Letter Nov. 22, 2021




Oh what a week! It felt like a million years long. No particular reason of course, it's just been long. 

I had a particular experience yesterday I thought I could share. We invited one of the friends we are teaching to come to church. He declined, but invited us to come to the potluck his church was having to celebrate Thanksgiving. We thought it would be a good way to show support of him going to church whether or not it was ours, so we agreed.

Yesterday morning in Sacrament meeting a sister from another ward gave a talk on heeding the "uncomfortable promptings of the Spirit". She told a very vulnerable and powerful story about a time when she chose not to follow a prompting to check on her neighbor every day for a week because it was inconvenient. Then on Friday afternoon her neighbor came to her, told her about the horrible week she had, and said she was sure God didn't love her. She had been praying all week that someone would come alleviate her loneliness and no one came. She was starting to feel that God probably didn't exist.

This sister then told of the uncomfortable conversation she had to have with her neighbor. How she had to tell her neighbor that God had been answering her prayers every day, but that the person he was trying to send, didn't listen.

It was a really powerful talk. 

That evening as we pulled up to the "Country Church" I was so excited. I thought this would be so fun and a great way to show how our church members love, respect, and support other churches. We parked and my companion said, "I'm sooo nervous." 

"Aw don't worry. It probably be fun. Just a bunch of nice Christians and we'll go sit by our friends," I replied. When she still looked uncertain I said, "Just follow my lead it will be fine." 

"Okay, do you want to say the prayer?" she asked. 

"Sure!" We bowed our heads and I prayed for safety and the ability to represent the church well, show love and make our friends feel supported. Then right before I closed the prayer, my stomach dropped. My head went hollow and cold, and all my previous excitement and confidence was gone in a flash. 

I closed the prayer and looked up. Sister Bealer looked at me. 

"What?", she asked. 

"Right as I was closing the prayer, I just got a really bad feeling... DANG IT! I was so flipping excited for this! AH! Dang it. You were right, Bealer. Darn it, you were right."

"Well... better safe than sorry," Sister Bealer mumbled quietly. We sat there for a few minutes being disappointed. I knew Sister Bealer wasn't going to do anything until I made a decision. After all, I was the one who had really wanted to go. 

"Well, how do we want to cancel?" I said.

We ended up texting our friend and saying we couldn't make it. He was totally understanding. After that we had two awesome member lessons, said hi to one more member family, and watched our Sunday night devo.

I'll never know what would have happened exactly, but I can guess someone could have been offended by our coming. Or perhaps someone who have brought up anti crap when they saw us. Maybe they would have been upset with our friend for inviting us. Whatever the case, better not to argue with the Spirit. He's our best friend. And I'm grateful He was there to help us avoid whatever pit we were about to walk into. Whether the uncomfortable promptings of the Spirit are to do something or not to do something, ALWAYS listen. Trust your gut. And our Father won't lead you astray.

Anyway, lots of love from Fruita, Co,

Sister Emily Elise Shill



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