A Week of Miracles!!

Selfie with a Previa. That's my car!!! :)

January 19, 2015

People I love.

It was a week of many miracles. So so many! here are just a couple.

B. committed to a baptismal date, February 7th! We taught her on Tuesday, but it was more like Heavenly Father taught her and we got to watch! We started by reading in the Book of Mormon, 1st Nephi 3. "I will go and do!" says Nephi. B. has been hesitant about baptism, especially about setting a date. But we tried to help her understand that if she had the faith to commit, God would provide a way. Sister J., the member we brought, bore and incredible testimony about the power of baptism. B. was still hesitant, but she had a smile on her face as we talked about it! Finally, we asked her. "B., will you be baptized on Febuary 7th by someone holding the proper authority?" Even as the words, "Yes, I will", were coming out of her mouth, we watched her receive her answer that this was the right thing to do! She BEAMED. She was so excited!! She prayed to close the lesson, and she thanked God for answering her prayers about whether to be baptized, and about which church was the right one! We were on cloud 9 coming out of that lesson. God answers prayers! Sometimes he waits for us to "go and do" before the answers come. But they do come! 

 J. had a birthday! We made a caaaaaake :)

One more incredible story.

Wednesday evening, we had a lesson with our investigator, N. in Hoopeston, 30 minutes north of Danville. We were halfway there, in Rossville, when she texted us saying it wasn't going to work out. :(  We will a little frustrated, but decided to contact a referral from church headquarters in Rossville. However, our GPS took us to the wrong house, and wrong street. We asked for directions. But it was still the wrong street. The roads were icy, we were slipping everywhere, it was dark, and I also dropped the phone outside and forgot about it, so we had to go back and look for it! Then found the street, but there were no house numbers!!! All of this took almost an hour! Needless to say, we were exhausted and cold and frustrated, and felt like we were wasting our time. So we parked the car, and said a prayer, asking God to help us find the referral, or send us somewhere else. While we were praying, a car pulls into the driveway of the house we are in front of. We feel prompted to ask these people for help. So we approached them as they were getting out of the car, and asked if they knew a L. M. The woman answers that she IS L. M., and proceeds to invite us into her house! Despite the barking of many dogs, we sat down and had an incredible lesson about the Book of Mormon. Her and her husband, R., soaked it all up and wanted more! They committed to read the Book of Mormon and learn more about our church. We are teaching them again this week!

I am just overwhelmed with how much God loves us! All of that losing our way, slipping and sliding, dropping the phone, was for a purpose. The timing was so perfect that it was clearly planned by Heavenly Father. Also, I love the idea of sacrificing our warmth, time, comfort, dignity, whatever, for these new investigators! It made me love them so much more, and want their success so badly! Opposition in all things. Truly the baptisms, the spirit-led lessons, the love, and the growth that happen on a mission mean nothing without the dropped appointments, the rejection, the heartache, the frustration, and the weakness. God is showing me what real happiness is!

Bishop F. got released yesterday!! It feels like he was MY bishop. We are all so sad. I love that man! The new Bishop, Bishop B., will be fantastic though.

I love you all!

J. is the cutest. He is getting baptized on February 8th!!