This week was so full of miracles. God is eternally good and I can't even begin to try to express how loving and perfect He is.
I love the experiences I am having as a minister of Jesus Chris sustained by the power and authority of God. I am grateful for my "right and privilege to represent the Lord" and that he has trusted me to bring his lost sheep back to the fold (PMG, 4).
Heavenly Father trusted us this week to teach so many of his children.
We taught Angela the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Tuesday. We taught her about God's hand in restoring the plan of our eternal salvation and happiness. She had been reading from the Book of Mormon and praying. She loved the feelings she experienced as she did so. She told us how excited she was for her baptism and told us all of her plans. We taught her a few days later and went over the Word of Wisdom, praying daily, and studying the scriptures daily. She testified of it all and accepted it. She told us she was going to home to Penticton over the weekend, and so she would go to church there with the Elders if she couldn't get a ride back in time to come to YSA. Saturday, we got a text from her telling us this church wasn't for her. The timing may not be right, but "our message, which is centered in Jesus Christ, is of great value and importance" and that "no matter what [her] needs or concerns might be, the Savior and His teachings-the gospel-will help" (PMG, 176). I know that when she is ready, she will remember, just as Alma did, what we have taught her as well as the witness she received from the Spirit, a member of the Godhead, that these things were true. And when she is ready, she can grasp hold of the Savior and remember how close she felt as she read the words of his chosen prophets that testified of him.
17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
We went finding on campus at UBCO (University of British Columbia) and testified of the power of Jesus Christ to everyone we talked to. I loved it.
We met one guy named Chad*. At the end of our conversation, he had to run to class, and we only had time to give him our number. We thought we would never hear from him again because that is just how it goes. The next day, we got a text from him telling us he wanted to hear more. We set up a lesson with him. We got to know him and taught the Restoration. He was so excited to be able to have his own Book of Mormon and to try out the promise given by the prophet Moroni, that he could read this book and know whether it was of God or not. We left him with 2 Nephi 31 and the introduction. He asked us when we could meet again to learn more. He came to church yesterday and enjoyed himself. He told us he read 2 Nephi 31 and the introduction and he loved it. We pray that he will continue to "come to know Him by reading, pondering, and praying about the Book of Mormon" as the Elders continue to teach him (PMG, 105).
On Friday night, some of our lessons fell through, and we didn't know what we should do. We decided to pray. Sister Schroeder and I both got the answer that we should go to Wal-Mart, even though that was the last place we wanted to go.
"Pray for the Spirit's guidance, and valiantly follow the promptings you receive" (PMG, 91).
And we drove to Wal-Mart. We got in and we cleared our mind. Who did Heavenly Father need us to meet? We both felt a man. And we cleared our minds again. Old or young. We felt that it was an older man, but not an old man. We cleared our minds again. Where should we go? We pondered and waited a minute. We felt the electronics section. We walked to the back of the store and there was no one there. We began to walk around and tried to rely on the Spirit. We walked past an isle that had a man in it. We both paused at the isle divider. It was him. We walked down the isle, took a second to look at some power tools right next to him, and then said hello. His name was Norman*. We quickly got to know him just enough for him to feel comfortable and we began talking about Christ and our role as missionaries. We exchanged numbers, and we said we would contact him. On Saturday, he texted us and told us he wanted to learn more.
Last night, we met with him and taught him the Restoration. He was amazed that we have a prophet of God on the earth to lead and guide us today and wanted to know for himself if he was a true prophet. We gave him a Book of Mormon and extended him the invitation to read, ponder, and pray to know if it was true. He was so excited and said he would be baptized as he came to know Thomas S. Monson was a prophet of God, that Joseph Smith was called of God and the prophet who restored Christ's perfect church on the earth again, and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. He asked when we could meet again so he could continue to learn.
"When individuals... feel the Spirit working with them, or when they see the evidence of the Lord's love and mercy in their lives, they are edified and strengthened spiritually and their faith in Him increases. These experiences with the Spirit follow naturally when a person is willing to experiment upon the word" (PMG, 93).
If we had not acted, we would not have had that experience. If we had not asked, it would not have been given us. If we did not seek, we would not have found. If we had not knocked, it would not have been opened unto us. But we did, and like always, God kept his promise.
We have been given everything we need to have happiness now and joy in eternity. It is up to us if we use those blessings from our loving Heavenly Father. Through our agency, we decide if we are happy, we decide if Christ has power in our lives, we decide if we return to live with God again. Continually "feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). We need to remember how good God is and remember to do as he has asked, and "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven, and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all things which the Lord can comprehend" (Mosiah 4:9).
That is just a touch of what I have seen and felt this week.
On another note, Sister Schroeder and I play "What are the odds..." as we are going about. We were walking down this street downtown, and there was only one man. I asked her what the odds were that she would bring up the hokey pokey in our next conversation. And we guessed the same number.
Us: Hello! How are you?
-Old man breathes hard, bent over in pain after shooting himself up... (No we didn't know he was before we started talking).
Sister Schroeder (nervously talking): We were just wondering if you had ever heard of the hokey pokey. You know...you put your right arm in...you put your right arm out... you put your right arm in and you shake it all about..you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself about... that's what it's all about...
-As Sister Schroeder was talking, a car full of guys our age pulled up in an alley behind us and were watching. I was wondering what they were doing, and they just sat there.
And then the old man says "That's what it's all about" as he lifts up his head and gives us the creepiest look. And just then the guys in the car shout something and we quickly take the out and they speed off. Pretty much just saved us from the creepiest man.
One more miracle.
Love you all! Have a fantastic week!
Hermana Lewis
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| Most of the Zone after Zone Meeting. We got our Christmas present from the Burts. Sister Lai, Sister Tripp, Me, Sister Wright, Elder Maurer, Elder Coomans, Elder Gleed, Sister Madson, Sister Heward, Elder McNabb, Elder Pectol, Elder Petersen, Elder Haase, Elder Ellis) |
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