Well another week of highs and lows. Luckily the highs out-weighed the lows. (I'll start with the lows so that we can end on a good note ;)
First of all, my heart goes out to all the missionaries and their families that are out serving in the Philippines. It was so tragic to hear about the awful storm they had, but I am so grateful to have heard that every missionary was accounted for. My prayers continue to go out to all the people of the Philippines and their safety. How grateful to be serving where I am.
So last week I expressed my excitement about some referrals that we got and how golden they seemed! Well, unfortunately it was a too-good-to-be-true situation. Although Jamie (the one who felt prompted to stop by our church) came to Sacrament meeting last Sunday, she flaked on us on our appointment Tuesday and has not responded to our phone calls since. It is a bit discouraging, but I am very glad for how she was received at church and how everyone welcomed her with warm arms. I know it was nothing that we did, but just her choice. Another referral fell through as well which was more because of the negative influence of her husband. Maybe one day she'll desire to learn more and not deny the experiences she's had.
Tuesday night was fun as we attended one of our Relief Society's monthly activities. We learned how to make pies. Mom, you'd be so proud. It was really fun to get to interact with the sisters in the ward and we even had 2 nonmembers and a less-active attend! It was great because the less-active, Ashley, was someone we had been trying to work with. Her husband had had a baptismal date set and everything, and then last minute backed out. So we've been trying to reach out to him and also their 9 year old daughter, Izzy. But it was so great to see Ashley there, and she even won the "cutest apron" contest!
Wednesday, we got to participate in the monthly stake Humanitarian service project. We got there a little late, but were able to write holiday letters to the servicemen. Having my dad serve in the Army makes this a little more special for me and I tried to make these letters as personal as possible, helping them to know that they were thought of and prayed for. I feel that I can relate a little bit, taking a good amount of time out of my life to serve for others, leaving behind my family to bless so many others. I am grateful for all the servicemen and for their great sacrifice to our country and our freedom. Later that afternoon, we got to have another lesson with Mary Jo. She is probably our most progressing investigator right now and we just love her! I don't know if I've mentioned her before, but she is what we would call a "dry Mormon". A lot of her family is already LDS, including her deceased husband. In fact, he was kind of holding her back from joining before, but now that she on her own, she feels more of a desire to join. As we have gotten to know her, it has been so amazing to hear what testimonies she already has of the gospel and the Book of Mormon and as she has expressed her concern, it is such a comforting feeling as I think in mind, "we can answer that!". She wants to understand the Atonement better and to feel like she knows enough before making the commitment of baptism. Another thing we have to be patient about is that her daughter and son-in-law have been gone in Ghana for almost the past 8 months as they try to adopt a couple children. There have been so many struggles there and we know that she won't get baptized unless her family is all here. So we just have to keep them in our prayers. That night, we got to visit with the Karren's who are a less-active family we've been popping in on since we got here. The husband has made it to church 2 weeks in a row now with their two little girls! Although Sister Karren doesn't feel quite ready, I'm grateful her husband is setting that example for her. We shared a couple Mormon Messages with them and got to have a good visit. Although it's exciting to see someone get baptized, it is JUST as exciting to see someone come back. The Karren's haven't been active in Church since they were in their teens and having a family of their own now, they are realizing how important religion plays a part of raising their girls.
Thursday, we had Zone Conference. With the mission growing, more zones are being created and so they are breaking up the areas into smaller groups. It was a wonderful Zone Conference as we discussed the Abrahamic covenant and what the literal gathering of Israel means and includes. President Winder then transitioned into how the Book of Mormon is a sign that the gathering of Israel has begun and the importance of helping others gain that testimony of the Book of Mormon. This is not the first time we have had training on this, but I know it is because it plays such a vital part. I was reminded of when Elder Martino of the Quorum of the 70 came to our mission and shared his conversion story. He had said that he had lots of questions for the missionaries, but before they would answer any of them, they asked if he knew the Book of Mormon was true. He had not gotten that answer for himself yet and so he went into another room and prayed for that confirmation. Ideally, he wanted an answer with lightening bolts and thundering, but that would not be the case, as it really never is. However, as he prayed sincerely and realized what he needed to do if he discovered it was true, he had an overwhelming feeling come over him of peace and comfort that, indeed, the Book of Mormon was the word of God. As he shared this with the elders, they testified of his answer and began to walk away. Confused, he asked "well what about my questions?" (about poligamy, prophets, etc), they turned and simply said, "they don't matter anymore". Simply, what they were saying is that if we know the Book of Mormon is true, nothing else matters because everything else will fall into place. If we know the Book of Mormon is true, then we know that Jesus is the Christ, Heavenly Father still speaks to us today and called Joseph Smith to be a prophet to restore Christ's church and translate the records of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Saints is the true church once again on the earth today. This one book holds so much evidence and power and how grateful I am to know it IS true! On another high note, we won the "clean car" award with our new Jeep. Woohoo!
Saturday, was another day of miracles. I've been praying a lot to find success, especially since our referrals have not been panning out. So as we were out contacting, we were able to meet with a few less-actives, including Ashley, that we have not been able to get in contact with successfully before. One was LuGene who is a less-active member and her husband is not a member. Last time we tried, she quickly turned us away, but this time she welcomed us in without any hesitation. It was great just to visit with her and get to know her more. She welcomed us back and we hope that through these visits, we can reach out to her husband as well. Ashley was another successful contact. Izzy welcomed us in, showing us her new pet albino rat (joy!). Haha. Ashley told us to just come upstairs where we found her and her husband painting their bathroom. We rebuked them a little for not calling us to help, but they quickly apologized and we set up a time to help them paint more next week. We then had a great visit with Ashley and Izzy and Ashley gave us her word that she would be at church the following Sunday (which is great since Sister Archuleta and I will be doing a musical number in her ward that day too)! This was a lot more receptivity than she gave us last time. As we got back in our car, we gave a prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father for the success that he had given us that day and softening these people's hearts. We ended that evening at our stake president's house. I love President Firmage! His energy and passion for the gospel and missionary work is so motivating. He expressed his gratitude for the work that Sister Archuleta and I have done and told us that he would have no hesitation sending any one to us to hear the discussions. Coming from a stake president, that is one of the biggest compliments a missionary can receive. He does have a couple people he has been trying to have us work with and we are very grateful for that. He informed us that in our next transfers (Dec. 2), the Star stake will be getting 2 new sets of missionaries and that 5 out of the 7 wards will have their own set of missionaries. The wards that we cover though will continue to share us. This kind of hinders my predictions, as I felt that they would split Sister Archuleta and I and I would take the 2nd ward and she would take the Beacon Light ward. Now we have no clue what will happen haha. But I will leave it to the Lord. I have loved serving here in Star and would have no problem staying longer as things are really just starting to get going.
I am so grateful for these experiences I am having on my mission and the humility I am continuing to gain. Every day I am reminded that this is not my work and that it is so important that we continue to give the glory to our Lord. My companion shared about miracles the other day and helped me to fully understand that a miracle is not defined as something that has to be huge, but can be the little things. Since then, I am realizing that we are seeing miracles EVERY day. In these season of gratitude, let us all continue to think of what we are THANKFUL for every day and then thank our Father in Heaven for blessing us with those things.
Love,
Sister Wightman
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