A Seed Planter For Life

   So after last week's tremendous outpouring of blessings and Spirit, Sister V and I almost expected a small decline in the area's general progression.  I know that patterns happen, and rises/falls are characteristic of any work--especially missionary work! Naturally, I was bracing myself for the hard times to return. I was totally wrong.

   This week kept going up, up, up! Our investigators have started to keep their commitments.  Other members are inviting us over to teach their friends.  Our less-active members are actually making appointments with us! It has been simply amazing to finally see this area begin to blossom and achieve the potential that I have always seen in it.

   As I was reflecting on my mission, I realized that I have always been sort of the seed planter. In my first area in Meridian, I didn't see a single baptism or even a progressing investigator.  Some transfers after I left, I heard that the area then had over 12 investigators, and I knew that my hard work contributed to that, even though I was not able to see the benefits first hand.  In Boise, I was finding a lot.  One of the wards hadn't had an investigator in over a year, and the work was rather slow.  A few weeks after I was transferred, one of our investigators got baptized. It was the first baptism that ward has seen for over 3 years. The members are catching the "missionary bug," and the whole area is just booming.  Again, though, I didn't see all the results of my hard work until I had gone.

   This area is different, though. When I got here, we had no investigators, but I saw all the hard work and effort that previous missionaries had put into the wards.  It had so much potential, and I have just been trying to tap into it! I feel like I am having the privilege of caring for other missionaries seeds--not quite harvesting, yet. That will come eventually--but helping the area grow to the potential that Elders and Sisters have seen in it for months and years. I am SO grateful for their hard work when they didn't see the results. 

   I know I will probably always be a seed planter when it comes to service and missionary work, probably for the rest of my life! But I have now begun to see that eventually, if you plant enough seeds, you will get the opportunity to care for seeds that other people have planted along their path. Then, after the planting, nurturing and growing, the harvest comes. However, just because you haven't harvested as much as the next person--or haven't harvested at all--doesn't mean you haven't been instrumental in the process. So don't be afraid to plant those seeds!

   I love you so much! Hope you have a blessed week :)

Sister Pratt