Happy Monday! (I've decided, this is
my opening statement for every email, this is so much easier.)
I'm happy to report that this week
was just amazing, full of miracles, and I secretly wish I didn't have P-Day
because I just want to go out and teach! =D
 |
| This has been an AMAZING week! |
Tuesday was a very bittersweet day.
Some things took longer than expected- for example we had to walk to the
library since we missed the bus. But then something AWESOME happened, and it
couldn't have been a coincidence! We saw R. (our homeless investigator who is
so humble) get on the exact same bus as we were, and we sat right behind him.
We talked to him a little about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we asked him to
pray about being baptized on March 8th. He said he would get baptized, but not
sure when. I moved to sit by him since it was hard to hear him since he's so
soft spoken. I noticed the woman in front of R. was listening to what I was
saying. (She was sitting sideways on the bus so I noticed her staring.) I asked
her as well if she wanted to learn more about what I was teaching R. She said
yes, and so I immediately started to teach her about the Restoration and the
First Vision. It was so PERFECT because R. was just mentioning that he's
already been baptized, and I talked about the importance of the priesthood. So
as I was teaching the spirit was testifying to all three of us that what I was
telling them was true, which confirmed to R. that he needs to be baptized by
someone holding the proper priesthood authority of God. D. (the woman) told us
that she had seen a commercial about Mormons years ago, and it still stuck with
her today. I gave her a Book of Mormon and started to read part of the
introduction with her. I was about to read the last two paragraphs and invite
her to baptism, but she had to get off. We were able to get her contact
information, and she said, "I'm really going to read this book!"
Unfortunately we haven't been able to get in contact with her yet, but we'll
still call her at different times of the day to see if that makes a difference.
The reason why Tuesday was
bittersweet is because as I went from sitting behind R. to sitting next to him,
my water bottle wasn't shut all the way, and it water damaged my new set of
scriptures! It didn't ruin them totally, but the edges have quite a bit of
character, and I wish they didn't. I wanted to cry when I saw them. I’ve had to
let them air out.
K. (the man who takes care of his
bedridden parents, adult daughter with health problems, and four grandchildren)
tried his hardest to come to church last
week to hear me speak, but he couldn't. He agreed to be baptized on March 22nd,
sorta. It was a very soft commitment. K. said that he'd have to come to church
first, and then give us an answer. But he's been on date before, and already
has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, it's just church that's
getting in the way! We've been inviting him to come to church since the very
beginning, and he hasn't. So we'll see what happens this week
Sister B. is no longer on date to be
baptized, and I know that she could be baptized tomorrow if she had the faith
and trust in God. I asked her on Saturday, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I
just want to understand. The only reason why you don't want to get baptized is
because of your family, correct?" I was correct, she's told us time and
time again that her family will practically ignore her if she gets baptized,
and she's so torn. She's on the verge of saying yes or no. We taught her our
purpose as missionaries, and read my call letter to her. Just as that was
happening, a police officer stopped by to talk about Karma, their very naughty
and pregnant dog. They went outside to talk but he mentioned that if they get another
call about Karma, they're going to take Karma to the pound and put them in jail
since they haven't done anything about her. So, we're really hoping that
doesn't happen! She and her husband, Brother B. have been sick all week, and so
have we. Sister J. was sick with the flu on Wednesday, and I was sick all
Sunday.
It felt so weird not to go to
church, but I put good use to it! We had apartment clean checks this
morning so we cleaned the apartment so it was "Celestial Worthy."
Elder and Sister N. (a missionary couple) came over and checked it this
morning, and we passed with flying colors. Perfect! On Sunday I read 3 Ensigns
front to back, cutting out quotes and pictures that went along with scripture
verses or stories. I loved it since now when I go through the scriptures I have
a little spiritual thought that goes with a verse. I call it Scrapbooking for
Scriptures! I stole the idea from Sister J., I admit it. I do it with my
journal as well. Sister J. and I went on exchanges on Sunday, and she taught a
referral from Book of Mormon Musical. He speaks even faster than I do (if you
can believe it) and he accepted that he would be baptized. Sister J. and Sister
W. were so excited, they forgot to talk about a specific date. Oh well, next
time! :)
Saturday was full of amazing lessons
with members. I can't talk about them all, but we were having a lesson with R.
our homeless friend and he literally picked his baptismal date, March 8th. He was
a referral from Sister E. in our ward for those who don't remember, and we told
her what date he picked and she was absolutely thrilled. March 8th is the day
that she too was baptized, and the day that she was married. She told this
miracle on Sunday and it ignited a fire in Relief Society and Sunday
School. People want to come out with the missionaries now so I really hope that
our member’s present at discussions just fly through the roof the next upcoming
weeks! Members really do make a difference in missionary work.
We saw N. (the woman who lives in a
car with B.) with Sister E., and Sister E. prayed beforehand that she would
teach by the spirit and tell them what they need to hear. N. doesn't want to get
baptized in fear that B. will just follow, and not do for it himself. She
talked to her about how she should just love B. for who he is, because she
tries her hardest to get him to read the scriptures. She told N. that the only
person she truly has control over is herself, and she can only save herself.
It really gave her something to think about it, and it's EXACTLY what Sister J.
and I wanted to tell her, but she told her in the way we never could of.
As we were in the car, Sister J. and
I came up with our own car line. We were talking about how Jaguars weren't even
that fancy, but people want to buy it just because of the name. We're calling our
car line, "Snaz" and the car names will be "A",
"E", "I", "T", and "Z". Feel
free to take the next few moments saying "Snaz _" with the
name of the car. Snaz T would be a sports car, it's our favorite!
Thursday was a really hard day for
me, but I'm completely fine now thanks to the Atonement. The Atonement is real,
and it's never been even more real for me until this week. Sister J. talked to
me about how Jesus Christ has literally felt everything that we've felt, and we
don't have to harbor all of those feelings that we coup up on the inside. We
can pray to our Heavenly Father to take those feelings upon Him, so we won't
feel them anymore. I know we can give Him the entire burden, and not keep part
of it because we don't want to fully and completely trust Him with it. But as I
was able to pray to Him about all of my fears, worries, and concerns, the
feelings just literally washed away from me, and I no longer have those
feelings that were weighing me down. It feels absolutely AMAZING. I challenge
any of you, if you have any of those feelings that you want to get rid of.
Pray, and be amazed.
I hope you're all doing well, and
make sure you're always progressing!
-Sister Sudweeks
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