We had an awesome week too!!! :) We met with the Stith family and they are doing so great! They always have so many questions about the Book of Mormon and are trying to absorb as much as they can!! We invited them to be baptized on September 9th and all 3 of them accepted!!! It was so cute too because after we met with them, Janet texted us and asked us what she needed to be doing to prepare for her baptism next month! She is so excited! They take notes of all the things that we tell them and put a lot of effort into retaining it all!! Please keep them in your prayers!!!
We also had a lesson with a new investigator named Melissa. I asked her why she agreed to let us come back (because at first she seemed hesitant) and she said that she had been searching for a sign in her life and had actually been wanting to go back to church for several years and she took us to be that sign! We taught her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and wow the Spirit was strong! She was hearing impaired but I definitely believe that the Spirit helped her understand!! She committed to be baptized if she came to know it was true and agreed to come to church!!! Please pray for Melissa to receive answers as she prays!
We met with a girl named Kelly Jeffers that was a referral from a girl visiting the Notre Dame ward!!! She is 17 and the last time we met with her I wasn't exactly sure how interested she was. We tried teaching her the Book of Mormon but she seemed super uncomfortable. Needless to say I had no idea what to expect this lesson! She sure surprised me when she said she read through 4 chapters and LOVED it!!! We went through the Restoration of the Gospel as she told us A LOT about the Catholic faith (seriously, I've never met a Catholic that knew as much as she does!) At the end of the lesson we asked her thoughts and feelings about what we had talked about and she said she was so confused! She said she just had a big question mark in her head because she didn't want to leave the comfort of the religion she knew, and she knew if she joined she wouldn't be able to have her family come to her wedding and all these different things were going through head. Sister Soloa'i gave her great advice. She said "It is just as dangerous to live in the future as it is in the past." We told her to focus on the here and now and just reading and finding out if it was true and that everything else would be fine. Kelly calmed right down! She said she felt so much better and agreed to meet again!
We met with Yali, and I was super impressed when she said that she had decided to put aside the trinity issue because she didn't want it to block her or stop her from learning more. Wow, not a lot of people we teach are able to do that.
We also saw Reahlyn and Ethan! They are two of our investigators we have been struggling to see for the past several months! #1 they loved sister Soloa'i because she is a Poly and #2 they expressed to us a lot of concerns that they had that we started to address then, and are going to completely address the next lesson! Hopefully they start progressing toward baptism again!! Lots of prayers would be greatly appreciated!!
There have been several experiences with people and myself that have directed my thought to the different stumbling blocks we face in life. Yali had the stumbling block of the trinity, Reahlyn had a couple stumbling block preventing her from progressing, Jackie had the stumbling block of discouragement, I had a couple stumbling blocks preventing me from being the missionary I am capable of. Everyone of us faces these every day. Yes, it is no fun, but it comes with a choice. We can choose to let these blocks stand in our way, we can set that stumbling block aside somewhere it can be addressed later, or we can move forward with faith overcoming the stumbling block. I know that these stumbling blocks do not come from God, they come from the author of all confusion who doesn't want us to progress and doesn't want us to move forward. With God's help, these things can be overcome!!! I invite all of you to look at your own lives. What are some things that may be holding you back from reaching your full potential? I invite you to make a choice to not let that stumbling block affect you any longer. The scriptures promise that Jesus Christ can take them away:
"And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks" (1 Nephi 14:1)
Let Christ take your stumbling blocks away, all you have to do in return is to "hearken unto" Him.
Serving with a Smile,
Sister Bradley
Pictures!
Sister Soloa'i and our cute house!
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