This week was very rewarding! It is such a blessing to be a missionary (it can be tough at times) but when you are blessed with miracles it makes it all worth. We had only a few teaches this week, but what we did teach was great. One teach was with a young Vietnamese woman. We had not had contact with her in a while, but when we did reach her she was very positive. She admires the work of the missionaries and enjoys learning about the gospel. We encouraged her to continue to read from the Book of Mormon, so that she could come to find out that the church is true. We will be meeting with her this week. As we got up from teaching her, we headed over to the 'gågate' (it is the city's main street where most of the shops are, so sort of like a strip mall down a main street, where we do most of our contacting). As we were just walking up to the gågate, we stopped a woman to ask her if she's heard about the Book of Mormon. I don't know exactly why, but my companion and I were especially smiling as we encountered this woman. We usually smile, but this time it was so much she actually asked us why we were smiling so much. We didn't really even know, but asked her if she had heard of the BoM. She said she had the exact same book at her house! We were definitely surprised, then she told us that she had found the book on a ledge while she was walking on the street. She took the book home with her and it's now laying next to her Bible. We were stunned! Then we asked if we could meet her to explain the book, she said we could but not until September because she will be on vacation. Amazing! People are definitely being prepared to hear about this message. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to teach her, I could be leaving soon.
Another teach we had, we taught 3 elderly people that are around the age of 80. We taught the Plan of Salvation to them and it was a well received lesson. What a great experience! One of the women had lived in the states, so I asked her where. She said, "a small city outside of Chicago - Dekalb, IL." I was stunned. They even brought up Sycamore and I told them that that is where I had been set apart as a missionary! It was pretty cool. We will be teaching them again next week.
Another teach we had was with a mother and a daughter who had been on vacation for abot a month, so there was no time to meet! The mother was actually the first person ever, where I had been present at a teach. The daughter has more recently been involved in the lessons, but she seems to like what we share. We started watching some of the Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration film, but only were able to get half-way through it. We invited her to come to church and she accepted! So she was at church with us yesterday!
Yesterday, church was pretty special as well. Many of the youth went up to bear their testimonies about their experiences they have had going out with the missionaries on teaches. The spirit was unique. We have been striving to bring youth on teaches with us, even dedicated a Sunday to teach them a 'mini-MTC' and now they are all catching fire. It's incredible to be a part of the work. The best part, there is a girl, Mina, who will be going on a mission. She will be putting her papers in today! It's unbelievable to see how the Lord works. She bore her testimony yesterday, and it is so apparent that the Lord prepares people to serve Him. I know in my own experiences I was prepared in a special way. Now, I get to be an instrument and see how He prepares others. I also had to get up and bear my testimony. There is a possibility I could be moving from this area in a few weeks, so I had to get up and let the people know in this good ward - that I appreciated the examples that they were to me. I also added that I am grateful to the missionaries who taught my mom, so that I can also be an instrument and a missionary to teach others who have been prepared as my mom.
This is a special experience to be here. To be a part of miracles and to inspire others to receive their own as well. I am grateful for my family, for the gospel, for scriptures, and for the many examples I have had throughout my life. I am grateful for the Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I hope everyone has an excellent week!!
Elder, why you're leaving us? huhuhu... Hope you could serve here in Haugesund. Anyway, I just saw your blog in google and how did you do this? Can you teach me how? I wanted to have my own too.
ReplyDeleteLove lots,
Amerigo & Sarah