Prepare yourselves for a novel...
I dunno that I have felt this blessed in a long time!! Wow. I read a talk this week that said, "as we study and ponder, we are entitled to the promptings of the Spirit, and as we grow more attentive to these promptings, we come to recognize each day the workings of the Lord in our lives. We will find Him in the details of our lives." I was pondering this week a question about how intimately the Lord is really involved in all the little things, but He has confirmed again and again to me He truly is in the very details of our lives. It's one of Satan's tricks to make us believe things happen by mere coincidence or our own efforts alone. Yes, efforts on our part are necessary as well, but I feel they'd be wasted without the hand of the Lord shaping our lives day by day as we walk the path of becoming. I want to share some of the miracles and tender mercies of this blessed week that helped witness to me the truthfulness of God's love for each of His children.
Laura. We found her knocking with the sisters on exchanges. She let us show the "Prince of Peace" video to her but after it ended tried to shut us down. She said, "That is nice but we believe in completely different things. We believe in Jesus Christ and saints and the virgin Mary; you believe in something totally different." She looked to me and I began to testify to her in Spanish of Jesus Christ. The moment I opened my mouth, you would not believe how dramatic the Spirit made His entrance ;) He was there and He was there strong! He confirmed what I said as I began to teach about the Book of Mormon and the role it has as another witness of Christ. The Spirit is the best senior companion ever because He knew what she needed and guided it there. After finishing explaining and testifying of the Book of Mormon I offered it to her. She took it quickly and said we could come back to talk about it again. We left that house to carry on with the street as Sister Yu asked me what happened. She told me she couldn't understand what I was saying but that the Spirit was crazy strong the whole time. It was amazing!
Another tender mercy and experience the Lord blessed us with was Friday afternoon with a woman named Mary. Mary and her two massive adorable dogs are traveling "out west" in the hopes of a new job opening. They are currently staying in a dog-friendly hotel and living out of a van. She was looking for a place to let them be outside and came across our chapel (we have lots of grass and shade with a big parking lot). Here is where we found them, chilling under the trees. She was anxious she would be told to leave; of course not! We talked for a few minutes then went inside. After finishing our weekly planning, I felt I wanted to try one more time to get a gospel conversation going with her. We went. We talked for a bit again and the thought repeatedly entered my mind, "pray with her" (Don't put off promptings until the end, okay?? I am still working on this...). She was packing up to leave - as were we - when she said to pray for them that all would be well. She meant later, but we awkwardly asked if she wanted us to pray for/with them now. Oh my goodness, did she (literally) run at that! She told us what she was stressed about and I said I would offer the prayer. I began, addressing our Heavenly Father, and you would not believe... the Spirit hit us like I have never before felt simply offering a prayer. We finished and she could not stop thanking us and crying. We gave her a card and told her if she ever needed anything she could get help there after explaining a bit how the church and missionaries work. We said our goodbyes and just walked away dumbfounded that such a little thing to us as offering a prayer could be that spiritual of an experience for not only her, but us as well.
These two experiences of the week specifically are very cherished to me because I haven't always felt like one who "teaches with power and authority" as the BOM missionaries are described, but in these moments I felt it. It was such a tender mercy and blessing for me to see I had the Spirit with me enough that when I went to testify He was there to confirm my words. When I called on God, He was there. In these situations we were blessed with individuals whose hearts were open, allowing Him to plant those seeds. We never know who is ready or at what stage they are, but if we are always willing and worthy to testify, teach, and serve we will find opportunities to be a witness of Jesus Christ.
I have been on a bit of a "disciple hype" as I call it, reading everything under the sun about what it means to be a true follower of Christ as I try my best to be that. I am grateful for the mercy, love, and patience of my Savior as He teaches me how to be more like Him. One thing He has begun a real endeavor on for me is teaching me humility. This week He gave us a beautiful family to teach who demonstrate this attribute. Hermana Rosario found them street contacting on exchanges. We went for our lesson at the end of the week. The dad wasn't there but the others were. We began the lesson explaining our purpose and that our message is centered on Jesus Christ. We asked what they knew of Him and their answer was simple and humble: "El es nuestro Salvador y debemos creer en El," the mom and aunt testified. That was all they knew. The kids spoke English so we pulled up the "Who Is Jesus?" children's bible video for them. The rest of the lesson was so powerful.
At the end we introduced the Book of Mormon as another witness of Christ. We were comparing it to the Bible when the thought entered my mind that they had never read the Bible. Sure enough, we found they had never read nor touched a Bible. We offered the books to them and they just hugged them. The 8-year-old pointed to the one I was holding and looked at it steadfastly, thinking intently. Then, he turned to me. "That book came from the God," he said. In that moment his simple testimony filled the room with the Spirit as He confirmed the words of this little boy who had never before seen a book of scripture.
We invited them to read the introduction and explained we would talk more about it next time (as well as prophets because the daughter wanted to know who Moses was!). They eagerly agreed. Wrapping up, we asked who would like to say the prayer. The two kids shot their hands up. We decided they could both do it. We all knelt and waited. Hermana Rosario leaned over, "Do you know how to pray?" No, was their simple reply. "Follow me, just say what I say." Hermana Rosario began the prayer. Both kids repeated after her and as we rose and gathered our things we felt little arms around us as each child came bounding forward with hugs --even the little two year old waddled up to us beaming and hugged our legs. It was quite possibly one of the coolest lessons of my entire mission as this family eagerly soaked in every word we said, testifying they knew everything we said was true. Their complete humility and desire to learn invited the Spirit where He was able to bear His witness. We will let you know what happens with them :)
This email is already a novel and it is only through Sunday as of now. But one more short story and we will move along to the rest of this week :)
Marta is on a baptismal date!! As of now it is set for the 15th of July. She also came to church this Sunday and the lesson for Gospel Principles was PERFECT. They answered every single one of her questions and we are hopeful her doubts are gone and she will press forward in faith. We have very high hopes for her.
(I'll write y'all Monday about the rest of the week cause this is ridiculous :) sorry :) love you! Hope it's a good week!!)
Mucho amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley
No comments:
Post a Comment