Family! (& co.)
Some weeks are better than others. On the scale of "The Goodness Scale", this week fell under the category of "I learned a lot". But! It was a good week!! A lot of amazing miracles came.
First I should start off by saying that this transfer, the theme (for lack of a better term) is "The Book of Mormon". We are completely centering all of our district meetings, zone meetings, and this upcoming Zone Conference on the Book of Mormon. Also, for the past little while we have been having a Book of Mormon challenge to read it in 60 days. It will end on September 12th. So! Almost all of our lessons will (and should have been. #calledtorepentancebigtime) be focused on the Book of Mormon.
This week we were able to meet with Bernie twice. As his baptism gets closer and closer, we have felt that it is important to meet with him often, as we know that Satan will work hard on him as he prepares to make to covenant of baptism. Our amazing branch missionaries, Lorraine and Dave came to that lesson and the WHOLE lesson was how Bernie can have his prayers answered through diligent, sincere study of the Book of Mormon. It was an awesome, Spirit- filled lesson. Our second lesson with him on Friday was out of this world, crazy amazing. We felt inspired to teach him Temples and Family History. So we met at the church, so we could utilize the wifi and get him signed up. The lesson went amazingly well. Morgan (the member who does the prints I told you about last week) and her three kiddos were there. We talked about how he will be able to live with Joany, his wife, for eternity and that a year after his baptism he will be able to be sealed to her. Later that afternoon, we realized we forgot to set up return appointments with Bernie for the next week so we gave him a call. We set up the appointments and then Bernie told us, "Ladies. I had a revelation this afternoon. I had a vision in this revelation. In this vision I saw me and Joany, dressed completely in white, dancing through the eternities. I know that when I am baptized and Joany is baptized it will be for eternity." It was an incredible thing to hear about.
We also met with our recent convert, Marsha. Let me just tell you a story about Marsha. She is the best missionary I have ever seen. Last Sunday, she invited her friend to come to church and told her all about it. She (her friend) told her that being baptized into this church was the best thing that could ever happen to her. Anyways, because of what she said, her friend totally showed up for church! It was awesome. This week at our lesson, the first thing she said to us was that she needed to go to the temple as soon as possible because she needs to get baptized for her mom. It was awesome. We also taught her about patriarchal blessings. We explained that it is in those blessings that we come to know our lineage. I expressed to her that the reason why I love that is because it gives me a sense of identity. To that, she very quickly responded,"Yes!! Yes!! That is exactly what I want!! A feeling of identity!" It was so exciting to see her be so excited about patriarchal blessings.
We weren't able to meet with our other recent convert, Jeannette because on Wednesday she went into the hospital. We decide to go visit her there and while we were there, she just was glowing. The whole time she was asking how this person and that person were doing, not a moment thinking of herself. We asked her how she has been doing reading the Book of Mormon and she told us, "Oh, girls. There is so much to learn and it is so wonderful. I love learning. I feel so much closer to the Lord since I've joined this church." We just couldn't stop smiling. On Sunday, we found out that she was still at the hospital and so we passed around a "Get Well Soon" card to the whole branch and everyone signed it. After church, we went over to the hospital with Elle and chatted with her and saw how she was doing. She was in good spirits and she was telling us how just this morning she was able to eat. She told us that the nurses brought her some pancakes (which she ate, because she loooooves pancakes haha) and then some tea. She said that she was going to drink it, but that "the Lord told me not to. It was as if the Lord Himself was right there telling me not to drink it because it would not make me feel good." She is an incredibly spiritually sensitive person.
I want to bear you my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know that it is, as Joseph Smith said, "the most correct of any book of earth." There is a quote that I read this past week that I think perfectly sums up what I have come to know is true:
"If you are struggling, confused, or spiritually lost, I urge you to do the one thing I know will get you back on track. Begin again to prayerfully study the Book of Mormon and live its teachings every day, every day, every day! I testify of the profound power in the Book of Mormon that will change your life and strengthen your resolve to follow Christ. The Holy Ghost will change your heart and help you see ‘things as they really are’."
Love,
Sister Sewell
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