Wow what a week this has been! Let's just say it started off pretty rough....
The thorn of this week was that our favorite progressing family (J'nell and Rod) took a turn down the wrong path. They were hit with a lot of anti literature from the internet Monday night and are now convinced we are not who we say we are. J'nell called her mom who called us, freaking out about all the things her daughter saw. J'nell's mom is a strong member and works in the temple daily. She has been wanting this for her daughter for a long time and it's hurting her to see Satan trying to take that away again. J'nell's mom was also forwarding all of J'nell's texts to us so we were getting hit with the anti stuff too. And even though Sister Morris and I have strong testimonies, we could feel our faith shaking. We felt horrible and we had no idea how to help J'nell. We were able to get one of our members to come to J'nell's home with us to help her answer her questions. Unfortuantely, J'nell was not ready to talk to us.
The thorn of this week was that our favorite progressing family (J'nell and Rod) took a turn down the wrong path. They were hit with a lot of anti literature from the internet Monday night and are now convinced we are not who we say we are. J'nell called her mom who called us, freaking out about all the things her daughter saw. J'nell's mom is a strong member and works in the temple daily. She has been wanting this for her daughter for a long time and it's hurting her to see Satan trying to take that away again. J'nell's mom was also forwarding all of J'nell's texts to us so we were getting hit with the anti stuff too. And even though Sister Morris and I have strong testimonies, we could feel our faith shaking. We felt horrible and we had no idea how to help J'nell. We were able to get one of our members to come to J'nell's home with us to help her answer her questions. Unfortuantely, J'nell was not ready to talk to us.
Some good did come from this though! The member sat down with us and taught us how to answer most anti questions that could come up. It reaffirmed my faith in this gospel and everything truly ties back to the Book of Mormon. There is so much power when we strive to read from it each day. Personal revelation comes from the white spaces of the page, not just the words. I gained a stronger testimony that night of God's love for His children because I know He would never lead us astray.
Ok now the roses of this week! Because Joel's baptism falls on the weekend of General Conference and lots of members are going to be busy/gone, we are planning to move his baptism date. We just have no idea when lol. Our hands have been full this week as we've tried to prepare Joel for baptism. I still can't believe how much progress he has made. When we first found Joel, he was in a rough spot. He didn't even know if God existed. Now he has a firm testimony in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He believes in the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We have seen the power of Christ's Atonement work through him. He used to have a bad habit of swearing, especially when we would talk to him on the phone. I have not heard one swear word leave his mouth for weeks and he's completely stopped on his own. That's the power of having the Spirit in your life friends. When we first invited him to be baptized, he told us he didn't feel worthy enough. Now, he tells us how excited he is for his baptism because he gets a fresh start in life. He wore a suit to church for the first time on Sunday and it made me so happy!! He's going to definitely serve a mission someday ;)
Ok now the roses of this week! Because Joel's baptism falls on the weekend of General Conference and lots of members are going to be busy/gone, we are planning to move his baptism date. We just have no idea when lol. Our hands have been full this week as we've tried to prepare Joel for baptism. I still can't believe how much progress he has made. When we first found Joel, he was in a rough spot. He didn't even know if God existed. Now he has a firm testimony in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He believes in the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We have seen the power of Christ's Atonement work through him. He used to have a bad habit of swearing, especially when we would talk to him on the phone. I have not heard one swear word leave his mouth for weeks and he's completely stopped on his own. That's the power of having the Spirit in your life friends. When we first invited him to be baptized, he told us he didn't feel worthy enough. Now, he tells us how excited he is for his baptism because he gets a fresh start in life. He wore a suit to church for the first time on Sunday and it made me so happy!! He's going to definitely serve a mission someday ;)
Our grand church tour went really well Saturday night! We didn't have quite as many people show up as we wanted but it was still a success! We had a less active member (a father and his two daughters) come to the tour which was super awesome! We gave each of the girls a Book of Mormon and they went straight to reading and highlighting parts they liked! On Sunday, the dad (Brother Josh Thompson) brought his girls and their friend to church and it was such a tender mercy! They loved church and Zoey who is 10 wants to get baptized. We had family home evening with them last night and they made prayer jars so they could know what to pray for each day. We are so excited for this family and the father is such an amazing dad to them. The girls just look up to him so much.
We had 7 friends at church this week which was a huge miracle! Many less active members came too and the chapel was just filled with people. It was such a testimony builder to me of how truly important it is to get people to church because the Spirit felt there is unlike anything you'll find elsewhere.
We were able to have Elder Whiting, a member of the seventy, come and visit us yesterday for zone conference. Wow, he is basically Elder Holland in a nutshell. I've never been so inspired to be the best missionary I can be. He told us how the Second Coming basically depends on us as missionaries because Christ will only return to the earth once the gospel has touched every part of the world. That struck me hard and I realized how important this work really is and I need to take it even more seriously. I know my time is limited and I want to exert all my effort every minute of each day. I seriously love this work, even if it's hard and many times I have wanted to give up. I know I grew up in the church for a reason and it's my job to share it with as many as I can. I can't wait for the miracles to come as this transfer comes to an end!
Love you all and life is so good here in Enumclaw! Have the best week ever!
love,
sister smith
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