What a great week! Life is so beautiful and the gospel makes it even more so.
We helped Debbie move on Tuesday. She still hasn't found a solid place to plant her feet and get her life back in order, so life is still pretty crazy for her, but I'm so glad we were able to meet her and give her a taste of the gospel. We'll be passing her information on to whatever missionaries are in her area, and hopefully she'll be able to keeping learning and growing. I think being a missionary has really helped me understand charity more. I love Debbie so much even though I hardly know her! It breaks my heart when I think about all the hardships she's gone through, and I just want her to experience the fullness of joy and peace that comes from the gospel. I just want her to be happy! I'm going to miss her.
We had a lot of great opportunities to teach and serve this week. There is a cute little Presbyterian church around the corner from where we live, and when we were walking by the other day, a couple of elderly women were out weeding the flower bed. We asked if they could use any help, and they kind of laughed and said, "Ya know what? We were actually just talking about how we wanted to hire someone to weed around the back. You're an answer to a prayer!" When we went back to weed the next evening, the preacher of the church came out to thank us and talk for a bit. He was so nice! He told us he loves our church, and as a matter of fact, part of his Sunday morning routine is listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He also asked us if he could borrow a few copies of the Book of Mormon, because he is Chaplain at a hospital and mental ward, and sometimes people ask him for a Book of Mormon, so he'd like to be able to give them out.
So. Sister Boldrin and I received the greatest, simplest, and most enlightening revelation the other day while we were doing our weekly planning. We were talking about all of our investigators, and how it was frustrating that we didn't know what to do with all of them--what they needed to learn next, how we could help them progress, or whether we should even keep teaching them. We talked and talked, but we just felt stuck in a rut, until finally, it hit us! If someone doesn't have desire, they won't progress. I think too often we tell ourselves, "well, they aren't progressing, but they still let us in there house and listen to what we have to say, so I guess we should keep going and hope that things change." That doesn't work! We can't force people to want to change or to really want to learn and understand the gospel. Another way to know if we should keep teaching someone is to ask ourselves: Are they INVESTIGATING the church, or are we trying to FORCE FEED it to them? I'm sure I've always known this principle on my mission, but for some reason the Holy Ghost just taught it to us so clearly the other day. And then, right after we figured it out, we went out and taught two lessons. The first one was with an investigator who clearly doesn't have desire because she isn't willing to do anything, and asking her questions is a bit like pulling teeth. The second lesson was with an investigator who is full of desire! The spirit flowed so much more easily in that lesson, and it was so clear that she would progress. It just makes so much sense! And now we see this principle everywhere. As we study and talk about different things, it all comes back to desire! In Alma 32 it talks about how faith and experience begin with a desire to believe.
Sister Boldrin taught me about a teaching technique her MTC teacher taught her, and we've been trying to use it in our teaching. It's called seek 5 times, then testify. Basically what you do is ask a question, and when they respond, keep asking follow up questions, and they will open up more and more, and then you testify based on the things they have shared. It's awesome! It's incredible how strong the spirit is when people are thinking deeply. Sister Boldrin is such an incredible missionary, and I am so grateful for all that I am learning from her.
Oh, so I forgot to tell a funny story that happened last week. Sister Boldrin and I were out trying to contact some potential investigators, and no one was home. We didn't even have any solid lesson plans because we ran out of time that morning to talk about everyone we were going to see. It was starting to rain pretty hard, and so when we knocked on the last door we were going to try and they didn't answer, we stayed on the porch to say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father for direction. Sister Boldrin said the prayer, and she started out by saying, "Heavenly Father, we're sorry we are not very prepared for the people in this area. We want to repent--" BOOM!!! We heard the loudest crack of thunder in my life! haha we tried to hold in our muffled laughs, and Sister Boldrin said, "We're really, REALLY sorry," because the thunder just kept going and going for like 15 seconds. Haha it was so funny! Heavenly Father has a sense of humor!
Love ya! Have a splendid week!
Love,
Sister Myers
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