Hello Friends and Family,
Well, it has been such a great… Hard week.
This week we (Sister Scott and I) found out that we are here to
pick up the broken pieces of Clovis North. Sadly, we have had less than
obedient missionaries here in the past, and they didn't contribute much to
helping this place grow. They left us with a very large teaching pool.
However.... NONE of them were progressing. They were just
houses missionaries could go to and just "visit."
Monday started off the "Hard" week :)
After P-day we went to a members home who is not doing well at
all. (She got up in church in testimony meeting and claimed she was
attempting killing herself.) So, that’s no good. Well, that was quite
eventful! We ended up having the cops and EMS there…. And they took her to the
hospital... We were hoping she would go to Roswell to get medication and fixed,
but wow... it was eventful!
Then, on Tuesday we had the hardest lesson of my mission yet. My
companion is so great! Throughout her mission the Lord has been helping
her learn about herself and she has grown so much. She is a more quiet person
and often isn't too bold, but this week we had an "Eternigator" that
we had to either drop or get her progressing. (This was a very spiritual lesson
for me to learn). In the morning during planning for the lesson Sister Scott
and I had no idea what she needed. So we prayed and prayed together and separate,
and we came up with the conclusion that she NEEDED to pray out loud with us or
else she wouldn't get the answer, and if you'll remember ( I think I mentioned
it last email) that I almost got us kicked out of her house because I invited
her to pray and kind of pushed to see if she would do it. So, I was scared. I
told Sister Scott, “You’re going to have to be the one to invite her to pray.”
There is no way I will be able to do it. So all morning we role played how we
can approach the situation and how Sister Scott can go into inviting her to
pray. We knew what we had planned is what our investigator needed. We went to
our "member presents" home and told her what her purpose of being
there was and that it would be VERY likely that we get kicked out again, but we
were praying our investigator would pray. We get to our investigator’s house
and I started out by telling her our experience of the morning and how we were
going to read some scriptures. Then Sister Scott just took the lesson away and
told her how much she loved her and why we do what we do as missionaries and
just testified and she concluded it with, "At the end of our lesson Sister
Dawes isn't going to pray, I'm not going to pray, and Sister Fulton (member)
isn't going to pray. We will invite you to pray. If you choose to say “no” we
will leave without a prayer." And WOW!!!
The spirit was strong. We read the chapter we picked with her and then
at the end of the lesson invited our member to pray. She declined and I was
filled with the spirit to be extremely bold. I told her, "If you choose
not to pray at this time with us here you will not get your answer for quite a
few Years. If you choose to pray now you WILL get your answer. But we won't
make you pray." Sadly, we left without a prayer and with one less
investigator. It broke our hearts to know that the Lord would have answered her
prayer if she would have put forth the faith to try. I know the power of
prayer. I have had so many experiences with the Holy Ghost on my mission that I
can not deny his power and the power of prayer. I know the Lord answers prayers
and the He is waiting for us to ask. I know this investigator would have gotten
her answer if she would have asked. I don't know why she needed to do it with
us there, but I know she will not be receiving any answer about the
truthfulness of this gospel for quite a while. Sister Scott was so amazing. I
am so proud of her. She did something she didn't think she could do. She is
going to be a changed missionary after this transfer.
After that hardship we went out biking to morning find, and we
came upon a man. He wasn't interested, but there was this little boy biking
around and he stopped to hear what we were saying, and when we said goodbye to
this man he said "MY MOM IS HOME." (We were caught of guard :) We
said, “Well, will you take us to her?” He did. The mom came out and talked to
us. She told us she had lost faith in Jesus Christ because a family member had
committed suicide a year ago. And we told her we had a message special for her
that will bless her. We were supposed to see her yesterday, but she wasn't home,
so we will keep trying. But I know after our trials the Lord sends us miracles,
and I really hope she is our miracle. :)
The Elders also in our ward gave us a solid, solid referral :) Well,
actually, a family of like 8 people!!!!! 2 of the kids came to church yesterday
and oh my goodness--- they are so ready :) We went over and we were able to
talk with the mom. (The elders had never met her) and she told us she wants to
listen as well :) The Lord really does bless his servants that work hard, and
Sister Scott and I are working HARD! We have a meeting with them Thursday at 7
pm!
I testify that this is the Lords church and he is leading and
guiding Sister Scott and I. On Friday Sister Scott and I were trying a bunch of
Less- actives that nobody knows anything about. One particular house was empty,
so something we have been taught to do is knock 5 houses to the left, 5 to the
right, and 5 across. So we did. We went to the left (nobody was interested) 5
in front (no interest) then 4th door over-- a family answered and told us they
had just been in Utah and they had been on temple square. They didn't have much
time, so we will be going back shortly. Then 2 doors from them we found more
less active members that we are going to try to bring back!
Yesterday, we went and saw a less active/part member
family. We found out that this house was a hang out home for missionaries,
and they went over there and taught fluff...(as Sis Scott would call
it). Well, yesterday for the first time in 1 1/2 years we, because we
did our calling, were able to hit the bottom of the iceberg. And we
are going to help them overcome their trials and help them understand
the atonement!
THE CHURCH IS SO TRUE AND IT TRULY DOES BLESS LIVES :)
I am so grateful I get to be a missionary, and I am grateful
that I have chosen to be an obedient missionary. Blessings are poured out upon obedient
missionaries, and I am just now seeing the real definition of missionary work
and it is great :) So great :)
Have such a great week I
love you all :
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