We have had a stellar week!! (sorry, it's a lengthy one, but worth the read.)
1. We attended a conference in Indianapolis with Elder S. Gifford Nielson who added gasoline to our flame of faith.
2. I hit my year mark!!!! September 21 has come and gone! (Happy Moroni Day by the way!) ;)
3. We saw a miracle.
Can I just say first that God's timing is so perfect? Alright alright, it all starts Sunday. We planned to go the the Stith's home and to teach them a lesson that day. Later in church, we saw Luz and she asked when she could come out with us (she is a returning less-active member and is getting super excited about the gospel and wanted to go knocking on doors with us!!) We told her that we were going to be in the neighborhood because the Stith family is in the same neighborhood as Luz and that we were planning on tracting anyway after their lesson!!
We got a call from Luz during the lesson and she wasn't sure she could come because her family was having a birthday party for her little brother Ben, but then she said her mom, Sara, said she could come, but her dad, Obento, didn't want her to be gone when they started the party. We asked Obento for permission and he gave us permission to take her! Obento is not a member and hasn't ever been interested in learning either.
We went tracting and no one was home! Maybe it was siesta time? I don't know. The very last door we knocked on was a man we were able to teach the Restoration and give a Book of Mormon to. Right when we were about to leave, Luz asked if she could tell him something. Now, before I tell you what she says, you need to know that she is a very animated, loud person. She loves messing with people and says what she thinks and her personality is exuberant, definitely has a dominant (red) personality. She told this man, that she was in the same situation as him not knowing whether or not the Book of Mormon was true, but that she had us come to her home and she read and prayed about it and knew it was true and that it would help him in his life. She bore this testimony so humbly, I myself was touched by her sincerity. We left and she was pumped!!! She said "tracting is great!! Missionary work is great!!!!" haha
Her mom invited us to stay for Ben's birthday dinner, and so while we waited for the food we taught Luz the Word of Wisdom, something that she expressed was hard for her to keep because she LOVES coffee. We testified of her to the blessings but she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep it.
They had recently gotten an air hockey table and they were super excited about it and wanted to play us. Luz claimed she was the champion of it and wanted to show us her mad skills. Sis. Alapa played a couple minutes and then it was my turn. Luz was surprised at my defense and how I kept up with her. The score was 3 - 3 and she wanted to make it interesting by "betting something" I told her missionaries don't bet. She said, "It can be for church stuff! What is something that you've asked me to do but I'm not doing??" I looked at my comp and she nodded. I said, "Okay, if I win, you have to quit coffee." She said "WHAT??? Okay okay, you aren't going to win, so deal and if I win, you give me chocolate" (which is something I do already so I was okay with that haha)
The game was super intense and as we both progressed closer to 10 Luz started to freak out. I told her that God was on my side, and I really hoped He was. I was playing for a righteous cause, and I silently prayed for His help. The score was 7 - 7 and then boom, 3 in a row and Luz was defeated. She said, "I'm going through withdrawals already!!" haha and please note, that I am not even good at air hockey! I haven't played for probably 10 years!!!
But then, it gets better. She started playing her little 11 year old brother betting him that if she won, he had to come to church for a month, (I think she learned that when we pursue righteous endeavors God will bless us) they were tied and then Obento came and insisted that he played. Luz was upset because she was in the middle of a bet with her little brother so she extended that bet to Obento. If she won, the whole family had to come to church for 1 month. Obento seemed confident in himself and they proceeded to play. By some miracle Luz won the game. Obento was in denial haha but a deal is a deal.
Sorry folks the story is not over yet. We were eating dinner and Obento was playing trivia with us all, asking about who was president in what year (he is from Liberia) so he himself doesn't know haha) Luz kept trying to bring it back to Joseph Smith saying, "You know who else lived in the 1800s, Joseph Smith..." and talked about the Book of Mormon, eventually is was us, Obento and Luz and Luz straight up just started teaching Obento about Joseph Smith and what happened to him, we helped Luz teach and told him Joseph Smith's story and what the Book of Mormon is. Obento had never wanted to take the lessons and frankly hadn't been interested but his heart was softened and he told us that he had so many questions. He agreed to take the lessons. By this point, Sara came and sat down and she told us all how this was an answer to her prayers, that she had been praying he would just listen to the missionaries. God is a God of miracles. The evening lined up perfectly, Ben's birthday party had been postponed to that week. Their friends they invited to the party were really late, providing us the opportunity to teach, Luz had become excited about church and was there to encourage their family. They got an air hockey table two days before. We happened to plan to teach the Stiths that day so we were in her neighborhood. God is a God of miracles.
Hartman Rector Jr. in his talk "Following Christ to Victory" says this so well:
"Expect a miracle. All too often we really don’t expect a miracle. We are not looking for it, and so don’t recognize it when it comes. The Lord has commanded that we take the gospel to “every nation, kindred, tongue, and people” (D&C 77:8). So we pray for the Lord to cause a miracle which will break down those barriers that prohibit us from entering the nations where we are presently excluded...we must not overlook our need for help—the help we must have from the Lord—to hurdle the hedge to our next-door neighbor...
When the Lord said, “Lengthen your stride, quicken your pace, heighten your reach, widen your vision, and stretch your capacity,” he was in reality saying “expect a miracle,” for these are the stuff from which miracles are made.
The prophet says, “DO IT,” and he indicates the time is NOW. And expect the miracle."
Look for the miracles in your lives brothers and sisters. I promise they are there.
Serving with a smile,
Sister Bradley
Pictures:
The only time we will get to see the temple!
Happy 1 year :)
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