Well.. This has been a great week. Again. Lots of learning experiences. Some quick highlights of it--
So Monday we had a really crazy preparation day, but after that we went and had dinner with a family that is less active. They told us they are looking for new jobs so that they don't have to work on Sundays! woo! and THEN they were like oh.. and we have some family we really want you to go and see, but we don't want them to know we sent you there. So that was amazing.
So the next day we went and acted like we were just contacting.. ya know knocking doors.. the norm! We said the normal thing that we usually do when people open the door and then he was like, "Just a minute..." and he left the door for a little bit. When he left, I said, "I know I have met him before!!" .. so then when he came back and welcomed us in, I said, "Haven't I met you before??" and he was like, "Yeah! remember I am _____'s sister! (the family we had saw the night before) and I met you at her other sister's house one time.." and I was like, "Oohhhh yeah!"
I realized when I had actually met him in the past.. so that was kinda neat that he recognized me too. and then we just chatted a little bit. He told us that he knows that our church is the true church because the sisters in the past had taught him and he felt it then, and when he went to church he just knew.. and he said, "I was supposed to be baptized then, but I didn't end up doing it. But its never too late right??" And we were like, "uhhhh no!!" haha so we have a return apt. for this week with him and all of his family! He wants his mom to learn too.. I really hope we can have good lessons with them, because the ______ family is so great. and they said if we could get them to help their family join the church we would forever be in their hearts :) and I just can only imagine.. how amazing that would be for their family to have them all in the church and eventually go and get sealed :) ahh!! we are so excited. it was such a blessing that they gave us that referral! we are gonna go there for one of the many Christmas dinners.. lol.
Then, that same day something really really hard happened as well. I have never had this kind of an experience and it was really hard to deal with, but I think the Lord just really wanted us to learn this specific lesson right now. So we haven't had any contact with ____ or ____ for about 2 weeks.. They haven't been answering our calls or texting us back or anything. I was really scared because we taught about the temple the last time we saw _____ and I was just hoping that she didn't come across anything untrue or anti-Mormon online or anything like that.. So we decided to just stop by and try to talk to them to know what exactly was going on. So we went, and they didn't answer. We were writing a note to leave on the door when they walked up! They let us in.. but I could just feel it was really weird. Something was off.. and I didn't want to leave until I knew why. So we sat down and started talking some.. and then finally _____ told us that she is basically SO confused and she is scared of making any kind of changes from what she is comfortable with... and she has obviously been getting a lot of people telling her a lot of different things. She doesn't understand why we need the Book of Mormon which made me sad because I thought we had pretty well taught her that.. and she feels like she doesn't know enough about the Bible to start reading in the Book of Mormon so she still hasn't read out of it to know if it is true or not.. She has been going to some pastor's Bible study class to learn more about the Bible and have him interpret its words.... It was so hard. I just wanted to cry. I was just like LET US HELP YOU! Plus, I was frustrated because it felt like she hadn't told us her real doubts this whole time of us coming over.. and if we would have known better we could have helped her overcome those doubts. So I was disappointed with the situation and I wanted to cry because she just wants the truth.. and now she is SO confused. It just makes me sad :/ but afterwards i just was thinking and trying to receive the comfort I needed to be able to keep going that day and not let it affect me.. and I did. I felt the Spirit and I just felt a reassurance that it was okay.. at least we were able to help her to this point of her earnestly seeking. and by the end of her journey she will come back to where she started because this is where the truth is. She just needs some time and she will eventually come around. I was really grateful for this experience though because it all of the sudden put everything with our other investigators into perspective..
Everyone has doubts.. everyone has some kinds of concerns or fears about being baptized even if you can tell they have received that spiritual confirmation.. even though you have shared the most spiritual lessons with them.. and you have fasted and prayed for them so much. They all have worries about this big change they are committing to. and we have to make sure that we figure out what those are and make sure to help them find the way of overcoming those hurdles. So it was really good because it made us re-evaluate our relationships with our other investigators right now and talk about what we could do to make sure that we have super trust with them.. that they feel comfortable enough to express to us their concerns and worries and how we can ask them about those.
So we got to see _____ and her girls this week and we decided to just talk all about that.. and really figure out if they are really working towards being baptized and if they have anything that is holding them back from doing that.. ____ said she wants to change her life.. and that is why she wants to be baptized :) ____ said she wants eternal life :) and _____ said she wants "to be clean and be like born again". We were so impressed and excited when they answered that way!! haha then we talked about any concerns they had, and really ____ is just having a hard time giving up coffee! It is a toughy lol. And then since _____ is going to a different church (and has been for 6 years) it is really hard for her to want to change.. but we made some plans as to how we are going to get her some good friends in this ward :) _____ is just ready. she has no worries lol :) so it was really good. it is just so much better when it is really open and they feel like they can tell you whatever.
OH! we finally got to give the Book of Mormon to that man that called us a couple of weeks ago wanting it! We met up with him and he told us that he is actually a Pastor!! but he said he respects us SO much and just is so impressed with how "disciplined" we are with our faith and that we are out here with nothing really in return.. just out of our love and faith in the Savior. So that was really neat. he said he is going to read it!! and we hope to hear about it soon :)
We had our ward Christmas party Saturday!.. oh man.. I cant wait to be able to come back and party with these people! They are so much fun!! and i love to dance.. but as a missionary i guess we probably shouldn't be dancing and stuff. so I had to pull it together and fight the urge! lol.
I really just can't wait to get to talk to y'all and see your faces.. honestly. I am gonna freak out!! also we realized the other day that I will talk to you for Mother's Day and then come home like a week later!!! haha.. Anyways.
I love you so much. I am so grateful for this Christmas season and for the love of the Lord for each and every single one of us. I love Him so much. and I know He loves me. Merry Christmas!!!!!! <3
-Hermana Weller :)
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