Hey Fam!
What an incredible week we were
able to have this week! We saw so many miracles. While the rest of the
mission was being transferred all around the state, Sis. Karlsson and I
took this opportunity of having so much extra time to work and try to
jump start our area for this transfer. I am really excited to have a
new transfer ahead of us. We have some great goals and exciting ideas
to help us to have a lot of success. So I am excited to see what
happens. I know that Heavenly Father will bless us for our hard work.
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| Contacted into a lady who had met with missionaries multiple times in the past. She had accumulated this many copies of the Book of Mormon from them. haha it is super cute to me to see how missionaries are always so excited to share this book. |
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| So a member in our ward served his mission in Sweden the same time that President Cutler was the AP there. He had pictures of all the people he served with in that mission. So this is President Cutler as Elder Cutler! haha kind of fun. |
We met a lot of cool new people this week. We were out tracting one day and knocked on this door and a little boy answered. He ran without saying anything to get his dad and they both came back. We tried to start talking to the Father, but soon realized that he couldn't understand what we were saying. The little boy told us, "My dad is deaf. But I can sign to him for you if you want." We were able to teach all about the Restoration of the gospel with the help of a 9 year old boy who knew some broken sign language. This family was very Christian and already had a church that they attend, but they were very kind to us and accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. At the end, the Father said a prayer for us in sign language! It was really such an incredible experience for me. On my mission, I have worked closely with people who speak Spanish and Hmong. And I have gained a testimony that God hears our prayers no matter what language we are speaking in. And I KNOW that God "heard" his prayer in sign language that day.
We also met this cool new investigator named Ryan. We were out and about and had had some of our plans fall through. We were in the area of a less-active new move-in that the ward wanted us to track down, so we decided to stop by. We knocked on the door looking for an Ashley, but Ryan answered. It was very dark in the apartment and you could tell that it was a little dark in his eyes as well. We could tell something was wrong. We started talking to him a little bit and he told us that he did not believe in God. He said that there were too many bad things that happened to good people. He felt that God had given up on him, so he had given up on God. We were able to testify of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of God's love for all of his children. As we continued to talk with him, you could tell that he was facing some hard times in his life. He told us, "don't worry about it. It is not your burden to carry." I know that what I told him next came directly from the Spirit. Immediately the scripture in Matthew 11 popped into my head:
28 ¶Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
We testified of Jesus Christ and how our burdens can be made light through Him. And then testified how we were set apart representatives of Jesus Christ. We were there to help him to feel the power of the Atonement in His life. Tears were falling from his eyes as we told us that he had given up on God, but decided to say one more prayer asking for help. And that is precisely when he heard a knock on the door and saw us standing there. We are so excited to continue to meet with him and help him feel the power of the Atonement in his life. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can heal our hearts.
We also had another miracle when we stopped by the visit a less-active family. We have been meeting with them weekly now and haven't seen a lot of progress. But this time when we got there, they had invited a friend (Sue) to the lesson and we were able to start teaching her! (We ended up setting a baptismal date with her and she came to church yesterday!) While we were talking, another friend/neighbor of theirs (Leann) walked up to us and asked us about who we were and what we were teaching. So we sat there teaching these two new people about the Restoration and we saw a fire start in the eyes of this less-active family. They started bearing their testimonies of the gospel and were able to testify to their friends about the Restoration. I have such a testimony that sharing the gospel and doing missionary work is one of the best ways that we can strengthen our own testimonies. And the coolest thing was, before Leann got up to leave, the mom of the family leaned over and gave her a temple pass-a-long card. Leann looked at it and turned it over the read the back. The back of those cards have questions on them like "Where will I go after I die?" After she read the card she looked at us and said, "My husband asked me these exact 3 questions this morning." So cool, right?? We are so excited to start teaching Leann and her husband!
With Father's day being this week, I have been able to reflect on the blessings in my life of both my earthly Father and my Heavenly Father. I sure am blessed.
John 3:16
16 ¶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loved us enough to give us His perfect Son. So that we can all return home to live with him again and to be with our families forever. I am so grateful for the knowledge of this gospel and how it blesses my life everyday. There is nothing greater than being a full-time servant of the Lord and getting to share this beautiful and perfect message every single day. I love it!
Love,
Sister King
