Oh my goodness, I am beside myself
with glee right now!!! MIRACLE!!! ARE YOU READY?!!!
So, I don’t think I ever wrote home
about this because I figured that nothing would come of it. Remember how
I had less than an hour of sleep the night before I left for the MTC, and I had
a lot of nerves! Well, I ended up sitting next to a sweet woman named
Jennifer on the flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City. Up till this point
in my life, I had never talked to the stranger that sat beside me on a plane!
But Jennifer and I sparked up a conversation. She was traveling to where
she grew up in California to go to a singles retreat. We talked for the
whole 4.5 hour flight pretty much. I let her know what I was going out to
do, and how it was a very big day for me! She was SO interested in the
church and what I had to say. She had some very brief impressions about
the church but knew next to nothing about the church as a whole. At one
point she was reading from her book, and I pulled out the Ensign from that
month. She noticed it and started asking about it. I decided to
give it to her and near the end of the flight I put my email address in there
and a brief testimony. I can't quite remember what she said but I bore my
testimony to her and invited her to learn more about the church. She said
something along the lines of, "she felt really good as she talked to
me" and she was impressed by me. She wished me all the best and I
did the same as we hugged before we got off the plane.
I never heard from
her again.... TILL NOW!!! I figured she had thrown the magazine out...
but oh my goodness what a miracle! It has been over 5 months, and I had
thought of her a few times with disappointment. I remember feeling the
spirit so strong as I bore my testimony to her, and I remember the connection
we had. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father strengthened me that day as
I should have been asleep on that flight from the fatigue. As I just arrived on my email account
this morning, I was surprised to find a short email from her! I had
stupidly not thought of getting her information (which now as a missionary I
would never ever do!!! Stay accountable!) but she kept the magazine the past 5
months and for some reason felt that she wanted to catch up with me and ask me
about my mission!!!
I am so excited to see what comes
of this. It has been a bit of a dry spell lately. Sister Rios and I
have been working so hard, but we have had an extreme "dry spell" in
our area. Miracles do happen and the Lord is mindful of us!
Other than that, it’s been a rainy
week! It has poured multiple times this week! HALLELUJAH!
Sister Rios and
I have been dropped by our main investigator this past week, and some of our
main potential investigators are having alcohol and other issues so we have
been starting basically from scratch here. IN the past 2 days, I have
gotten to experience two big miracles though! One was the email from
Jennifer, and the other you might not see as a huge deal.... but it is! V
( I will keep it at that and I will be taking out full names from now on in my
emails) is a woman we have been trying to meet with since I arrived in my area
4.5 months ago. I have prayed for her every day and she has been talked
about and planned for in our weekly planning sessions for my whole mission,
with no progress! She has an amazing story that I might share at a later
time as we get to know her better personally. She has avoided us at all
costs, though all the members in the ward have always told us she WILL be
baptized! They were all walking on tip toes around her, for fear that
they would offend her. It has been a huge frustration for the past 4
months.
Yesterday we had stake conference. One of our Bishops spoke
and shared the conversion story of a man in our ward. Just a little
background, this man, Brent, was baptized in February. His first interest
in the church was when he came with his inactive member wife to have their
first baby blessed. He felt that he was missing out on something as he
watched someone else bless his child. He was bothered by the fact that he
couldnt be the one doing the blessing. He still was not ready for the
missionaries though. He was invited by the Bishop over 10 times to meet
with the missionaries. Each time he either said "no" or
"not yet". Finally one day after more than a year of being
asked, he answered, "I'm ready." He started living the Gospel
with his wife and was baptized last February. I have seen him bless and
pass the sacrament since I have been in the ward, and recently he was able to
receive the Melchizedek priesthood. He was able to hold and bless his baby son
2 weeks ago. It was the most beautiful blessing I have ever
heard. I felt the spirit so strongly and I looked around after the
event and saw that every single person within my view had tears streaming down
their faces as well. Such a miracle! I wish you could have heard
the story told to its fullness. Bishop told it with beautiful simplicity
and with a great amount of feeling.
After the meeting, Sister Rios and I
both looked at each other and said, "V".
We decided to stop
relying on the members to give us the "Go" and we drove right to the
house she is living at. She is living with a wonderful family of
members. We entered the house and immediately asked if we could see
V. They were hesitant, but then the father confessed, "After that
story in stake conference, Robin and I both decided we were going to start
inviting V, starting today. So yes, we will go get V." You
could tell they were both nervous but they eventually got her down stairs
though she was very leery of us. We just visited with her and the family
and we shared a short little message! We felt prompted to not ask her if
she would meet with us for the lessons yet, but instead we talked about
service. We invited her to team up with us on a service project. Her eyes
lit up, and she was so excited to help us! She even gave us a hug
goodbye! She is so service oriented and I think that this will be the key
to building a relationship of trust with her so that we can share the message
with her. It’s a miracle for us!!!! We cheered and I was ecstatic
to even have gotten to talk to her finally... let alone get a hug from her!
Yesterday at stake conference they
had Faye and Ed F. speak and share their experience and testimony. It was sooo
amazing to watch and hear Faye bear her testimony. AHhhh!!!! The gospel
changes lives!!! Yesterday and today were the boosts I truly needed. The
Lord is so mindful of us and our needs, I promise you that!
Brother and Sister Moss brought by a huge thing of groceries
for me Saturday night! It really helped me to feel loved and know that
people are thinking of me :) They brought sooo much, but I have to say
that those Chocolate covered caramels are the BOMB!!! Florence
chocolates!!!! There goes my diet plan!!! Thankfully they also brought by
a lot of healthy foods :) Don’t worry mommy! People are taking care
of me :) Thank you Mosses!!!
Also, I never got to thank you --
mom and Rachel particularly -- for the great package last week! Those
hair accessories are sooo cute Rach! All the sisters love them :)
And thank you mommy for sending so many things I needed and for being so
thoughtful :) I feel so blessed having so much support! Also, thank you
Jacob for sending a little note as usual :) You are such a funny little
punk!
I heard about Hannah's blog and how
its been getting so many hits! Hannah is the best cook and baker in the
world! I am convinced of that. Everything she touches turns to
golden manna from heaven!!!! Proud of you Hannah Banana! I brag about you and
your food to everyone.
I have also told people about
the indescribable "manna from heaven" that Dani makes! I miss
those so much! They are truly of an indescribable deliciousness!
I hear dad wrote me a novel....
where is it?! Love you daddy! Can’t wait to hear from you!
Recently I have started to read the
Bible and I will be getting through the standard works before I get home!
Oh man the Old Testament gives me a headache sometimes... but its a wonderful
adventure! I am learning a ton.
I love you all soooo much! WE just got a flash flood warning..... yikes!!!
Mwah! xoxo
Sister Younce
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