Take a Lesson From a Lightnin' Bug

Last week I briefly mentioned the fact that I saw lightning bugs, this week I want to expound on that and of course tie it into the gospel. But y'all oh my gosh!!! I get two-year-old-giddy even thinking about it!!! THEY ARE SO MAGICAL!!!! We were coming out of a members house and chatting with them as the sun was setting and behind the sister speaking I saw a  few little flashes of light and freaked out "OH MY GOODNESS ARE THOSE FIREFLIES?!" EEEEEEE!!!! They were and I was just so excited!!!! Her husband took us out into the field by their house and caught us one! It lit up and then flew away, it was so cool!!! Since then we've been looking for them and seeing them every night and even caught some ourselves and tried to put them in a jar, unfortunately they stopped lighting up after that... I was so disappointed and asked a different lady in the ward about it and she just looked at me and said "Well wouldn't you too? If you were captured and put in a jar I don't think your butt would light up!" Oh my heavens, I love these Tennessean people, they just keep me on my toes, and humbled, and most of the time laughing. But once again I've talked about before that the thing I love most about being on a mission is the fact that you get the chance to spread "a little more light" into people's lives that wouldn't otherwise have been there. Oftentimes I've said to Hermana Jacobson when someone is not interested or slams the door, or laughs at us, or films us (yep definitely had that happen a few months ago, a girl was talking to us in her driveway and her friend was filming us out the front door, sneaky... real sneaky...) but in response to any of those or some other less than ideal response, I'll say to her that "maybe that was the only time they heard Christ's name today" And at least they thought about Him for a few moments. Just like lightning bugs we are a light in a darkening world. Our message is one of light. The greatest thing about light is it's power, darkness cannot overpower it, light dispels it. Light is comforting, it helps us see, it catches attention, and helps you feel safe. A friend sent some quotes from the talk "Brighter and Brighter Until the Perfect Day" by Elder Mark A. Bragg in his email this week and I'm bumming it off of him because it ties in so perfectly with the way I'm running with this topic. I love when  says:

“That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”
We are children of God. Receiving light, continuing in God, and receiving more light are what we are created to do. From the very beginning, we followed the light; we followed our Heavenly Father and His plan. Seeking the light is in our spiritual DNA.


We are here to seek light, Jesus Christ is known as "The Light of the World" He gives us what light gives us: comfort, ability to see, safety. And when we allow Him and His light into our life we can share it with others and they can have it too. We taught Gospel Doctrine this Sunday and showed the classic picture of the Second Coming and talked about the light that is in around and all throughout it, we discussed the importance of adding light into our lives daily through the little habits of prayer, scripture study, keeping the commandments, being kind to others, offering service, thinking of others, sending a note or text to someone you care about and/or are thinking about, posting an uplifting thought or message, listening to good music, all of these things add light and others can see that. We inherently want to be around positivity and light and goodness. But Satan does not. Elder Bragg says puts it this way:

Even in the most difficult and darkest of times, there is light and goodness all around us. Last October, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf reminded us, “We are surrounded by such an astonishing wealth of light and truth that I wonder if we truly appreciate what we have.”
However, the adversary would rather have us focus on “mists of darkness … which blindeth the eyes, … hardeneth … hearts … , and … leadeth … away.”


He does not want us to add light, spread light, or help others to see the light. When you catch a firefly you wait to see it's light and then as soon as it dims you reach out and snatch it. Did you catch that? Once the light goes out, it's caught. Some could argue "Well that means the light makes it vulnerable and able to be captured" That is partially true, the light is what makes the firefly stand out. Likewise the light of the gospel makes us stand out, and there are those who want to capture it and "stifle it in a jar" so to speak. They know where we are when they see our light. But another thing I've noticed about fireflies is they group together, once you notice one you begin to notice others, they group together as more sparks of light. That's what happens as we share light it gathers, and it becomes something beautiful and it can be mesmerizing just like fireflies...

So I feel bad because there were a bunch of experiences I wanted to share and I had drafted this much but then we went and helped a lady can her farm fresh pure honey which was super cool so I'm low on time and missionary experiences will have to wait until next week. But please know I love y'all and hope you take a lesson from a firefly and keep glowing and gathering light! Love y'all!
Love,
Hermana Hall