Monday, February 2, 2015

January 20, 2015

Sorry this is so long. If you love me, you'll read it #guilttrip. I saved the best for last. No cheating and scrolling down!

This week has been full of hard work and lots of teaching. It has been an incredible blessing to have so many amazing people to teach. We were able to find 8 solid new investigators. We have returned to each of them with a member to help us teach, and we have seen amazing progress thanks to our members.

We received a referral from our bishop two Sundays ago and checked on her three times... all different times of the day and could not seem to find her. Sunday night, however, we felt that we should try one more time. Sure enough, she opened and let us right in. Her name is E. and she is so ready to accept the gospel. She explained to us that she is so incredibly confused, so we did not hesitate in teaching her the restoration. She accepted it all and a return appointment. Last night we shared the restoration DVD with her and explained it all to her and introduced the Book of Mormon. She has committed to praying about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and has already committed to be baptized. We are being so blessed!!! We already love her so much. We know that she will be a member of this church soon.

I was impressed as I read 3 Nephi 4:33 this week:

 33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the 
hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting
destruction.

This might seem like an unusual scripture to share... but this verse means a lot to me. I truly do not know what I did to deserve a mission. I am blessed a million times over for this decision. I know that I did not get myself out here, nor did I bring myself back into activity during high school. For some reason, Heavenly Father did not let me go. He had greater plans for me. Despite my poor use of agency earlier in my life, I am here, laboring with people I love more that I can describe, meeting and teaching people that I know I knew in the life before this. Truly thanks to the Lord's mercy, I am learning more than I ever imagined possible. I will forever be in extreme debt to my Father in Heaven.

Sister Morrow and I are just such good friends. Her testimony is powerful, and she is not afraid to share it in Spanglish. She is motivated to do all that she can do in order to contribute equally to each investigator's progression. She has a fire and passion for the work. I have been so blessed to have gotten her as a companion. I am learning so much each day from her. She is an example to me of relentless service and is a joy to be around.

I had two of the coolest experiences of my mission this week:

A certain investigator was totally not going to come to church. One of our lessons fell through, we knew there had to be a reason, so we prayed to know what to do. We felt that we should stop by at his place. We asked him to get his Book of Mormon from inside, and a line from my favorite talk entered my mind: "A fireball missionary starts when an investigator says no. This is a plain and simple concept, but very true." I decided that we were going to testify and we would not leave until he had committed to church. We switched off boldly and taught by the spirit. We invited him to take a chapel tour before sacrament meeting (make them feel comfortable at church, and make sure they aren't late... two birds with one stone) and he accepted. We were thrilled! Okay miracle time: we walked around the church building before church and talked about the different paintings. He likes to ramble and joke around with us, so sometimes getting him to focus and feel the spirit is tricky. We got to the first vision painting. We talked about Joseph Smith's confusion, and in Spanish, I recited the first vision. It was the coolest experience of my mission. It came out of my mouth by the spirit... so well…and he was quietly gazing at the painting. The spirit was so strong.

I thought back to the night before I left for the Mexico MTC. I remember Brandi telling me to remember that "it is impossible to not feel the spirit when talking about Joseph Smith and the first vision." I remember that whenever I teach the restoration, and I tell that to our investigators. It is impossible to not feel peace and light as we talk about Joseph Smith.

Another awesome experience related to the First Vision. As we watched the restoration DVD with another investigator last night, she took it all in. She sat in silence the whole time. She felt the spirit and her concentration was not broken once. As the DVD got to the part where Joseph has the vision I felt tears build in my eyes. I felt so much love for him, for my calling as a missionary, and for our investigator. In both lessons we have taught her, I have felt an overwhelming feeling of "I would not rather be anywhere else in the world, but here."

I love those moments on my mission. They are so pure and authentic, and to me, a gift from the Lord. We get to feel a portion of the love our Heavenly Father has not only for His children, but for this work as well.


This week, I have been thoroughly impressed as I have pictured the Savior laboring with me in His vineyard. That is what it is. My mortal mind and eyes cannot understand nor see that, but I know that is what is happening in this work.

I would like to invite you all to read D&C Section 135. By studying those eloquent words this week, my testimony of Joseph Smith has grown even more. I have so much love for him-who he was and what he went through. He never relented. He is amazing. I love the part where it talks about save Jesus Christ, he has done more than anyone to live for the salvation of mankind. Thinking about that intrigues and humbles me.

I would also like to invite you to read a talk from this past GC. It is called "Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority" by Elder Scott. Man, it is powerful. Printing it out and marking it has been a spiritual experience for me. I learned a lot. I suggest that you all do the same... it has so many amazing thoughts.

Best for last............we gained 30 new missionaries. Our mission boundaries grew, and now we have the Ft. Myers stake, aka 30 Tampa missionaries. I am excited for this!!! To have another mission experience, another president to learn from, another culture to adapt to... exciting times. I know their excitement will build as we welcome them with open arms.

I am so grateful for my calling. This work is too important to waste a day, or even an hour. This time is short, but eternally important. Thank you all for your support.

Jake: Happy early Birthday! Best BIL shoutout. Enjoy your day.

I love each of you so much!      


Hermana McCormick

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