Hola Everyone!!!
Stake Conference was incredible. The spirit that was there and
the talks given reminded me that the Lord's hand is not just in missionary
work; it is in every detail of His church. With the creation of our new stake,
I know even more now that there are many people prepared here. We do not always
know how they will come, but we know as we are exactly obedient and expecting
excellence, we will find them. Elder Soares came and spoke and it was
beautiful!
That was the case this week with one of our self-referrals and
his family.
+He referred himself to mormon.org. He is so prepared to be
baptized. We have gone over and taught him while his 23ish year old daughter
and wife have been there, but they had yet to join us for the lessons. We had
been inviting them and praying they would join, but to no avail... until
Thursday! Both his wife and daughter sat down and listened to the Plan of
Salvation. We left them their own copies of the Book of Mormon and pamphlets
and a DVD on The Restoration. We are going back today to teach the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and get him committed to a baptismal date. Thursday's lesson was
wonderful, and as we taught The Plan of Salvation, we introduced the 5 steps of
the gospel and he was so amazed and impressed that THIS church has the gospel
outlined exactly as he has found it in the Bible and no where else. Not in any
other church... he knows he has finally found the truth.
+Miracle of the week: prayed hard and looked over our map
Saturday in comp study. We chose a knocking spot, got there, weren't having
much success, kind of bummed. But them we OYMd this man who had a car with a
bunch of meat he was selling and we invited him to visit the website on the
back of the Christ card and explained how this was about Christ's first church.
We made a tiny bit of small talk and testified that God placed us in his path
so he could learn more. I said, "I know that God placed us in your path so
you can learn more about Christ's true and church and be a part of it. He said,
"What do I need to do next?" OKAY King Lamoni answer right there. We
talked about baptism and he interrupted and asked, "What is it that makes
you two so happy?" It was as if the spirit was there telling him that the
blessings of the gospel bring joy and he needed it. Before we could even ask
for his information he was asking us for the church address and what the next
step was for him. NEAT. That reminded me of the reason for testifying...
because if they are elect, they will respond. We passed him to Aventura Beach
(that's where he lives) and told them to tell us when he's baptized. Our
encounter was celestial. No doubt that he has been prepared by God and will be
baptized. Most powerful OYM response of my mission.
Alma 18
14 Therefore Ammon
turned himself unto the king, and said unto him: What wilt thou that I should
do for thee, O king? And the king answered him not for the space of an hour,
according to their time, for he knew not what he should say unto him.
15 And it came
to pass that Ammon said unto him again: What desirest thou of me? But the king
answered him not.
16 And it came
to pass that Ammon, being filled with the Spirit of God, therefore he perceived
the thoughts of the king. And he said unto him: Is it because thou hast heard
that I defended thy servants and thy flocks, and slew seven of their brethren
with the sling and with the sword, and smote off the arms of others, in order
to defend thy flocks and thy servants; behold, is it this that causeth thy
marvelings?
As I read Alma this morning, I realized the importance of
inspired questions. Ammon's inspired, thoughtful question brought the spirit...
and silence. Silence is so important in this work because it allows the spirit
to teach our friends better than we can. After the silence and another question
and pondering, Ammon was able to perceive his thoughts. Because of that, King
Lamoni knew that Ammon was of God (of the "Great Spirit" in his
words). This sparked a very simple lesson where Ammon, an amazing teacher,
scaffolds on what the King knows and builds from there. These chapters are so
rich with lessons for us missionaries. I know that as we pattern our style of
teaching after the scriptures, and more importantly- the Savior's, we can do
the Lord's work His way.
+Sister Edwards and I are doing fabulously! The time is flying, and
we are soooo enjoying each other. We are relentless to find more elect people
to teach. I know that the Lord blessed us with our family this week as Luis'
family joined in on the discussions. However, with them being our primary investigators,
I think this time is a time for me to teach Sister Edwards how to hold the
standard of electness high. We will be blessed with our miracle soon.....I just
know it. We just cannot doubt. By the end of this transfer, she will be a pro
at only working with the elect.
Other things to report:
-Last week had my first face to cement experience while riding
bikes. I fell and then slid across the sidewalk into the grass and was out of
sight for a hot second and sister Edwards said, "Well that's something you
never want to see, your comp's bike laying down on the sidewalk." We had a
good laugh.
-We got POURED on for three days on bikes, sopping wet. Kept
knocking, people thought we were crazy. One old Cuban lady ran upstairs and got
us a towel, bless her heart. I use it to wipe my face and she stops me and
says, "Um no, don't do that. It is not clean." Yeah as I used it I
could smell that it was indeed dirty. We surmise it was either a
bath mat or one of her cat's bed. To be determined.
I know I say this all of the time, but I mean it... I am
in love with this work. We have a front row seat to the greatest miracle of all
time. We get to see our friends apply the atonement and grow closer to the
Savior each day. I love life as a missionary.
CON AMOR,
Hermana McCormick