Dear family,
I LOVE YOU!! Not much time (the library was closed so we're at our amazing ward mission leader's house in the evening...), but I'll try to include the pertinent parts.
This week I was sick. I started coming down with a cold on Monday, but was okay until Wednesday, when I couldn't stay awake or breathe during studies, and ended up resting a large portion of the day, only getting out for the evening.On Thursday I was feeling better, and after weekly planning we went out, but shortly thereafter I lost all energy and really wasn't sure I could keep going. We called our district leader and his companion and met up at the church so I could get a blessing. Afterwards I was feeling a little better, and so we decided to go look up a name we had pulled from former investigators (taught by Sister Clayton when she was in Hialeah!) in the Area Book. His main obstacle when he had been taught over a year before had been tithing.
We left a harvest blessing with R and invited him to baptism. He said he wanted to, but couldn't because he couldn't pay tithing. We explained the doctrine (windows of heaven), the application (10% of what we have, not a set amount), and testified strongly. He committed to live the law of tithing and be baptized. Right after he committed I started getting woozy and knew I had to sit down. At the end of his prayer I was very close to passing out and ended up lying down on the doorstep with my companion sitting by me and R looking on awkwardly, and some random English-speakers in a care facility next door singing Southern Gospel hymns. Happily we were able to leave without me actually passing out, and Sister Ware made me go to bed :/. Throughout the next several days we only got out for a couple of hours every day, but we taught R the main doctrine he hadn't understood before that helped prepare him for baptism (repentance), and had his baptismal interview. Things worked out, thanks to the Lord's intervention, and he was baptized yesterday! Sadly I lost my camera cord and nobody in my district has the same camera as I do, so I can't charge it... Our district leader's companion took a picture and hopefully already sent it but if not will send it to you next week!
I saw the Lord's hand so strongly in this experience. He knows exactly what is going on, and although I was weak and couldn't do as much as I wanted to do, we were able to do enough.
Yesterday for personal study I prayed about what I needed to study and this experience came to mind. I knew I needed to study the ways that I could be a 100% missionary all of the time. During the time when I was sick this week I worked efficiently and, thanks to the Lord's intervention, effectively. I gave it all I could, even if all I could wasn't very much, and He made up the rest. I studied in Alma 17 and 18 to learn from some of the great missionaries of the Book of Mormon. One part that really struck me was that these missionaries were able to have the spirit of prophecy and revelation, and teach with power and authority, because of their prayer and fasting. They had God's power in their work because they were really doing His work in His way. They were constantly seeking His will and doing their best to align their wills to His. They accepted the circumstances they were given and did their best with what they had.
Other cool things: during my sick time we got an amazing referral for a lady whose brother just got baptized in Mexico. By the second time we went over LD had read from the title page to 1 Nephi 10 in the Book of Mormon! Her family (2 teenage sons + husband) came to church with her, and one of her sons is already sharing the Book of Mormon with others!
L and J are getting married this weekend! The ward has taken over and it will end up being a huge affair. So exciting!!
Sorry, out of time. More details next week. Love you much!
<3
HH
P.S. Aloe juice is amazing!!
No comments:
Post a Comment