Happy Monday!
Happy birthday this week to Stephen and Sarah! I love you!! Have a happy day!
Okay. Let's get down to the nitty gritty.
So I have a really long story to tell you all this week.
But it is incredible.
So I hope you bear it with patience and get to the very end.
I promise you won't regret it. :)
It all started in our weekly planning session on Wednesday. We were talking about Sonia and Jose and making plans for the lessons we were going to teach them. Then we were gettin stoked for their baptism (still on for this Saturday) and what this would mean for their family and how we could possibly get Maria and Jose (their parents - Maria was originally a referral, but she hasn't shown much interest) at the baptism. And then. It happened. It was like Hermana Hymas and I saw a vision. Of their whole family. Dressed in white. In the temple. Getting sealed as a family for time and all eternity. in a year. We were just like...in shock. Gettin' teary-eyed and all. We couldn't believe what had just happened! I couldn't at least! It was so clear! Then we started to plan. How in the world are we going to help this family? What do we need to pray for and do to receive the help of the Lord (we knew of course that this would not and could not be possible if we didn't have His help and guidance)? We decided that we needed to pray for Sonia and Jose to be baptized as planned and that their parents' hearts would be softened and they would be baptized in October and be sealed in the temple next October. Hermana Hymas flipped open her scriptures to Alma 31:34-37 (read it). Alma gives some "missionaries" a blessing (clapping hands on them) and then the missionaries fasted (took no thought what they should eat or drink) and they were strengthened. We decided that we needed to follow this pattern. We needed to get some blessings and we needed to fast. Soooo that is precisely what we set out to do!
Elders in our district had a baptism on Saturday so we went to that and guess who else was there? PRESIDENT AND SISTER BELL!! Yeah. That was cool. So we explained the situation to Pres Bell and asked if he would give us both blessings. He of course agreed and we got some super powerful blessings that said some really really inspired things. He blessed both of us that this family WILL be baptized and, this is a cool part, the hearts of the parents will be softened by the change they see in their kids through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Whoa. Cool. Thanks Pres Bell! So. Hna Hymas and I were pretty much stoked out of our MINDS and decided we needed to go see Sonia and Jose RIGHT THEN. So we did. Starting our fast in our prayer before going to see them.
We taught an awesome lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a few commandments. Jose had to leave early but Sonia was there for it all and loved it all and just is loving everything about this stuff. Her testimony is just growing every single day as she is praying and reading the Book of Mormon. It is so wonderful to see.
But wait. A REALLY cool thing is comin up.
A few visits ago Sonia told us about one of her friends who she would like to introduce to us. I remembered this so I asked Sonia about it. Her eyes got really big and she started to tell us what happened with this friend the other day. She asked Sonia why she wasn't going to the Catholic Church anymore and Sonia told her that she goes to a Christian Church (LDS Church) now and she just feels better there, she feels more complete and she just really likes it - so that was the end of that convo. BUT. A couple days after THAT the friend came up to her and said "Sonia, you were in my dream last night!" of course Sonia was like whaaaaat? why? and her friend went on to tell her: "You came to my house and knocked on my door and held out a book to me and said: 'You need to read this book. It's not the Bible, it's a different book, but it's the word of God.' " Um. Like what? haha and Sonia hadn't ever said anything to her about the Book of Mormon. Sis Hymas and I were like :O Literally. Speechless. *Is this real life?!* And Sonia was like WHAT?! How did you know?! (In her mind). Then she went on to tell her about the Book of Mormon and INVITED HER TO GO TO CHURCH WITH HER. Missionary? Yes. And I guess her friend said "I feel the NEED to go to church with you." Wow. Huge miracles happening all over the place. I wanted to cry.
AND THEN. We got to talk to Maria, her mom, for a minute. And guess what she told us. She wants to go to church (she has some health issues right now that are prohibiting her from doing so) because she has seen a CHANGE IN HER KIDS since they've been talking to us and she likes it. :O We are stoked beyond all belief and just can see the Lord in His work.
Okay. That is the condensed version and I hope you can just feel the power behind what happened in this story. I have seen just so many miracles on my mission that there is NO WAY I can possibly EVER deny the existence of a loving Father in Heaven who LOVES and KNOWS His children personally. There is no way I could deny that this Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as found in the Bible and the Book of Mormon together, is so so so true. I am just grateful. Grateful for this opportunity the Lord has given me to be His servant.Thank you for all the prayers you have given for me and my investigators. Can't wait for Sonia's and Jose's baptism this Saturday!!!
I love all of you SOOOO MUCH IT'S INSANE!!!!!!
Keep being my strength :)
Con todo mi corazon y mi amor,
Hermana Shumway
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| Brown vs. Topeka School Board of Education! FINALLY went and LOVED IT!!! |
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