So dramatic. Anyway, I will explain now. The week was going so well! I will write about the miracles in a minute, but I will tell you about Sabrina first, our investigator that was going to be baptized yesterday. Yeah, she wasn't baptized. We were gone on Friday in Wichita, and we called her Thursday night to make sure she was still doing good. Things were still good to go, then Friday night she texted us and told us she wasn't feeling good that night but she would call us tomorrow. Then we called her Saturday (the day she was supposed to be baptized) and she didn't answer. She always answers, so this was unusual. We called again a little later and she didn't answer, so we got worried and went to her house. She wasn't there. Or at her dad's house. And her family only told us a few things, but none of them they said knew where she was. So basically we haven't talked to her now since Thursday, and we have no idea where she is. We have ideas of what happened, but we aren't sure. One thing we know is that it wasn't us- the sisters have been her best friends! But anyway, I won't go into too much detail but hopefully she will turn up soon or at least call us. Saturday was quite the day.
That is the bad news. But there is so much good news to tell! I will start with our miracle story of the week. So last week we got a text message referral from headquarters for some people that live in our area. It said they had gone to temple square and wanted a Book of Mormon, but they were worried missionaries wouldn't find them because they are out in the middle of nowhere (even more so than Great Bend- a tiny town). So we called them for days, but no one answered, and we didn't want to drive all the way out there unless we knew they would be home. Anyway, on Tuesday I called them and they actually answered! We set up an appointment for Wednesday and they sounded excited to meet us. It was awesome when we went over! They are this adorable older couple that went on vacation to Wyoming and decided to go to Salt Lake because they had never been there. He told us that it turned out to be the highlight of their trip- they went to the VC, saw the temple and tabernacle and even heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the conference center. When we went in there was a little pamphlet about temple square on the table and they were just so excited about it. It was so funny to be in a teaching situation like that- people who asked you to come to them, have a little introduction to the church, and have legitimate questions for you they have been
thinking about! And really want to learn about our teachings. It was the ideal situation. We had a really good lesson with them and taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel. They loved it! They both have grown up on farms in these tiny towns and at the end were telling us that they are not satisfied with the church in town. They are looking for something more like a family atmosphere, a place with youth, and a place they can become active and help out. Golden! It was just such a miracle. We were all best friends by the end of their visit and we are going back this week. We are going to teach the Plan of Salvation, which they will love! It was such a tender mercy for us to meet them. I have a good feeling about them.We have so many other great investigators in this area! There are several who are getting close to baptism, and of course the adversary is trying his hardest on them and on us. But he will not succeed! Another cool thing is that this weekend we will probably get to go on a temple trip with the ward! There are a bunch of recent converts going who have never been before, so we will probably get to go. We are actually going to Denver, which is pretty funny. I have never been to the temple on my mission, and I definitely didn't expect to go to Denver if I did! It will be a one day trip, and will be mostly driving, but will be so worth it. I am super excited!
I also wanted to talk about the leadership conference this last week. So great! The idea behind these conferences is to train the leaders in the mission more on the new curriculum and practice it, then we teach and train the other missionaries. But it was just a really spiritual meeting. We talked about church tours, exchanges, district meetings, and lots of other things. And we also spent a few hours just practicing doing things like inviting people to be baptized, and just teaching by the spirit instead of just spouting off our own knowledge. This has really helped me in teaching situations to not just hear someone's concern and then do a search in my brain for something I know that will address that concern. Instead, you listen to the spirit and get what they actually need, not what you have for them. Study and reading are very important in this process because the spirit can't draw from an empty well! But we need to not just have one size fits all answers. Our purpose is to invite other to come unto Christ (as is everyone's purpose in any calling in the church), and the only way to do that is for them to change in some way. If we just teach these lessons and they don't get it, or they don't feel anything, they are not going to change. Why would they? I wouldn't. But if instead we are teaching these people the things the Lord has given to us to teach them through the spirit, everything changes. They still have their agency, but they will have more of a desire to change. One thing I learned at the conference is that Heavenly Father respects agency, He
has to. It is a law. But He also loves His children, and wants them to come to Him and His son. So applying that to us as missionaries, this is why He gives us the spirit and why we will be able to receive what people need when we teach them. Because He won't force us or people to change, but He wants to give them the best chance possible by helping them to feel the spirit and gain that desire. Does that make sense? It was kind of a "duh" moment for me, but really clicked in. We had some good practices and it is hard work to teach by the spirit, instead of just teaching what you want or you think they need. You have to really focus, concentrate, and most importantly love the people that you are teaching. None of this works unless love is at the base of it! I am so grateful I was able to go to the conference and apply this more in my teaching and missionary work. And I know that it will not just be for my mission, but my whole life!Well, I will wrap things up. Haha another thing that happened this week is that all over the mission, everyone is required to pass off their lessons again. Do you remember me talking about that as a greenie? You have to memorize the principles and scriptures of each lesson (it is easier now than what I had to do) and pass them off to leaders. It will be awesome and easier to teach by the spirit when we actually know the doctrine better. But anyway, after you pass off all 5 lessons you are a level 5 teaching. But me and Sister Glade decided that we were going to add more and become level 20 teachers. In order to become a level 20 teacher there are some very specific requirements. These include riding a bike wearing a skirt (pictures to come next week, don't even worry), standing on top of a hay bale, and have scarred legs from multiple mosquito and chigger bites. There are more requirements of course, but those are just some of the main ones. We are working hard to make sure we become not just level 5 but level 20 before long. :)
Missionary life is crazy and silly and dramatic and miraculous! It really is the biggest roller coaster I have ever been on. But I wouldn't change it for the world. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!
-Sister Hafen
No comments:
Post a Comment