Milagros‏... miracles

SO HI EVERYONE!

This week was almost 100 times better than last week. 

It was just filled with so much goodness.

1. So we live about 15 or 20 miles away from our actual area, meaning that we do a whole lot of driving every day. We got home early one night, and we were unsure of what to do! Our main focus is teaching people in Spanish, but the Spanish population where we live is so limited. We sat in our car for a few minutes, pretty frustrated with ourselves for having a whole hour of nothing to do. We said a fervent prayer, asking for guidance and help. After the prayer, we sat for a few minutes. We both felt the same prompting and decided to do some tracting in some apartments down the road. Not sure where to begin, we stared at the apartments until 3 in particular stood out to me. Not sure if it was because they were the only ones with lights on... ha but we decided to try them out! The first two didn't answer, though we saw them through the windows... tsk tsk... but the very last one opened her door! She was a really nice lady, who, yes, SPOKE SPANISH. We about died right then and there. Milagros... miracles. Too bad we forgot her name!!!! Haha like honestly... we're the worst. BUT we are going back! YAY.

2. We went out to contact some referrals we had gotten, but no one was home. Typical. But as we were walking, a man stopped us, and asked if we were Hermanas. Turns out, he was a member! We got talking, and he told us his conversion story and about his family, it was really neat. He then pointed at a house across the street and told us we should check it out. So we thanked him, and headed in that direction. A 19 year old girl opened the door, and she was way friendly! We got to know her a bit, and when we asked her if she was interested in our message, she said yes! Hermana Grubbs was like, "Really!?" hahaha the girl just laughed and assured us that she was! MILAGROS people.

3. We have been planning to teach a really special lesson about the Restoration to a family who means a whole lot to us. The mom and the kids are not members, though the dad is. The mom is the sweetest, and she has been really receptive so far. She has a solid testimony of Jesus Christ and the atonement! But we were really wanting to teach the Restoration to her. Too bad every time we tried, she rescheduled! Finally, we were able to get her and her kids all together to teach the main message of this church. She invited her sister and nephew along too, and she had snacks for everyone! It was awesome! We taught the restoration to her whole family, and the spirit was there. It was incredible. As we were bearing our testimonies, we could see the tears in both the mom and her sister's eyes, and we knew that they were feeling the spirit too. I bore a strong testimony that I knew God loved their family so much, and He wanted the best for them. I knew it was true with my whole heart! We asked her if she would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. She said she would ONLY if she received an answer that it was all true. We told her we would help her and her two sons prepare for baptism on May 23rd! So pray for this family!!!!! It was such an incredible lesson.

4. We were getting dinner one night, when a man in the parking lot stopped me and asked if I was a missionary. I told him I was, and we talked about what our church believes in. He told me he was just reading in a Catholic newspaper about missionaries, and I only laughed and said, "There's no such thing as a coincidence!" He opened up to me and my companion about his life and how he was struggling. We bore testimony of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how amazing it is. We told him he is never alone, that he always has his Father in heaven. He thanked us over and over, with tears in his eyes. I asked him if he wanted to say a prayer, so there we were - a 65 year old Catholic man and two young Mormon missionaries, kneeling in a restaurant parking lot, praying to God. I remembered then that this work that I'm doing is inviting ALL people to come unto Christ, no matter who they are.

This week was just full of so much. I have so much hope and love in my heart. I saw miracles happen. I saw God work miracles in me! He was able to make me so much more capable of sharing my talents and my testimony this week. I felt His love in everything I did. I am learning so much about how I can rely on my Father in Heaven every single day. Just by doing the little things, I know that I am coming closer to God. And I want to help every single person do the same!

Missionary work is not about me. It's not about you. It's about bringing other people closer to Christ. It's about helping other people feel the spirit. It's about loving everyone!

My eyes have been opened and my heart is more fully aware of the blessing and gifts of God. 

I love you so much! ALL of you! Please continually pray and read your scriptures daily. I promise you God will answer your prayers and address your worries and fears. I promise you!

Be good this week!!!

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould