I LOVE serving in the YSA branch. This week has truly been the most
overwhelming, stressful, joyful and successful week of my mission. The
field really is "white already to harvest". And boy have Sister
Kutterer and I have been doing our best to thrust in our sickles with
all our might! It's been amazing! She is such a dedicated and hard
working missionary and makes up for what I lack. I'm learning so much
from her!
We've seen too many miracles to count. Mom mentioned in her letter how
nice it will be to hear these experiences in person and I agree. Most
of these will have to wait until then! But I'll share a few.
Tuesday during lunch we were talking with Sister Fuller and Sister
Jacobs about different ways we could "get in the door" and have
powerful first contacts. After lunch we began walking up to UGA
campus. We noticed a young man holding a flower. I LOVE flowers so of
course we had to stop him and talk to him about it. Once we broke the
ice we began to get to know him and his beliefs. At that point he
invited us to step under the shade of a tree nearby. He opened up to
us and told us how he was atheist his freshman year of school but all
that changed when he said a prayer and a friend reached out and
invited him to come to bible study with him. He expressed how he had
to search for a church he felt comfortable in and why he liked the one
he was attending now. We shared a verse from the Book of Mormon that
went along with what he enjoyed about his church and said how we enjoy
the same things! He was skeptical about the Book of Mormon but we
testified of it and invited him to learn more. Thursday he met with us
and a member. We taught him the restoration and asked the member to
reach the great apostasy. It went so smoothly! At the end we had him
read Moroni's promise. He was super impressed and wanted to read more.
He also came to church this Sunday. It was incredible! He said at his
church just the preacher stands up and talks and maybe the other
members of the congregation read scriptures. Coming to church with us
made him feel like he needed to share his testimony! We told him we
would be sharing ours this Sunday and invited him to share his! He is
visiting his family this weekend but said he will next time for sure!
He is preparing to be baptized at the end of July. This church is
true. It is organized exactly the way the Lord would have it be
organized!
We have been meeting with Jennifer for a few weeks now. She was found
at a booth on campus. We happened to have a RM that served in Brazil
with us that day and he was able to begin talking to her in Portuguese
and set up an appointment with her. She speaks English pretty well. So
we've been able to have successful lessons with her. One of our
meetings we found out she had forgotten to read the Book of Mormon. We
truly were sad about it. We began reading a chapter for our lesson.
After we had read and bore testimony of what we had read we invited
her to be baptized. She said she would if she came to know it was true
but wanted to keep reading and praying because she wasn't sure. We
began texting her every day to remind her to read and pray and one day
she said "You don't need to remind me anymore. I'm remembering every
day :)." Our hearts about burst out of our chests! Sunday after church
we met with her. She told us how she understands the Book of Mormon in
English when she meets with us but absolutely needs to read in
Portuguese at home. We asked her if she has been praying to know if
the Book of Mormon is true. She immediately starting beaming!!! She
smiled so big and softly said "yes, it's true". I was overcome with
joy! To see her humbly and sincerely gain a testimony of the
truthfulness of the Book of Mormon is probably one of the best days of
my life. I love her. I know she will be baptized and I know she will
continue to gain a testimony of the truths the gospel of Jesus Christ
offers. I love having the privilege to witness these sweet beautiful
moments! I love being a missionary!
We should have a baptism this weekend. Keep Sam Lummus in your prayers.
I love all y'all!
❤️
Sister Christensen |
Zombie Donuts 🍩
|
I love the south!
Sent from my iPad
I'm doing this with Bre weekly so I thought I'd share it with y'all ❤️.
Monday: a girl in the branch made us dinner and gave us flowers.
They're still on our table at home.
Tuesday: we read Alma 32 with Jennifer and watched "Mountains to
Climb". She said it was just what she needed and we were all crying.
We got to know the names of her family and began praying for them
everyday.
Wednesday: we met with Sister Mingledorf she's in her 80's and I love
old people.
Thursday: SO GOOD! Ryan really opened up. Trina accepted a baptismal
date. Ronnie's doubts about the Book of Mormon left!
Friday: Missionary Leadership Council. I love my mission president. He
reminds me of my dad/grandpa combined.
Saturday: Ora. She is old and doesn't remember anything that we say
and gets super distracted. When I shared the first vision with her. We
made eye contact the entire time and she started to glow with the
spirit and smile. It was amazing. She might not understand in this
life but I can't wait until she can accept it in the next!
Sunday: Jennifer saying she new the Book of Mormon was true and 5
investigators coming to church!
This came to Janna last week:
Hi Janna,
I am in the Allatoona Ward here in Woodstock, GA, where your daughter has been serving the past 6 months. I just wanted you to know that she is a fabulous missionary and has done so much good work here. She has been an especially great influence on my 16-year-old daughter, taking her out with them to teach, letting her know of her personal love and interest. When she is in our home, she always makes sure to leave a spiritual message that is thought provoking and real. On Easter, she gathered us all in a testimony meeting, right here in the family room, that was deeply touching and memorable and included a new convert friend, my visiting nephew, and our family.
Thank you for raising Riley so well, for supporting her in this important work, and for sharing her with us for this brief time. We love and appreciate her.
Love in Christ,
Lisa Garfield
No comments:
Post a Comment