Dear family and friends,
Well I love you all so much and always have you in my prayers. You all
sound like you are doing great. I am glad your New Years went well,
and I look forward to what 2016 brings. :)
It's very
cold in January here and we walk during the day, and take buses. My
health is doing fairly well and I think I will be good for the rest of
my mission. We are cleaning for P day today because it's the first P
day of the year.:)
I want to start out with an amazing
experience I actually had yesterday. We had an investigator a few
months ago that had a baptismal date right? Do you remember that? Well
she took some time off to THINK about everything. She continued to
come to church and the ward parties, and she came to church yesterday
and agreed to meet with us after. We had been thinking for days on
what to share with her and how to help her, and we fasted and
prayed........... yet still we had no idea. Yesterday came and we
were so worried. As we sat in Relief Society together I was looking for
some scriptures that I could share with her. I couldn't find one, and
then FINALLY the last five minutes I happened to stumble upon a very
special scripture, but yet I still didn't know what we were going to
teach, and I was worried about that. Then all of a sudden the Relief
Society President started talking about the Priesthood, and she said,
"If any of you don't have priesthood holding men in your home, you can
always ask the men in our ward. " I suddenly had this thought, "Maybe
she would like a blessing." I turned to her right away and offered her
an opportunity to receive a blessing from a priesthood holder in order
to start this new year with strength. She was SHOCKED that she could
receive one and gladly accepted. After it was finished the Elders and
the ward mission leader gave her a blessing of comfort and counsel. He
said, "We bless you that you will be baptized and join the church." The
spirit was SOOOOOOO strong and I knew that she could feel it in the
room as well.
Then they left and we met together. I said
the opening prayer, and as I was praying all of the prayers and fasting
we did for her strengthened me, and all the love I had for her rushed
through me. By the time I was finished with the prayer, I was
completely in tears. The member with us responded, "Wow the spirit is
really strong." At this point I still did not know what to say to her
or what to teach her, and I sat there and just prayed to Heavenly Father
to let me know of what to say. I never have experienced anything like
this. I opened my mouth and started to speak and it felt as if it was
not me speaking, and it overtook me and I realized in that moment that
the spirit guided the whole lesson. She told us that she has NEVER
RECEIVED a big confirmation that this is all true, but has always felt a
good feeling. (You don't need a BIG confirmation by the way) She then
told us that the blessing was really amazing and it was like her own
confirmation. I knew the spirit worked in her and the power of God is
real. The two members that were there started to bear testimony, and
then it even got stronger. Long story short, we figured out the root of
the problem. She really WANTS to get baptized but she wants her
parents permission and approval. Even though she really doesn't need
their permission, she respects her parents, and she doesn't have enough
courage. Her parents are buddhists and are very against other
churches. I know that God can soften their hearts just like He did to
many people in the Book of Mormon. The lesson we gave was JUST what
she needed and the testimonies from the members was just enough to give
her the courage to talk to her parents. Then when we finished an hour
later our investigators best friend who was there called and thanked us
for the lesson and the blessing. She told us that on the way home they
talked together and our investigator told her that she loves this church
more then she ever has, and she feels she has so much more courage. I
was relieved to hear that. This is a very vital week for her, and I'm
asking all of you if you could pray for a miracle.:) I have a burning
testimony that God is watching over us and loves all of His children.
"With God, nothing is impossible." I love this gospel and I know that
it's true with ALL OF MY HEART. :)
I am so grateful
for the knowledge I have of this Gospel, and the Book of Mormon. By the
way, Korean's make me really happy too.:) The hardest thing right now
for me is teaching. We have a lot of investigators right now that are
VERY DIFFICULT. Their hearts are very hardened so we have to really
focus on teaching well.
The scripture in D&C 121
that says, " Peace be unto thy soul. Thine afflictions shall be but a
small moment, and then if ye endure it well; God shall exalt thee on
high," is one of my very favorite scriptures. I remember when my
mission president said that verse to me personally over the phone and I
felt as if the Lord was speaking to me. Also, I love the verse that
says, "Peace, peace be unto thy soul. For your faith in my Beloved whom
ye have not seen........." Helaman 5: 46-47.
I am
trying to exercise every single morning, because if I didn't I wouldn't
be obedient to my mission president. I can't wait to go on a green
juice cleanse as soon as I get home. These little red circles on my
skin some times are itchy and I know I need to get them treated. But I
think I will be fine until I get home.
Justin.........If I had to give advice, not that you want
it....haha..........I want to tell you that the more you testify to
others, the more your testimony strengthens. I have found my testimony
is strengthened when I study well, plan well, teach well, and testify
well. In the moment of teaching someone else, the spirit testifies to
you that what you are teaching IS TRUE.
For those of you
who are not on missions yet, i would suggest doing the simple things
like search, ponder, and pray. Along that, you need to apply what you
learned. That is where the growth comes in, and you will feel it and
it will fill you with so much joy that you can't even contain.
Next week I will send things back because I have too much stuff. I
will probably bring my pillow with me on the plane, because it's cozy
and is my attachment.:) You should have gotten my flight plans in the
mail by now. I will arrive on Friday, March 4th at around 6:30 pm your
time.
I get to sing in church in 2 weeks so I'm
excited about that. I really have loved being able to use my music here
in Korea on my mission. It's brought me a lot of joy.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week, and...............don't forget to read the scriptures every day.:)
Love, Michelle
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