When I got the training call from the president I literally had to sit down. I am only THREE MONTHS OUT! I was like "are you sure you didn't mean to call Sister Johnson (because there is an english Johnson haha)" but he meant to. I just feel very humbled. There are 20 other qualified Hermanas in the mission and only one new Hermana coming in. Heavenly Father probably told president to give me the greenie cause I have a LOT to learn. Or maybe this is all a sick joke....I don't know. Whatever the reason is, I am SO excited to train. I literally don't know anything and my companion is from Guatamala (probably doesn't speak English) but its all good and soooo exciting. I'm mostly excited because I know that I will have to rely on the Lord a ton and that I will be able to grow my relationship with Him.
This week has been SOOO awesome. Great way to end my time with Hermana Thompson. Here are the highlights:
-We showed up to D & M's (the couple who has been seeing the missionaries for over 3 years and still hasn't gotten married so they can be baptized) and we were determined to lay down the law. We were fully prepared to tell them that we can't teach them anymore. But then a miracle happened! Daniel told us that they are getting married on the 13th!!! So we threw down the requirements for baptism. We told him he needs to live the Word of Wisdom and do all this other stuff. He walked right outside and threw away his cigarettes...JUST LIKE THAT! It was awesome. He is having tons of withdrawls but has a ton of faith that he will get through it. SO SWEET
-We went to teach or investigator P who is 70 and has cancer. He wants to get baptized but just needs a little push. He also has been super sick so two awesome returned missionaries in our ward gave him a blessing.
-We met this guy that lives above P. His name is Joel....this guy is AWESOME. Hes sooo buff and scary looking but in our first lesson he was sobbing. Literally doubled over. He has SUCH a hard life...just everything is falling apart. But he loves Heavenly Father and believes that the gospel will heal him. He came to church the next day and loved it. He also took 20 minutes to introduce himself in priesthood...and he always tries to hug us...but ya know. Just technical difficulties.
-Church was amazing. Picture this: on the back bench of the chapel was Joel, me, Pablo, Hermana T, then Armando. All three of our bomb investigators showed up and the best part is they are all neighbors! They didn't even know they were all meeting with the same missionaries! I literally felt like I was in one of those sweet missionary stories where they convert a whole village. But in our story it's just the corner of a random street...and it's just 3 old men. But STILL it was awesome!
-Hermana Thompson had to say goodbye to the ward. We both gave testimonies and everyone was crying. She really is so loved here. I'm going to miss her like crazy!!! We laugh alllll day. We show up to lessons laughing, teach together will all our energy, and then leave laughing. We have SUCH a good time and we have been working so hard. I feel like I've made a best friend but even stronger than that. I'm sure by how it sounds that you might think we are similar and natural friends...but we are actually very different. We have had to work at it at times but, it's working at it that made us so strong! I will miss the times like being in a lesson and knowing the spirit has something to say and then hearing the exact words come out of her mouth. She has taught me to get on my knees for everything. It's not uncommon to hear her crawl into bed after a half hour or hour of praying. I've also learned so much about showing love. She loves EVERYONE and shows so much compassion. I could go on forever, but i'll just say that we have grown to love and trust eachother completely.
-And on a sad note, Gibran moved. He started praying about his baptismal date (yesterday) and that night he got a job offer to go do tile for Denny's restaurants across America with his supppperrr bad influence brother. He thought that was his answer...but we know it was the enemy. He told us that he will "have" to drink in his new job, won't be able to go to church, and won't have time to read. He told us that he KNOWS that he needs to be baptized, but for now he needs to chose money over God. I asked him "could you say that to God's face?" He said no. Then hermana Thompson got really bold and explained that he was taking advantage of Christ's suffering by planning to repent later. Gibran had tears in his eyes. Then his Jehova's Witness brother walked in, who usually is undoing all of the progress we make with Gibran, and said "Gibran you were praying for answers and they knocked on your door. They are your answer. I don't care if you take the job with me...you need to do what's right. The only reason you can't confidently be baptized yet is because you haven't been reading and praying like they told you to. You need to pray again." The conversation went on for another hour. We gave it everything we had to try and help him.
As we said goodbye you could see the pain in his eyes. It was so sad to see him allowing himself to make this choice. He asked "will God ever find me again?". We said, "That's not how the gospel works. The question is, will you ever find God again.". </3 (that's the best I can do for a heart break emoji)
So, the point is....don't mess with God's plan. Read the scriptures, come to church, and say your prayers like you are supposed to. If we get too far away from him we find ourselves in the midst of darkness, torn between temporary happiness and eternal happiness. That's a scary place to be!
Thanks for all of the love and support! I pray for you guys daily!!! Have an awesome week and enjoy the snoooowwwwww
xoxoxox
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