I have never been so happy in my entire life!!! This last
week has been the most incredible one so far. I'm not even sure where to start.
Our district has 4 Sisters going to Cincinnati and 4 Elders going to D.C.
North. We all get along extremely well. We have laughed, cried, and grown
together so much, but mostly laughed. :) It's too bad the Elders aren't in the
same mission because we love them so much. Our zone is pretty great, too. We
eat together and most of us play volleyball at gym time, which makes me very
happy. I'm even happier when the tall Elders are on my team. :D
Our teachers, Brother Moore, Brother Taylor, Brother Gallo,
and Brother Ferguson have been awesome. I have struggled a lot because before
coming here I felt like I knew how to teach a lesson. How wrong I was! It's not
about teaching lessons, it's about understanding and loving the investigators
and using the Holy Ghost to find what you need to say. Of all of the lessons I
have learned, that is the greatest one for me.
Sister Y and I had one particular experience that I
want to share. From day 1 you "teach" investigators. When we were
teaching, Brother Taylor role played as a man he once taught. The first 2 lessons were a little rough. We followed our plan, and
that's why it went wrong. (Kind of like Nephi and his brothers getting the
plates.) The 3rd lesson, though, something was different. We could tell that
something wasn't right. Our investigator confided with us that he was an
alcoholic. There suddenly came to my heart an intense feeling of love that I
have never felt before. It completely overwhelmed me, and through our testifying of
Jesus Christ's love for him, he promised to take steps to stop drinking and
prepare himself for baptism. That was a life changing experience for me. When we walked out of the room, all I could ask was, "What just happened?"
We also taught a girl going to college here. She had really scary questions for us on Monday, like "Was Jesus Christ married?" We were caught off guard, so the lesson of the Plan of Salvation was interesting. The spirit wasn't there at all, and we left flustered and disappointed. Last night we taught her for the 2nd and last time. We prayed before going in, and I feel like that's what made the difference. Because of our experience Monday we were determined to NOT ask if she had more questions. But, lo and behold, the first words out of my mouth when we sat down were, "Do you have any more questions?" WHAT?! I can promise you that that was not my idea. Her questions were all about the temple, so after we answered her questions, it led perfectly into what we were inspired to teach her. (The Holy Ghost is always right.) The spirit was there this time. We felt it, but more importantly, so did she. We will probably never see her again, but she promised to read the Book of Mormon and prepare herself for baptism when she finds out it's right. We don't teach through the spirit, the spirit teaches through us.
How
grateful I am for the trust and love our Savior has in me so that I can share
His love with others. It has been a privilege to be here at this time. Thank you
for your prayers. You have no idea how powerful they have been in my life. I
love you all and I'll write again next week from Ohio!
P.S. Our zone had a
temple trip at 6:30 this morning. Besides the time I received my endowments, I
can't recall feeling the spirit quite as strongly. I love the temple so much
and I'm grateful for the blessings that I have because of the promises I've
made with God.
