FULL OF MIRACLES. The work EXPLODED here this week. We had nine
lessons (remember, it's usually 3-4), and we were able to have members
with us at SEVEN of them. Members are the key :) We have two solid new
investigators with baptism dates! And, we had nine people come to
church who haven't been since I've been here -- either less actives or
nonmembers. We had four members bring their friends. It was awesome.
This week we had MLC. How I love working so closely with President &
Sister Calderwood. This whole mission experience would be worth it to
know them -- they are amazing, life-changing people. I felt so
inspired at MLC. We talked about a standard of excellence we have in
our mission which is inviting people to be baptized -- with a date --
on the first lesson. I realized I have done it out of duty, but not
always out of love. We talked about how we have to do it because we
want these people to make covenants with God that will take them home
to Him. That is the ONLY way they can do it. We realized the commit is
broken into two parts: "Will you FOLLOW the example of Jesus Christ
and be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority?"
AND THEN "Will you PREPARE to be baptized on ... ?" How critical it is
that they understand WHAT it means to be prepared -- it means coming
to church, praying, reading, etc. President said we needed to invite
"on our toes" not timidly "on our heels."
Well, after MLC we wanted to apply what we had learned. We were doing
lookups for a less active and knocked on her college dorm room.
Someone answered and took us to her room, where her roommate answered.
The girl, Lina, was not home at the moment. We started talking to
Paola and invited her to volleyball, but we knew we needed to tell her
more. We started talking about Jesus Christ. We testified. She asked
how she could know the truth with so much confusion (Joseph Smith
wondered the same thing). We invited her to pray. We prayed with her.
As we ended, there was a knock on her bedroom door. It was another
roommate, telling us we had the WRONG apartment. The Lina we were
looking for lived a few doors down. MIRACLES. We walked down to the
right apartment and both the girls we were looking for were home and
wanted a ride to church. They were excited to see us; the feeling was
mutual. It's wonderful how God leads us to the pure in heart,
something we pray for daily.
Fast forward to Sunday and Lina brought her roommate, Aleyca, to
church. We had a lesson with them after munch & mingle with a less
active and our mission leader. President's reminders were in our head
-- do it out of love. Make sure they are prepared. I felt that love as
I taught and testified. I asked how they felt at church. Aleyca said
"at home." I testified that is confirmation from the Spirit. Sis K
invited her to follow the Savior and be baptized. She accepted. We
continued talking and mentioned what we must do to prepare. We invited
the members to prepare to go to the temple for baptisms on Sept. 27
and then invited Aleyca to prepare for baptism on the 28th. I told her
that I knew Heavenly Father wants us to return to Him, just like our
earthly parents (since we were all away from home). I promised that we
could make it back, but only through making covenants with God. It was
amazing the difference we felt as we invited on our toes :)
And, two other miracles. We were invited to go to the temple with
Heather, who is preparing to receive her endowment. She was going to
fly home to Oregon but decided to do them here in Manhattan and wanted
us to come. I was so honored! And I'm excited. It will most likely be
the end of September.
The other miracle was earlier in the week. We had a lesson with a less
active and had wanted to bring a member but she didn't feel
comfortable with that. So, we went to her house and got to know her a
bit. Halfway through our visit, we hear her doorbell and it was a
MEMBER from the branch who happened to be selling solar panels in the
neighborhood ... seriously, he works over all of Long Island and he
happened to be on her street? At 7:30 at night? He joined us for the
last half of the lesson. God provides a way :)
Well, this email is getting pretty long but I do know miracles are
happening. They will continue to happen. I read this week in Alma 60
and it motivated me to try harder to NOT complain. They didn't do it,
even after hunger, thirst, fatigue, and "All manner of afflictions."
What reason do I have? it's actually been pretty fun to try it out
this week!
Finally, my comp and I made up a "30-day social media challenge" after
reading Elder Bednar's BYU education week talk
(https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/to-sweep-the-earth-as-with-a-flood?lang=eng).
It's been on my mission bucket list to have some type of social media
challenge, so it was fun to come up with fun, simple ways to follow
Elder Bednar's invitation to "sweep the earth as with a flood." So, I
thought I'd attach a photo and invite YOU to follow along. It's
simple.
Ok, I love you. Have a fantastic week! Congrats LIZZIE on your
baptism. I am so happy and proud of you :)
xoxo,
Sister Peacock
PHOTOS: 1. 30-day challenge.
2. We took a photo after our awesome
lesson Sunday. Aleyca, our newest investigator, is in the middle :)
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