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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