Well it's still cold here in PA but no snow so there's no point in coldness I think. I was looking at the weather and Tucson was in the 70s this week... It's okay I'm not bitter...mostly.
Tuesday we went and visited with some less actives. We just stopped by which is sometimes the only way we can get them to talk to us.
Wednesday was a great day because we had not one but 2 lessons with Shayne! We had a lesson scheduled for that morning and it was such a good lesson. We talked a lot about the repentance process and baptism and why we are baptized. She said that every time she prays about what we are teaching her she gets a peace and a calm feeling. We talked about how that is the Holy Ghost and she really wants to be baptized. We think she thinks she isn't prepared enough to be baptized but we know she could get baptized tomorrow (except for the fact that she has to come to church a couple more times) her faith is so strong and she is so ready. THEN later that night we had our Book of Mormon class and she was the only one that showed up. So it was us, Shayne, and the Duemmels (because that is their house). Shayne had a question about real intent especially in prayer. The Duemmels are both converts and they shared some really great personal experiences to share about real intent. Can I just say that members at lessons are THE BEST! Honestly, I think our investigators learn more from them and their personal experiences than us.
Nothing super exciting about Thursday, just more less active visits.
Friday we saw Shayne again! Are we obsessed with her? Maybe. Is that a bad thing? I hope not. We taught the second half of the Plan of Salvation. She honestly soaks up everything we teach and the spirit that is there just testifies so strongly. She asked if there was provisions for people that didn't hear or accept the gospel and when we told her about the spirit world she was so happy. We could tell that brought her a lot of comfort but we weren't sure why.
Saturday I found out my best friend is going to Guam!!! Hannah you are going to baptize nations. So last week while we were tracting we ran into this guy named Rachid (pronounced Rasheed) apparently he had met with missionaries before and so we went back on Saturday to talk to him. Come to find out he's from The Congo and speaks French and the reason he met with the missionaries is because his friend wanted to take the lessons so he translated. He's read the Book of Mormon and been to church but he never prayed about it. We asked him why and he said "why should I. If I pray and I receive that answer that it is true then what. I get baptized. Why? I am perfectly happy in my life right now. You guys believe in Jesus Christ and I believe in Jesus Christ. That's enough for me." We told him that God has so many more blessings for him and his family to bring even more joy into his life. He didn't seem to think that that was possible. But we mentioned eternal families. It was amazing. The atmosphere of the room and his body language shifted just slightly. We could tell that his heart had softened. Just a tiny bit but enough that he said we could come over every Saturday and we can study the Book of Mormon together.
Sunday Shayne came to church! So we were waiting for her and I tell Sister Cragun, "this is like waiting for your date to pick you up. They say they are coming but you have that little fear in the back of your head that they will cancel last minute. And they are running late" She came but she could only stay for sacrament. All the testimonies that were shared from our branch were exactly what she needed to here. She had to run out but she said she was excited to talk to us about it on Tuesday.
Great week. I love this work. Sometimes I feel like I have been here for 5 years and other times I feel like my mission just started yesterday. I love the gospel and I love Milford. I hope everyone has taken the time to share a small part of the gospel with those around you. I think it was Elder Bednar that said something like, if you can't think of something to say, bear testimony of Jesus Christ. I always try and bear testimony to every we met during the day. Even to Sister Cragun, I try and bear testimony.
Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk
We see this sign everything we drive to District Meeting. It says,
"Allentown Art Museum. And ghetto".
No comments:
Post a Comment