Hello from another great week in Geneva!
This was a relatively
busy week, as usual, and my companions and I are enjoying a very
welcomed preparation day. I am one of the most blessed missionaries in
the France Lyon Mission because I got to be there for President and
Soeur Murdock's final words in the Geneva First Ward, where they have
been for the past three years. I love them so much, and will always be
thankful for the way they have changed my life and taught me in word and
in deed. Sacrament meeting was also special because our ami Sampson was
confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This man is incredible. I talked about him in previous emails as 'David'
which we don't call him anymore, because that is the name he associates
with his old life and old friends. He is from Ghana, and he has a heart
of gold. He has abandoned a life of sin, and has chosen to follow our
Savior Jesus Christ forever. He gave a powerful
testimony at his baptisimal service. I can't wait to one day tell you
his whole story. We are so happy for him.
So, I bet you are all wondering how things went with Lucy. We get to
the door at about 8:05 (not too bad since our appointment was for 8!
haha) with Bishop Kimball. We hear her thump up to the little peep hole
as usual, and we wave at her smiling. She let out one of her classic
'I'm really excited right now' laughs, and opens the door. She has
approximately 1.7 bajillion bibles and every Christian talk show dvd
that was ever made, and usually these things are alllllll over the
place, and they still kind of were, but it was obvious that she made an
effort to clean up because when we went in the living room the table was
all cleared off, with a stack of four different bibles in the corner
(mind you they are all in huge print, so it is a rather hefty stack) and
then in the middle of the table she had her Book of Mormon, Gospel
Principles Book, and Restoration brochure sitting all stacked up on each
other, and next to the pile of Bibles was her favorite
Bible, all tattered torn and loved. So great. We started off with a
prayer and basically just got straight to the lesson. We explained to
her that the Priesthood authority (the power of God given to man to act
in His name for the Salvation of His children) of God was lost after the
death of Jesus Christ and His apostles. This priesthood is necessary to
perform sacred ordinances, such as baptism. Jesus Christ taught us by
example and commandment that except a man be born of water and the
Spirit He cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He was baptized by John
the Baptist, because He knew that He held the authority appropriate.
John the Baptist himself appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and
conferred upon them the priesthood authority necessary to baptize,
called the Aaronic Priesthood. Peter, James and John, the original
apostles of Jesus Christ, appeared later and conferred upon Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery the Melchizedek or higher Preisthood,
which was conferred to them by Jesus Christ. Now, every worthy
priesthood holder in the Church can trace their authority all the way
back to the Savior Himself. She told us she knew what we were saying was
true, but she still felt that she needed to read the whole Book of
Mormon before making a decision. It was a powerful lesson, filled with
the Spirit, and we respected her decision and just left knowing we had
done our best, and trusting that the Lord would manifest himself to her.
The next morning, we were just about to begin our companionship
study when the phone started ringing...it was Lucy! (yes dad...I totally
screened...)
Me: Hello Lucy
Lucy: HALLELUJAH!!!!!!! (I wish you could hear her amazingly passionate african-ness....just try to imagine it)
Me: Hallelujah???? (Excited, but mostly just wanting to know why she was so happy)
Lucy:
I am just REJOICIN' and I have been eva since las' night. I just wanted
to call you and tell you that I'm gonna take the baptism!'
My companions and I: Elated cries of joy and fist pumps in the air
Thank
you for your prayers of faith that helped bring to pass this miracle,
and countless others! Let's keep praying for Lucy that she will go
through with her honorable decision. She is really an amazing lady, who
has literally saved the lives of MANY in her country through her
remarkable faith in the Savior. She recieved her first copy of the Book
of Mormon in 1996, and after many years of going to and fro, she just
cannot deny that it is the truth, and contends with those that contend
with its veracity. She has many stresses in her life right now, and I
know that as we continue to pray for her, the Lord will continue to
prepare the way for her to recieve these saving ordinances made possible
by our Savior who she knows and loves so much.
We are teaching a family from Madagascar! And we are still working
with the Portuguese family, we are seeing them a little later tonight.
The Hernandez family went on a temple trip to do baptisms this weekend,
Ony and Shine are STILL waiting for little baby Ungi to come, and
Stephane is doing lots better. We have a lot of potential amis, and
we're just excited to keep going.
I love missionary work. I have to be honest, sometimes I forget how
much I love it....it is incredibly hard, and there are moments where you
really feel like you are just pushed to your limits. But, it is all for
a wise purpose under heaven, God wants us to become like Him, and He
provided the perfect plan to help us do so. The Savior lives and loves
us all, He is cheering for us and our families....let us run towards Him
together.
I love you with all my heart.
Sarah
PS I finally got the camera, and the earrings I got the DAY of my bday. THANK YOU! love love. Have the best week ever!
No comments:
Post a Comment