This week I just wanted to share a couple of experiences that meant a lot to me this week.
We had another lesson with Irene and family from the Congo. We brought another member who speaks french. We went in to talk about authority and it wound up being the member and Irene hashing it out in French. haha I had NO idea what was going on, but I did catch on that they were talking about baptism. I just had a thought go through my mind. "Baptism is not about joining a church." I literally called a time out and was like what is going on haha. He said that she was concerned that she had already been baptized and feels like she is already a member of the church. She feels great and church and loves us coming over, but she thinks shes already a member haha We tried to resolve it, but we have come to the conclusion that she will be baptized when shes ready! The spirit will tell her and its not our job to push it. Her whole family came to church and it was a great experience. There is nothing like having a lesson in another language. I had no idea what was happening but it was SWEET!
On Saturday, we had 5 appointments in the afternoon, and all 5 fell through. We did have a cool experience however. We pulled up to an appointment in a rough part of town, and our investigator comes walking up with a bottle in hand with a humiliated look on her face. She had a black eye and her fingers looked like they had no skin left. She apologized and needed us to reschedule. We asked if everything was ok. She told us that shed been staying at her nieces house across the street and crazy things have been going down. Her house was being shot up and a whole bunch of other stuff, but she was so embarrased that she was cancelling on us again. With tears in her eyes, she said,"Please dont give up on me. I need this. Please dont give up on me." The love and compassion I felt for her were unreal. We went and got her some ice and some bandages and when we came back, she had this look of gratitude on her face that I will never forget. I wish you all could have seen it. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
We met one of the most prepared people I have ever taught. His name is Fred King. He had met with missionaries before, and had an incredible experience while praying with them in which he came to know that God loves him. For one reason or another, they stopped meeting together, but he knew that if he ordered a bible on this website, missionaries would come, because they did the first time, and that is what he did. We had an awesome Restoration lesson with him and put him on date to be baptized on September 6. We invited him to pray at the end and he got really nervous saying, "I dont know what to say." We just said, say what ever comes into your heart." His prayer was as follows: "Heavenly father, thank you for these guys. I know that you sent them. Please don't let anything get in the way of this. I want to go to church with these guys, I'm ready to repent. Let nothing get in the way of September 6th." It was one of the coolest prayers I have ever heard.
When we were preparing for him a few days later, I started to feel uneasy about that date. It all just felt like it was too fast. I felt that he needed more time to make sure he was ready. Elder Erekson suggested we just go and see how he feels. Before we started we talked about how we wanted to go at his pace. He was so relieved to hear that. He said he had been waiting for this for a long time, and he wanted to make sure he was ready. He wants to go to church a lot and wants to make sure he has friends before it happens. Man he is such a solid guy! We had an awesome lesson of the plan of salvation and all is well with him.
My favorite quote this week comes from a member named Sister Heard. I swear, nothing bad ever deserves to happen to Sister Heard. She has been going through a ton lately. We were trying to help her out and she had this thought. "I'm too blessed to be stressed." Amen Sister Heard. Amen. All of us really are too blessed to be stressed. We have the gospel. We know God's plan. We have a Savior. Everything we go through is compounded for our gain in the long run. What do we have to worry about? Isn't life just great? I testify that the Savior lives and that the Holy Ghost is real. I don't ever want to live without it again. I know our Father in Heaven knows and cares about each of us. I love him with all my heart!
Elder Wheat
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| Our battle swords at a members house... Sick... |
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