Oh I love Angie, Emma, and Mikela more and more! We taught them 4 times this week. Wednesday we met with just Angie and asked her about her thoughts/feelings about the things we had talked about on Monday about baptism. She expressed her feelings about her baptism and we reassured her that her baptism was a great thing to lead her to where she's at today. We had a more structured lesson prepared, but I felt restrained for some reason. So I searched for what to say. I don't remember how, but the reason for feeling restrained came up. Angie pointed to a picture we had drawn about the path(s) leading to God and said she wanted "that", but it was so hard. She broke down then and shared her concerns about her husband who is an atheist. She is so worried about something happening to him and never being able to see him again. It's been very taxing on her marriage, but she believes in keeping the family together, and she loves him so much. She is such a strong woman. She's been carrying such a heavy burden. We gave her some peace and reassurance that this gospel offers hope for her and her husband. We went over Thursday night and taught her about the Atonement and the spirit world, and boy, what a powerful lesson. If anyone needed the peace and comfort that comes from the knowledge of the spirit world, it was Angie. We shared with her from D&C 138, and then what really got her was the verses from 1 Peter 3 & 4 as well as 1 Cor. 15:29. She was shocked that her answers were right there the whole time and she never knew it. Her leaky spirit showed again as it always does. :) Emma and Mikela asked why she was crying, and she said she was just so happy about what she had just learned and it really brought her relief from the pain she'd been carrying around all these years. Oh, what a neat thing to witness - Angie is being healed by the Atonement as she learns more about this gospel. It's so real it's almost tangible! Angie was SO appreciative of us coming over and teaching her. I am so appreciative of her letting us teach her! She's so golden! I love going over there to teach her and her girls! Saturday we went and watched the REST DVD with the girls and taught them about getting answers to their prayers and that they can know which church is true. We asked Angie to share her feelings, and she told us and them that she'd gotten her answer. She explained the peace, assurance, and warmth she felt. What a powerful testimony from a mother to her young daughters! Angie told us that she doesn't really have a decision to make, it's already been made for her, she just needs to do it. !!!!!!! (That means extreme excitement. hehe) I was getting antsy at church waiting for them to show up. S. Mat was sitting with our other investigators and I was waiting right outside the chapel. I hope there's not a rule about running in the church, because as soon as I saw Angie and her girls walking down the hall, I took off running! I was so excited! I about ran over the people that were in front of them. Oops! Oh man, I love that feeling of joy! Angie liked church, and even made a comment in relief society. The girls were a little restless in sacrament meeting (high council Sunday...) but they said they liked primary. We're a little nervous about Mikela because she's shy and a little hesitant to answer questions or what not in lessons (though she's really bright). We found out that Sister Isaac's daughter is good friends with Mikela and they were in the same class last year. So hopefully that friendship will help Mikela out. Oh, I forgot. Saturday when we went over for the lesson, Emma gave us a picture she had drawn of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. Oh it was so cute! We hung it up on the fridge at home. :)
Tuesday night we had a lesson with Carl & Tawny finally! They don't have a phone and it's near impossible to catch them. We had a good, brief lesson on the spirit world, and Tawny really seemed to like it. We set up an appointment for Wednesday night and we were so excited. Sadly, it was not too much of a surprise when they weren't home for the appointment. :(
Sister Jones came with us to visit Michael on Wednesday. He had read over Alma 40 a few times and he liked it. We finished up the Plan of Salvation with him, pointing out the "hidden truths" in the Bible about the 3 kingdoms. He really liked that, and seeing how things fit together visually, as well as the Bible and BOM. It was a good lesson, and again, his prayer showed understanding and acceptance. He's slowly becoming more proactive in this process. He is beginning to be the one to bring up seeing us at church, and after church yesterday, he confirmed that we were still coming on Wednesday. Progress!
Sister Jones was also with us to see Sister Eshelman. She's such a sweet lady with a good testimony, but she hasn't been to church since about 1996. She was having a rough day, but she let us in. We sang her some songs, and shared a short lesson with her to boost her spirits. We again invited her to come to church, promising that the job/financial situation would work out. She was hesitant again. She mentioned the first time that it's just hard to go alone (husband no longer a member). She's now met Sister Jones and Sister Isaac, so she'd have a familiar face at least. I think there's maybe something else keeping her. I'm not sure what it is though.
We stopped in to see the Engles that night. Brother Engle was already asleep, but we visited with Sister Engle. They've missed the last few weeks due to illness, but Sister Engle said that they were going to come back again. It's so neat to see a less-active (for 20+ years) who wants to come back. They said they're not up for all 3 hours of church yet, but they'll get there.
We finally got to teach Stephanie again. It's the first time we've had a full lesson with her since I've been here. The other times it's just been a quick scripture. But we took Sister Coffman with us and we were able to teach the first few principles of the REST lesson to her. It went really well. Things were flowing well and I was able to connect things together, and I didn't have to wonder what to say. I felt confident, and I felt that I was actually teaching Stephanie, not just teaching a lesson. Afterwards, S. Mat apologized for if I felt like she left me hanging but she was in awe of how smoothly things were going. Hah. She's so funny. Stephanie brought up that there's people at work who get Sundays off for religious reasons but they don't go to church, and because of that, she - who wants to go to church - has to work. We asked if she could ask for it off for religious reasons, and she received some inspiration - she could maybe get every other Sunday off. Here's hoping!
We met with Deven again. I had been thinking on the way over that it'd be nice to be able to teach without his stepmom there. What a surprise when we got there and his parents were gone! (Luckily there was an 18 year old girl there so we could still teach.) So we decided to switch things up and begin teaching him the Plan of Salvation. It was nice to be able to focus solely on Deven and not worry about what Sister Hanson was thinking, etc.
Sister Healton came with us to teach Mike again. We planned on teaching him how to recognize the Holy Ghost. We started out talking about who He is and what he does. He has this "stupid idea" (his words, not mine) that we have 2 guardian angels - one here, one in heaven recording. And he thinks that the Spirit is not one person but many people, so that multiple people can feel Him at the same time. We shared passages from John 14-16, as well as D&C 130:22 to help him see that He is one person, just a spirit. It went alright - he's not fully won over, but getting there. Just as we were about to transition to how we recognize the Holy Ghost, Mike got side tracked on something about the spirit world, and that led to the idea of us being spirit children, that he has a really hard time grasping. We shared the verses in 1 Peter about the spirit world and how the spirits live on while the body is in the grave. His response was startling. He said they don't really study 1 Peter much because it's "eerie" and we don't understand it. Basically there was the feeling that he didn't believe Peter's words. (And people claim that we don't believe the Bible!) As we talked and tried to help Mike understand, I realized that he identifies himself as being a physical body that was brought to life by a spirit, and that's why it's so hard for him to accept/grasp the concept of a premortal existence. If he could identify his person as a spirit tabernacled in "clay", he could make so much progress. I feel like he's slowly getting the hang of it. It'll take a lot of time to uproot his previous notions, but if he sticks with it, it'll come.
Brother Lalonde gave us a name of a less-active, part-member family that lives in the outskirts of nowhere. Sister Healton took us out there and we met Sister Brafford. She warmed up to us after a bit. She hasn't been active since she was 18. We read with her from 3 Nephi 18 about the importance of the sacrament and invited her to church. She said no, and said she's not ready to come back yet. Key word: yet. She did ask for the meeting times, so she is thinking about it somewhat. I see some potential there.
Saturday we went to see another referral, this one from Brother Myers. He home teaches Brother Lamons and Brother Myers told us the girl he's living with might be interested. We weren't sure whether that came from Brother Lamons or Ruth. We were welcomed in with open arms. Brother Lamons really loves the gospel. He's had some health issues and that is at least part of why he hasn't been to church. Ruth is really interested in learning. We taught her what the BOM is, and she was really happy to learn that. We have another appointment tomorrow with them. I see some good potential there as well! Yay for ward referrals!
We went back to see Bernie & Sue that afternoon. We tracted into them and she let us right in. He used to be a pastor (in his 70s or 80s now), but he said he wanted to know what we believe, and hear it from a member of the church, rather than outside sources. Like most pastors, he has a tendency to talk too much. He did ask a question about the BOM, and we gave him a brief run down of prophets and explained what the BOM is. He was so close-minded to it though. And very much had the spirit of contention. And what's worse is that he wouldn't let us get a word in. I feel bad that he (as well as so many others) are so closed to the truth, and they are led so far astray, masquerading under the banner of Christianity. He totally twisted the words of John 3:5 and said baptism isn't important, and that's not what Christ meant. Whoa. S. Mat abruptly ended the lesson and we were out of there. There was so much a lack of the Spirit. But it breaks my heart to see people so far from the truth.
We had the time and the miles, so we went up north to track down some less-actives. We found Sister Brock. She's 85. She's quite interesting. We can't tell for sure if her memory is fully there. We saw her Saturday and Sunday. From comments she made Saturday, it sounded like she didn't remember that she was Mormon or that we were Mormons. But then Sunday she mentioned that her parents were Mormon, so maybe she does remember. She's such a sweet lady though. Very strong faith and connection to God. She told us that she felt like she knew S. Mat. She said she'd dreamed of her a handful of times, and she said she'd seen me a lot. Interesting. She then said that God was telling her things, and then she told us. She said that S. Mat had a special work to do, and she'd know it when it came. She also mentioned something about working with the "rough ones". She told me that I was going to be some kind of special missionary, where most women don't usually travel. She then said that something fantastic was about to happen to us, but that she wouldn't be around for it. Again, she said there would be very interesting experiences, but to watch out because Satan was going to hit us. So... is that prophecy, or is she just a crazy lady? :) Who knows.
We stopped in last night to see Sister Boonstra. We hadn't been able to catch her during the week, and she wasn't at church. One of the first things she said to us was an apology for not coming to church. Her ex-husband had surgery, and she had to take care of him. But she said she'd be there next week. She's progressing so much. It started out with having to try to convince her to come to church, and now she's the one talking about coming. Yay! I love when people progress!
Well, I believe that's about it. Last night or this morning I remembered something that happened last week that I forgot to write about, but shame on me, I didn't write it down, so I forgot it again. Oops. Well, I hope this finds you all well. Thanks for your love and support.
sister humpherys
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