Hello!
I love you guys and I hope you've all had an amazing week! Mine has
been just grand. We've had tons of miracles! I feel very humbled and
honored that the Lord his trusting us with His children and putting them
in our path to hear His word. We're working hard to be worthy of that
trust and to help his children progress in their lives and in this
gospel.
We had exchanges again this week and I got to go with Hna. Coleman
who is AWESOME! Man, we were on fire together! It was so cool. That was
the most unified I've ever felt teaching with someone. We exercised a
lot of faith that day, were both really positive, and super diligent. We
had given all of our appointments to the other sisters so we didn't
have a single appointment planned. So we went to knock doors, and we
ending up getting to teach 7 lessons and we found 7 new investigators
all in one day! It was incredible! She said that'd never happened to her
in her mission. Such a great miracle.
So I had kind of a crazy lesson this week. We were teaching this
sweet old woman named Neli. We were teaching her the plan of salvation.
She agreed with everything and accepted it readily like she was already
doing it. I didn't want to beat around the bush and I knew if we weren't
clear then and there it would just end up wasting time until we finally
got to the point. So with as much gentleness I could muster I explained
to her that if she wants to go to the celestial kingdom, she needs to
get baptized again. She was really confused and we referred back to the
restoration pamphlets about how you need to have the authority of Jesus
Christ to baptize. She said, "Are you saying that the church I go to
doesn't have the authority of Jesus Christ?" And as kindly and gently as
I could I had to tell her yes, that's what we are saying. She told us
to get out immediately and this would be the last time she'd open her
door to us. She wants to finish her life in peace and we've come into
her home and upset her. I apologized for offending her, and I testified
that God loves her and has sent us to her door. We are not here to
disturb her peace, but we want her to know that God loves her and has a
plan for her and her family, and he wants her to know the truth. We
continued to talk and she calmed down. I asked if there is anything we
could do for her before we go to repair what we'd done? And she said we
hadn't done anything. She said we will always be welcomed into her home
and she thanked us for bringing her God's word. The spirit returned and
we closed with a prayer. It was super intense! I felt bad at first about
upsetting this sweet old lady, but then I realized that Alma and Lehi
and everyone in the Book of Mormon probably upset a few people too. We
need to say it with love and kindness, but we need to be bold in
declaring the truth. Sometimes Heavenly Father has to upset our lives if
we're not quite on the right path.
Okay here's another story. So my 2nd week in the mission Hna.
Anderson and I were out for a run and started talking to this guy on the
street named Raul. I walked with him while my companion ran and he
seemed really interested in coming to our church. Unfortunately neither
of us had a pen and paper, but he said he walks to work at that same
time in the morning so we could see him the next day. But we never saw
him again, so that was a bummer. (Since then I always carry a mormon.org
with our names and number on it while we run). But saturday night at
the gas station we ran into him again! We'd gotten lost so we wouldn't
normally have been there at that moment, but there's a reason for
everything! He was a little drunk, and he said he really needed our
help. He said he needs to get his life back in order. He needs God now
more than ever and is ready to make the choice to follow Him, but he
needs someone to help him. I told him that's exactly what we're here
for. We gave him a pamphlet and exchanged contact info. And we referred
him to the elders cause he lives in their area. So that was another
great miracle! I'm so glad we were able to find him again. He's ready to
let the gospel change his life.
Roger told us this week that he's not ready to be a Mormon yet. He
told us his reasons and we will work to resolve his concerns. It was
really sad at first, we kinda felt like we were getting broken up with
haha. But we love him so much and believe that it will happen for him
one day. My companion just barely met him, but she said he's the most
prepared and most truly converted investigator she's seen in her
mission. I believe it. He really is so incredible. We're going to
continue working with him though and try to resolve his concerns. Just
like Elder Scott said yesterday, there's a time and a season for
everything. We will see what happens, and we will be here to give him
the support he needs even if he's not ready for the complete change yet.
Speaking of conference - woot! It was super cool. It's really
different watching it as a missionary. At first I thought there'd be a
lot that wouldn't apply to me. But there's was a ton that did, and the
stuff that didn't like marriage and all that definitely applied to our
investigators. I loved everything they said about strengthening
families, definitely a message our investigators need. Also it was cool
how there was a ton on obedience, because that's what we've been
focusing on lately as sisters in this mission. We honestly have a really
obedient mission, it's great. How did you all like conference? Hope you
loved it and that it helped you in your lives.
In other news, they just notified us that they're
making a worldwide mission change of having some sister leadership! The
position is going to be called Sister Training Leaders. They will still
proselyte and they'll be similar to a district leader but for the sister
missionaries. I think it's great to see all these changes that are
helping further the work!
Amanda with Hermana Coleman
Amanda with her second companion
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