Editor’s note: Many are familiar with my daughter, Sara Arkell, also known as The Piano Gal. Sara has been called to serve in the New York Syracuse Mission. This is a series on her weekly letters that we will be posting on the site for those who wish to follow along with her mission. You can read her previous emails here.
This week was full of a lot of bold lessons with friends and returning members. It’s so easy to do the bare minimum but this is the Lord’s church and He needs us to help Him! We heard a million different excuses and a million different reasons why they “can’t” do something. But we were able to remind them about the covenants they’ve made at baptism or are going to make and let them know that God expects more out of them. I’m definitely learning patience out here!
We had exchanges this week with the Sisters in Hamilton & it was SO FUN! They both came here to Rome & it was like a big slumber party. Sister Fisher is only 3 weeks into the field and she is doing a fabulous job. Wow! It’s crazy to believe that 9 months ago I was in her position. When we really put our trust in the Lord, He really does make us more than we would have ever imagined ourselves. It’s pretty incredible to see 🙂
One of our friends is struggling right now. Satan really knows how to get to him and continues to throw things at him to get off the good path. It seems like once we make a great stride with him, Satan works even harder to push him back. If you are needing something to fast for this upcoming fast Sunday, maybe add Jim to your fast. He needs strength & determination to combat temptation and continue to work towards being baptized. We honestly feel at a loss with him so we are praying extra hard to follow the Spirit and know what to do!
On exchanges, we had a few cool miracles! We met 3 people who had talked with missionaries before and already had copies of The Book of Mormon!!! WOW. One of them is Stephen. We parked on the side of a street to start knocking doors and saw him outside cleaning out a car. Started talking to him and found out he had met with missionaries before! He told us to come back later that night so we did 🙂 we had a great lesson with him and found out that he keeps The Book of Mormon on his nightstand and he reads a few paragraphs every once in a while! Say what?! We were so excited when we heard that! We’re going back over on Wednesday night! He’s awesome!!
We had someone we met a little bit ago tell us that he can’t meet with us because we’re too beautiful & he doesn’t want to make us feel uncomfortable by accidentally hitting on us what a compliment, haha.
Another one of our friends, Melanie, told us that she wants to get baptized sooner than August 18th! YAY!! My dream would be to do it before transfers on July 20th so I can for sure be here for it. She has my heart! She is fabulous! Pray for her, too!
Here’s a spiritual thought for this week!! I’ve been LOVING The Book of Mormon recently and I wish I could spend all day reading it. I read this verse this week & thought I’d share it with you! It’s Jacob 4:7 – “Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace…that we have power to do these things.” I’ve definitely seen that hard experiences help me realize where my true strength comes from – GOD. Try to think of your trials in the light of the scripture and it will help you!!
Love you all! I get to give a training at zone conference this week which is a little nerve-wracking but I’m excited! Keep on radiating JOY to this world!!
Shawn Kelley
Friday 1st of July 2022
Your daughter and Sister Fisher look like they could be sisters or at least cousins. They are both beautiful.