE!!!
DON"T MISS IT!!! Nothing else is more important OK? I mean really!!!!
Can't wait to hear! It's better than Christmas!!! Just know as you are
watching, I will be watching...so it'll be like we're together = ) Ha ha...
OH!!! I read this scripture the other day and it made me
miss you all so much and tugged on my heart strings because it was almost like
my own words...and explained exactly the desires of my heart:
Romans 1:9-12
For God is my witness,
whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I
make mention of you always in my prayers;
Making request, if by
any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come unto you.
For I long to see you,
that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be
established;
That is, that I may
be comforted together
with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
IT’S TRUE!!!
LOVE YOU!
Sister Riggs
Enjoy the pics!
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| Me and Sister Rasmussen get dressed and then don't realize we are totally matching until halfway through the day! Ha ha! |
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| Some yard work service! |
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| A cute Chinese family I met and sang in Chinese with! They want me to come visit! = ) |
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| Ha ha...a joke...but we play video games that lead to the temple!!! = ) Ha ha..our Mormon Messages DVD |
