Sunday, June 9, 2013

Monday, June 3rd, 2013 -- The Lord is Good

It's a great time to be a missionary! I seriously love being a missionary. I can't imagine not being on a mission right now. I was thinking about where I was at this time last year (finishing up my Spring Term at BYU) and where I could be now instead of a mission (probably finishing up my Spring Term at BYU) and I wouldn't take back being on a mission for anything. There really is nothing like (well, Eternal Life) dedicating 18 months of your life to Heavenly Father.

I have really been focusing on recognizing the tender mercies of the Lord each day. When I give the Lord an accounting of my day in my evening prayers it's amazing how many there are and I can't even list them all! We have truly been blessed. 

On Tuesday we had a lesson with Sarah and her mom Jan. Sarah told us she had received an answer to accept the Book of Mormon as another testimony of Jesus Christ. The spirit was really strong. This was only our third time meeting her and our first real lesson with her (the other times were just drop bys where we ended up sharing a scripture and answering some questions). We taught part of the Restoration and then invited her to be baptized. She started crying some more and said yes without really a moments hesitation. She thanked us for asking her because if we hadn't asked her she would have never thought of being baptized. She jumped up and hugged us. It was a great night. We set up another appointment for the coming day so we could start teaching her more of the lessons. We also had to address the Word of Wisdom because she does have a smoking habit. We told her she does have to quit before she can be baptized and that the Atonement is there to help her overcome this habit. We have a stop smoking packet to give to her to help her stop. She also made an appointment to meet with her doctor to help her quit. We taught her every single day except for Friday because she was sick with the flu. She came to the adult session of Stake Conference and had a lot of questions (our first ever investigator at church since we've been here!). She wanted to learn more about the priesthood and she asked if she could get a priesthood blessing. She said she was going to come on Sunday and was really excited. She's met a lot of the members and they have really been very kind and loving to her. 

We met with Yaquelin this week and we brought a young couple with us who have two kids. Paco did not come down for the lesson (headache...), but the lesson went very well. You can tell how bad she does want to have a family, but she won't have kids outside of marriage. We taught faith and repentance. We committed her to pray and to read about the Book of Mormon and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Our fellowship was amazing and got her to commit to really pray and to read and to come to church. We're hoping to meet with Paco soon. 

We also had a lesson with Jennifer. We went in with the intent to talk about baptism again because we felt like she doesn't understand why the proper authority. We briefly went over the Restoration lesson and read 2 Nephi 31:4-10. We talked about how important it is to be baptized and how much it would bless her life. She said she would pray about it (she hadn't since our last appointment) and that she wants to learn more before she commits- Which we do understand so we invited her to church and set up a church tour for Saturday. Jennifer said that she's been going to a lot of churches and so far she hasn't really felt the Holy Ghost when she does go. She's looking for a church where she can feel the Holy Ghost at church and always.

On Saturday we gave our first ever church tour to Jennifer! Her grandma came (who only speaks Spanish). The spirit was so strong. The grandma really didn't understand what we were saying (we had no idea she was coming and our member who was going to come bailed at the last minute), but she did feel the spirit. She kept on saying, "Muy Bonita". When we came into the chapel, the grandma started crying because she could feel the spirit so strongly. We sat by the sacrament table and read about Christ instituting the sacrament and inviting them to church. They said yes!

On Sunday we had Stake Conference and we had confirmed to have Yaquelin, Jennifer, and Sarah at church. Yaquelin called us 10 minutes before saying she was still out of town and wouldn't be able to make it. Jennifer also texted us saying she was all ready, but then her parents said that they were going out of town. Then we could never get ahold of Sarah. We were so disappointed. We thought for sure that they were going to come! Everyone has their agency. 

We got to go to the Temple this week on Wednesday. I always love going and feeling the spirit there. We went there fasting for Sarah and our other investigators. The Lord does answer our prayers. He does teach us in His house.

Our mission president has asked us to read the Book of Mormon focusing on highlighting for the Atonement by July 1st. It's an exciting time with the new missions being effective soon and all of the new missionaries coming in this next transfer. This transfer has just flown by. I can't believe it's already almost done. My mission is just going by way too fast! Thank you for all of your updates! I love hearing about them---Leo has gotten so big and cute!

Love,

Sister Collins


sis. h loves to wear her helmet (really. she hardly takes it off. she forgot to take it off during lunch!! lol)



Mesa Arizona Temple