Okay. This past week has been wonderful! I am obsessed with this work and being in this area. I have started to realize how much the Lord has blessed me to just easily love the people here! I love the ward so much and I love my investigators that we work with daily!!!!!!!
I will start off with talking about our most "promising" investigator at the moment, precious TOM!!!! He is so so so ready for this gospel!!!! We had a lesson with him this past Tuesday and the Elders came to help teach along with two members from the ward! We reviewed the Restoration with him and then we asked him if he would kneel right then and there and ask Heavenly Father if this church is restored. The spirit filled the room as we all humbly knelt down before our Maker. Tom started to sincerely pray as he said, "Lord. I come to you this day with a question. The sisters have been coming to teach me of your word and I ask that you direct me to the right path and let me know if this is the path for me. I've been lost these past couple of months and want to know YOUR will. Please Lord, I just want to be better. Amen." We all waited there as we continued to kneel and waited for Tom to speak. Tom finally sat up as tears flowed from his eyes. He said, "I got my answer.... God whispered to me that I would know it's true if I just keep reading the Book of Mormon." Ah. One of my FAVORITE things to witness on this mission is someone you love, kneeling down before Heavenly Father, and offering up the desires of their heart. It just brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. The next day, we came back and gave Tom a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. He told us that he thinks he will first have to quit smoking before he can give up coffee. He said that it would take him AT LEAST a month to give up smoking. The thought just came to my mind saying to me, "He can quit sooner than that." I felt prompted to ask Tom if he trusted us. He responded saying, "yeah. of course I do!" I then said, "I can PROMISE you that you can stop smoking in 2 weeks if you really rely on the Lord and have a desire to stop." He just kept saying, "yeah. maybe. I will try. It won't be easy though." THEN. ON SATURDAY. WE WENT OVER TO TOM'S AGAIN. Right as we see him, he says, "I am going to quit smoking today. Here. Take my cigarettes." He then proceeded to give us ALL OF HIS CIGARETTES. Sister Weekes and I got super excited and started to clean his ash trays with soap and water and then had him physically go throw his cigarettes away in the trash can. MIRACLES HAPPEN. I was so so so so so so happy! He told us that he found the strength to do so by reading his scriptures and looking on his desk and seeing all the ash everywhere. He told us that he was sick of the way he was living and wanted to change. He came to church yesterday and was BEAMING the whole time. HE LOVED IT. The Elders told us that he volunteered to say the prayer in Priesthood session. haha so great. And oh man, he jumped out of his seat when he heard the Bishop announce the annual "fish fry" that is coming up in two weeks. He is basically BFF's with everyone in the ward and it's just the best thing ever. Tom is having a BBQ at his house and wants us to invite everyone from the ward tomorrow!!! WAHOO!!!!!
The only thing that is holding Tom back from being baptized is that he thinks he has to read through the WHOLE Book of Mormon before making the commitment of baptism. He keeps telling us that everything he has read so far has agreed with his Bible. YOU CAN LITERALLY BET YOUR MONEY ON THE BOOK OF MORMON. I HAVE NO FEAR THAT HE WILL FIND ANY FAULT IN IT. CAUSE IT'S THE WORD OF GOD.
Oh, and Tom told us that he had a gift for us and ran back into his home to get it. Sister Weekes and I thought it would maybe just be like a picture or painting of an indian or something. No. Tom brings out these two BEAUTIFUL leather bags that he had handmade. He proceeded to tell us, "You know. I think God knew I was supposed to meet you ladies because I have been waiting for the right people to come along to give these to." My bag has a buffalo on it and Tom explained that he gave me the one with the buffalo because apparently a Buffalo to the Indians is the most spiritually strong animal out there.
We had a lesson with Victoria (finally) and ah, she is so amazing!!!! Victoria is 16 years old and is from Venezuela and has gone to church 8 times, but hasn't received the discussions for whatever reason until now! Her mom isn't too supportive of her and won't let us come over, so we met her at a fast food restaurant and had a lesson there. She explained to us that she just wants to be baptized and feel "complete". She told us that she has been baptized before and that she felt happy, but the happiness just didn't stay. We promised her that if she was baptized by Priesthood authority, she would feel that happiness for the rest of her life as long as she "leaned into the church". The spirit was super strong and she really opened up to us and told us that she isn't truly happy right now in her life and just wants to know God better. She got all quiet and innocent as she asked us, "Can I go out with you girls to teach people?" UM YES YOU CAN VICTORIA. She is so great. She then proceeded to tell us that she would have to buy comfortable shoes because all she ever wears are heels. hahahah love her so much :) We extended a baptismal date with her for May 25th and she told us she would have to pray about it! WAHOO.
I know I already told y'all the story over skype, but for everyone else...
Saturday was basically the best day of our transfer that we had ever had. I will make a bullet point list of everything that happened...
10:10 am: We were biking to see a lady named Camisha who we have been trying to contact for the longest time. On our way there, I see a guy out on his porch, doing a puzzle. A lady sat next to him in a chair and she was just reading a book. I stopped my bike and asked them if we could give them our card (mormon.org card). The man (Billy) proceeded to talk to us and tell us all about the Sister Missionaries who used to teach him 6 months ago. From what he was saying, I quickly understood why the Sisters from before dropped him. He was a super talkative guy. The lady next to him that was in the chair didn't really say anything. I asked her what book she was reading and she didn't really answer. She then asked, "Do y'all think I will see my daughter who passed away two years ago in heaven?" My heart just BROKE. PEOPLE NEED THIS GOSPEL. I just said, "YES YOU WILL. We KNOW that the family unit is VERY important to God and that He put us here on earth in families so that we could all grow and learn together and eventually be together forever in heaven." She started to cry as she said, "Really? THANK YOU. Ah. Y'all have no idea how much comfort y'all just gave me. Everyone in my church kept telling me that I won't know my family after I die and that just made me so sad for the past 2 years." We showed her Alma 40 that talks about the resurrection and invited her to read it. SHE WAS SO HAPPY TO HAVE THAT BOOK IN HER HANDS. IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER. I am so grateful for the spirit. I'm grateful for the promptings that it's able to give us to help us move this work forward!!!
11:00 am: we ate lunch. YUM
11:45 am: We taught this lady named Amanda who we basically just found on the street one day and she told us to come back and teach her. We taught her the restoration and all she would say back was, "mmhmm." We extended a baptismal date for her for May 25th! She said she was going to come to church yesterday, but accidentally slept in. We shall see with her...
12:30 pm: We went out with Sister Preston (lady in the ward) for a team up and she took us to meet with this man named Antonio that we met the same day we met Amanda. We taught him the first lesson and it went well! Not sure if he has a strong desire to learn or not, but he told us that he has to make things right with God before reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. Not sure what that is supposed to mean, but he understood the priesthood pretty well!! He works as a truck driver during the week and isn't home very often. Only on Saturday and Sunday. GAH.
1:30 pm: Met with Tom!!!!! HE QUIT SMOKING.
2:30 pm: Visited with a less active man named Jesse who we have been trying to contact for a while. He was working in his yard and couldn't run away from us! HEHEHEHHE.
3:00 pm: Sister Preston dropped us off. We start to bike over to visit a less active lady named Bobbiejo and her daughter, Aviya by the river. We say hi to the mexican man that we always say hi to every day who is always out on his porch. Then, the thought came to me, "why don't we ever just go talk to him and teach him???" We turned back around and started talking to him. His name is Abel. He started crying and told us in his broken english how he wants to stop drinking and how he never eats because all he wants to do is drink. He asked us to pray for him. We said a prayer right then and there and he just couldn't stop sobbing. He kept saying, "Thank you! Thank you! You are sent from God!" We told him that missionaries who spoke spanish could come and visit with him and he just got so excited and gave us his number!!! yay!
4:00 pm: Visited with Bobbie jo and Aviya and went on a beautiful 20 minute hike with them and had a spiritual message at the top of the cliff. Bobbie jo just kept thanking us for coming and told us that she was so excited to show us the trail! It was beautiful!!!!
5:00 pm: Came home and ate dinner! wAHOO.
6:00 pm: Walked over to visit a less active man named brother lowery. Saw these two guys outside grilling. We talked to the guy who actually was nice to us and basically taught him the whole restoration lesson without him knowing it. We talked about Jimmer and he thought it was cool that he was Mormon. We handed him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it. He tried to give it back to me and I just put my hands behind my back. (worked like a charm). I don't think he was super interested and thought we were a little crazy. hahah he said at the very end, "y'all haven't stopped smiling ever since you said hi to me. What is wrong with you?" hahahhaha we just started laughing and told him that we just loved the Book of Mormon and that it made us happy to talk about. hahahah I love this work so much.
6:30 pm: Did more street contacting.
7:30: Went to Brother Lowery's. He expressed his feelings toward coming to church and how he doesn't think he's worthy to come to church because he smokes. We assured him that he would be totally fine coming to church and offered to help him quit smoking!!!! WE ARE GOING TO HELP HIM THIS WEEK.
8:45: We start to walk home. We see a man on his bike and just wave to him. He smiled and waved back. We continued walking back home. Then, we see the man on the bike start following us. I was freaking out inside, but kept my cool. He then bikes up right next to us and says, "Hey! What do y'all believe? I want to know!" I then think to myself, "wow! could this day get any better?????" NO. This man was basically the devil on a bicycle. UGH. He just bible bashed us the whole time and said all this awful stuff that I honestly can't even remember which is probably a good thing. I finally just said, "You know what? I'm not here to argue! This mission brings me so much happiness and our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Have a nice day!" He then kept trying to interrupt me and told me that I was going to be condemned and blah blah blah. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THE TESTIMONY THAT I HAVE. I know I need to build it up even more!!!! Helaman 5:12 anyone? Yeah. That's what this experience reminded me of!!!!
I honestly can't remember anything else that happened this week that is worth typing. I'm sure there is more! Mother's day dinner with Sister Adams and her family was great! She made SO MUCH FOOD. Turnips, corn, ribs, cornbread, mac n' cheese, pecan pie, and apple strudel!!! She had a cute apron on and everything. Once we were done eating, she said, "okay everyone! The sisters are going to share a bible message with us!" Her son quickly said, "uh. we have to go to the park. We promised our daughter that we would." IT WAS PITCH DARK OUTSIDE. yeah so they all left to apparently go to the park and I just felt so bad for Sister Adams because she really wants her family to know this gospel!!!!! mah. We will keep working with them!!!!
Awkward approach that I used this week. I see a man on a porch eating popcorn... I stop my bike and say, "Hey! are you eating buttery popcorn or kettle corn? I have been trying to find kettle corn for the longest time! Where is it at??" he looked at me and said, "uh. I got it at walmart." hahahahahahhahaha I'm so awkward. I have learned to just embrace it.
Sometimes, before I leave the house, I pray saying, "please bless that I won't be awkward today."
I love y'all so much! This work is REAL and true!!!! I invite y'all to hand out a Book of Mormon to a friend this month! DO IT. We never know who is ready for the gospel. We have to talk to EVERYONE. I know my Savior lives. I know that Heavenly Father is helping us all out every day. Thanks for all y'all do!!!!!!
MYKY,
Sister Platt
:)
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