Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Finding Family 7/22/14

Holy Smokes time is going by fast. I don't understand how it has already been six months... Crazy.

Life as a missionary really is the best. I must admit that I am gaining a testimony of the principle of fasting. The missionaries in my district (6 of us in all) agreed to participate in a 7 day fast for a few purposes, one of which is finding prepared families. The fast is still going and we are already seeing miracles. Every companionship has found a new family to teach!! Let me tell you about ours. 

A few weeks ago, we taught a woman named Becky on her front porch. It was a total train wreck... We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and then squeezed in the Restoration and it was just WAYYYYYYY to much information. We set an appointment with her to meet again this past Wednesday. I was 95% we were going to get stood up, but she invited us right in, had a tuna fish sandwich for the both of us, and her husband Ken, and her friends Dennis and Erica were there too waiting to be taught.... It was so cool!!! We all sat down and started teaching the restoration. All of them are graduates of a Christian college in Grand Rapids and they are very well versed in scriptures. Erica was taking notes, and Ken and Dennis had some stellar questions. They asked why we need prophets and we read Ephesians 4:11-14 (read it, its a great scripture) and it struck a chord with Ken. We asked what that meant to him, and he said that deviation from the doctrine was definitely not a good thing. He now understands the great apostasy and the need for a restoration. The spirit was so powerful as we taught the first vision, and Ken was reading the Book of Mormon before we even left. Dennis wants his wife and other roommate to sit in on the next lesson. All of these people live in one house, so we just call them the Clan because we don't know what else to call them haha.

The next Family was a family from Nepal. Unfortunately, I don't speak Nepali, so there is a bit of a language barrier, but Tecc (the dad0 is very eager to learn.  They are such a great family!!

The last woman is named Irene. Her and her family are refugees from the Congo that moved to Michigan about 7 months ago. Sadly, my Swahili is a little rusty and my French is even worse, so we need a translator (thankfully, Mormons are often bilingual and we know one who speaks french.) They have obviously been through a lot. We couldn't understand each other much, but we did pray together. It was a very special. I know that the spirit is without a doubt universal. The smiles that were on there faces were so beautiful... they need the gospel so bad. The whole family followed us out, and Irene pointed to her 8 year old son and said in broken English, "He will be a missionary one day." It was beautiful.

I don't know if you all remember Yasmine, but she was the miracle story from a few weeks ago where I tapped my GPS and there she was. But an update on her: She has totally dropped drinking (she eats candy when she gets the urge) and coffee (which she drinks more than water) just like that! She is working on the 7 day smoking program as well. She is so awesome. She doesn't understand much of what we teach, but I know she feels the spirit. She says that every time we meet, she feels like there is nothing that can ruin her day. She is so awesome :) She really needs to get to church but that is ok! We will get there!

Remember Cynthia? the lady who we cast evil spirits from her house last week? Well we went back to see her, and things have been awesome for her. She says that things have been so great since we came the first time and she feels at peace for the first time. We taught her the plan of salvation, and she is super solid. She wants us to teach her son and daughter. 

The Lord is being so good! I am so thankful for his patience with me and his infinite love. I know that he lives and that the fullness of his gospel has been restored. It has changed me forever. I have never been so happy, and I wish that everyone could feel the way that I do. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I know that all who read it and pray to know its truthfulness will know. Most of all, is my testimony of Jesus Christ. He lives, he speaks, and he loves. I love him with all my heart! 

Elder Wheat
The Sisters made me a cake!!!!

The Berlin Wall

I really wish missionaries could ride these bikes

Thank Goodness for Michigan!!!! (Quote by Abe Lincoln)

Me and the Grand River

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