Monday, February 6, 2017

The Church is True; the Book is Blue!!!!

I could swear Saturday was 3 days ago, but I guess it's already PDay again! #nocomplaints. This week was PACKED- it was awesome! Heavenly Father has been blessing us with SO many prepared hearts. From the start of the week we've gotten referral after referral, new investigator after new investigator! It's insane! We spend a good part of our day contacting people and walking around campus talking to students. There's such a melting pot of nationalities here, so our teaching pool is pretty culturally diverse! A teaching missionary is a happy missionary, which explains why Sister Winters and I are on Cloud 9. If you'd told me I'd ever teach the Restoration to a group of people on a public transit bus, I would think I'd have gone crazy. But I've come to feel such a deep personal love for the gospel that I'm more concerned for people's eternal welfare than I am about looking stupid (good thing, cuz missionaries look stupid a lot of the time, haha!). 

LAURA`S BAPTISM IS NEXT SATURDAY! I am SO excited!!! She's been inviting everyone and telling every person she meets that she's joining the church. She decided this week that if her dad really cared about coming, he would come on the day she felt ready to be baptized, so instead of pushing it back, she's sticking with her original date. Family opposition is so hard, but she's overcoming it like a champ. All things are possible through Christ, who strengthens us! We taught Jeanne about tithing and the importance of helping build up the Kingdom of God on the earth. When we started the lesson she had some concerns about it, but by the end after the Spirit had touched her, she saw what a blessing paying tithing was and committed to be a full-tithe payer after she's baptized! She told us she feels ready and wants to make that step now- she just has to tell her family. I'm so excited for her! 

A new investigator we're teaching now is SUCH a crazy miracle. He's been taught by the missionaries for 2 years, but a couple months ago he told them he wasn't ready to join the church because he was afraid of the persecution he would get, so he stopped meeting with them and told them not to contact him, that he would get in touch when he was ready. So we had no clue who this guy was, but his name and info popped up under "New Referral" in our Area Book (which was a totally fluke because he's not a referral OR new, so his name shouldn't have been there). So we reach out and contact him, having no idea about his history with past lessons, and he said he wanted to meet as soon as possible! So in walks the sweetest kid with this bow tie and loafers and dressed all fancy, and we have this amazing lesson with him and he tells us all about his past and why he hasn't joined the church, even though he believes it's true. He said the past 2 years he just hadn't connected with any of the elders or sisters, but he felt like Sister Winters and I were the ones to help him finally commit to be baptized despite his fears about what his friends or family will say. There's another hurdle in his desire to be baptized that involves changing something for the rest of his life. He knows it's not right, but he's afraid those tendencies won't go away, even after he's baptized. When he opened up the Spirit just filled the room- all three of us were crying. He has SO much faith and knows things will work out, either in this life or the next. He's AMAZING! 

Being in a YSA ward can only mean one thing....DRAMAAAAA. Which is all fun and games until it involves both of your investigators- who both are dating the SAME GUY IN THE WARD. Which can only end one way- badly. So we're low key stressing about how that whole situation is going to turn out. We're in the process of trying to play matchmaker and find someone else for both of them...it's a struggle. But the Lord will work it all out! 

This week was also exchanges! Sister Ching came to my area and we worked here! She's from Los Angeles, so we spent 90% of the time reminiscing haha. I love getting to spend time with different sisters throughout the transfer- being an STL is the best! 

Funny story: So we go out contacting and give away all our Book of Mormons, and then we meet this AMAZING single mom who we feel really strongly needs a BoM. But we didnt have any to give her, except for the personal copy I use that I've been writing notes in and marking for a good chunk of my mission. It was probably against better judgment, but I gave her my copy hoping I'd get it back eventually! But we set up a return appointment with her and she said she'd been reading the highlighted parts and they really touched her. So hopefully there will be more to report on next week! 

*Quotes of the week*

Random guy on campus: "Can I just say something? Mormons are the hottest of all Christians."

*after teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ*
Brother Woodward: "And you know what happens after we endure to the end?"
Laura: "The Millenium?"

Love you all! -Sister Brett

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