I hope that you are all doing well and that your preparations for Thanksgiving are not too strenuous. I know that it is not Thanksgiving yet but I have seen so many miracles this week that I just wanted to express my gratitude by telling you all about them!
Miracle #1
Marina is one of our English Course students. When she started coming she seemed very serious and she was going to the class taught by Anziano Barrow. For weeks Sorella Mikesell just kept telling me, "I feel that I should teach intermediate! I want to teach Marina. I think we need to teach the class that Marina is in..." Well, finally we organized it for Sorella Mikesell to teach Intermediate and for Anz Barrow and Anz Carr to teach 2 basic classes.
Our first class together we talked about health. Sorella Mikesell and I took the opportunity to explain the Word of Wisdom and why we folllow this Law of Health from God. Afterwards, Marina came up to me beaming and she thanked us for everything we do ESPECIALLY the spiritual part at the end. I asked her if she would like to meet with us and she said yes. She then came to the Halloween Party and afterwards. We thought to invite her to come to Church 2 sundays ago. And she CAME! We then set up an appt to see her Tuesday. We just planned to have a lesson zero and get to know her and her relationship with God.
As we sat down together after some chatting and getting to know and after the prayer. Sorella Mikesell asked her, "Who is God for you in your life?" She answered that He is her father. And that is why she always prays to him. She went on to share with us how important prayer is for her and how she prays like we do. She said, "It does not matter whether I tell God foolish things, or if I share little boring things from the day, He wants to hear from me." After this comment Sorella Mikesell and I just turned to each other with the same thought - "Let's move on to the Restoration." We then went on to explain the Restoration lesson all based off of prayer. It was a different way I have ever explained it and when we got to the 1st vision, the spirit was so strong. I FELT THE Holy Ghost the strongest I have felt IN ANY RESTORATION LESSON before on my mission. And as I shared the 1st vision I had to fight back tears! It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Afterwards she accepted a Book of Mormon and agreed to read the introduction and pray about the book.
When we saw her Thursday for class again. She told me that she had been reading and had read the intro and all the testimonies in the beginning. She especially liked the personal account by Joseph Smith about how he got the plates. She said that it is impossible for someone to know if Joseph smith was a prophet unless they read his words and understand his own experiences. I invited her to keep reading and start 1 nefi.
She came to Sacrament meeting again this sunday. She is SOO READY it blows my mind. We are going to see her tomorrow and invite her to baptism. She is such a sweet soul. She is educated, kind, and already lives the gospel. We asked her what she thought the purpose of life is and her answer: to love and serve others! We don't teach her anything. She teaches me!!
Miracle #2
The other day one of our members ran into our investigator that we had an appointment set for Friday. Afterwards, he called us and VOLUNTEERED to come to the lesson if we would like! I accepted quite eagerly! He was great in the lesson. He came to our lesson during his dinner break after working all day and afterwards he went back to work until 1 or 2 am. It amazed me the sacrifice he made to help missionary work. It was a wondeful miracle and a blessing to me.
Miracle #3
Another one of our investigators came to church this Sunday for the first time! Oh happy day!
These are just a few of the miracles. Not to mention, one of our new converts brought a friend to church on Sunday, and one of our members invited us to come with him to visit the inactive family he home teaches. We found out he has been going for 25 years and they still do not want to come to church but he still goes.
And this Sunday at Pranzo we were inspired to help a family catch the missionary fire. On our way there the thought came to me to share my Dad's conversion story. We arrived and we had great discussions during lunch about all that they are doing for their non-member relatives and their coworkers. Then the father asked us why it was so important for members to help. I was able to explain and their newly returned missionary daughter also explained.
I was also able to share some things that Letty emailed me about her and Richard's family mission plan. At their Stake Conference the mission president advised them not to ask themselves who is ready to take the lessons, but who can they help come closer to Christ and how. Maybe our friends are not ready to meet with the missionaries, but we can help them take a step closer to Christ. So that someday they will be ready. After lunch I shared my Dad's Conversion story and how because of his choices he has blessed hundreds of lives including mine. It was an amazing experience!
I love you all so much and I miss you.
P.S. I will not be sending Christmas presents because instead I am just going to bring them home with me. It saves postage and I can see your faces when you open them!
Love you lots,
Sorella Preston
No comments:
Post a Comment