Mission Miracles

10/19/14- "Go Back!"

"We were going to an appt with a potential, and we saw a woman getting something out of her car across the street. Sister _______ ran up and gave her a mormon.org card and told her to check it out, and then we continued to our appt. She said she felt guilty...should she have tried harder? Our appt ended up being cancelled - permanently, because they told us never to come back. Great. So we walk back to our car, and the woman is walking back inside her house. Sister _______ debates in her mind, and we eventually end up getting in our car and even turning it on. Then she says, "I really feel like we should talk to her. Buuuuut....now it's super awkward because she's inside." But hey, I'm the Queen of Awkwardness, so I offered to start the conversation...so we went and knocked on her door! Long story short, she reeeeeally needed a visit and she was completely open to everything, and she asked us to come back the next day at a very specific time. When we went back, she opened up to us immediately with her story: she is a recovering heroin addict who had been in jail for it for a while, but has been clean for 6 months. While she was in jail, she heard a clear and distinct voice tell her "just keep holding on...I'm here and I won't leave you alone. I'll give you the way to change." She told us, "I know you might think that was the devil or something..." NO WAY!! Anyway, she became a completely solid new investigator and is planning on coming to church next week! We both feel SO good about her, and I know we were meant to talk to her, even though it was awkward! As Elder Riggs jr said once, "if you aren't having an awkward moment, you're doing something wrong." And I firmly believe that. :)"

10/5/14- "Audi or 'Inny'"

"As we were walking down the street, an Audi S4 pulled next to us and the driver rolled down the window, asking: Are you guys Mormons? (I thought: Deh! I'm wearing a name tag!) He told us that his girlfriend is Mormon and quickly gave us his address and wanted us to visit him in 3 hours. We showed up at his door after three hours but nobody was there. We walked off the apartment building as we were both disappointed. While we were waiting for a red light a Chinese girl walked up and stood next to us, waiting the same light. Elder _________ started talking to her and it turned out great! She told us that she had a friend that goes to church often and she wants to go to church as well. We introduced ourselves and told her what we do and where we come from. She told us that she will come to the church tomorrow with us as we were inviting her to come. Later on she called and texted us just to say that she got the address of the church and she is coming. Right before the sacrament meeting started, she showed up with a big smile and later on stayed with us for the whole three hours. At the end she told us that she is so happy that she came to the church that day and wanted us to visit her this week to share more to her!"

9/29/14- "Taco Bell"

"Tuesday, we were meeting with the sister training leaders for exchanges, and met for lunch at Taco Bell. We finished eating and I had exactly one dollar left on my card for the month, so I thought "What the heck. Cinnabons." So I go back up to the register to order when the cashier, Nadeem, starts asking me questions about our church. I answered them for him and gave him a mormon.org card with our number on it. All of a sudden he just opened up to me about his personal life and the struggles he is going through. I stayed and talked with him for a few minutes and gave him a plan of salvation pamphlet and set up a time to meet with him! Later this week when we had our lesson with him, he said that he really felt like he should talk to us, but with all of us there he was too scared. But he told himself, if they come back up to the counter, I'll talk with them. So me going up and getting cinnabons, of all things, was totally the hand of God! It's so amazing to me how God knows exactly what all his children need right when they need it and he just puts people in each other's paths so perfectly! And it also was a good reminder to me to talk to EVERYONE! Then later in the lesson, he told us that he wants us to push him to be better, to keep daily contact with him, to meet with him once a week, and he wants to come to church! WHAT?! Talk about totally prepared! Plus he's 27 so he's YSA age! God is so good. :)"

9/7/14 - "Member Fellowshipper"

"We also had another wonderful miracle this week! One of our investigators has been looking up a lot of anti-mormon material. At one point he texted us and told us not to contact him anymore. However, his main fellowshipper was in contact with him and talked him through his concerns. He texted us back and told us that many things he's researched are concerning to him but there is something that keeps drawing him back to us. He explained that he's had spiritual experiences before but what he feels when he meets with us and other members is somewhat different--at a higher plane. He came to the baptism on Friday and we met with him on both Saturday and Sunday evening. He's on date for September 13th! Having a good fellowshipper for investigators is crucial!"


9/1/14 - "Run After That Man!!!"

"We were tracting one evening and we were walking up to a house to see if anyone was there. We saw this man walking out of a house next to the one we were knocking on. I had a prompting to go talk to him, but sadly ignored it. On our way back to the car, we passed him again. I felt the prompting so strong to talk to him. I said to Sis _____, "Let's run to the car! We have got to chase that man down." She looked at me like I was losing it, but she is so great and followed me to the car. I drove after him and Sis ________ jumped out of the car and caught him before he went into his house. I parked the car right where it was and went around to help her out. Turns out he had been taught as a kid and wanted to learn more now that he's 30 something. He became a new investigator and I learned a valuable lesson: ALWAYS follow the promptings of the Spirit."


8/17/14 - "Right Place, Right Time - Service"

"This week was great. We are always busy and are making a concious effort to be exactly obedient. I'm so grateful to my companion. She does her best and she follows the spirit. A few days ago we were on our way to an appointment with a potential when they cancelled. We were going to go through with our backup plans, but my companion felt like there was someone else that we were supposed to see. We couldn't think of who it was, but we remembered another potential that we could go try. We put it in the GPS and it took us there, but when we got to where it said she lived, we couldn't find any apartments with her house number. We tried multiple complexes and could not find where she lived. We were driving through a complex and saw a couple men carrying in mattresses. We got out and helped them carry in mattresses. They were moving them in for a single mother with 2 daughters. The mother was pregnant and her due date was that day. She has no family or friends in the area and no one to help her. We went back the next day and helped her set up all of the baby things that she needed. They are the sweetest famliy I have met on my mission. We didn't have time to teach them that day, but the mother and daughters are coming to church next week and they want us to come teach them about the gospel. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father led us there at just the right time to help His children. We are excited to teach them about the gospel!"

7/11/14 - "Outdoor Lesson Miracle"

"This week was full of miracles! We had a couple that happened as a result of obedience which helped me really see the promised blessings in D&C 130! We had a lesson with our amazing investigator Edson (who is from Bolivia and is probably the happiest person I have ever met) and the member who had planned to come with us cancelled last minute. We thought we would just have it at the church but we knew that another woman wasn't going to be in the building. So, we put up some chairs awkwardly outside the front doors of our building and had a lesson there. In the middle of the lesson, and when the Spirit was strongest, two women walked up to us and started asking about our church. It was a mother and her daughter and the mother only spoke Spanish. The daughter said her mom had been trying to find a good Christian church in Spanish and she wondered if we had any services in Spanish. We told her about the Old Town ward and she seemed very interested so we told her that some Spanish missionaries would come visit her. Edson started talking to the mother in Spanish and they had a good, friendly conversation while we talked to the daughter who happens to be a young single adult who lives right down the street from our church. She gave us her information and said she would be interested in coming to church. After they left, we asked Edson what they talked about and he said that he told her that he loved learning about our church and that she should learn too. If we had been sitting inside, we wouldn't have met them. We are planning on seeing the YSA daughter tonight."

7/7/2014 - "Talk to 20"

"Talking to 20 is the real deal! We've been trying really hard to reach our 20. It doesn't always happen, but we have seen miracles from talking to everyone! For example, we received a media referral and went to check on it, but we only had the apartment building, not the apartment number. So we started tracting around and we ran into Dee who was bringing in groceries from her car. We offered to help her and she declined, but we took the opportunity to talk to her. Wednesday we had our second lesson with her and she is one of our most progressing investigators!! She told us that she's been so confused about what church she should go to and has been searching for the right one. She's been working to get her schedule changed so that she can have Sundays off and come to church and she prayed that God would send people to her house to teach her! And then we showed up!! THE CHURCH IS SOO TRUE! What if we hadn't opened our mouths to talk to her? We would have missed the opportunity to teach such a prepared person!! I love being a missionary! (: "

6/30/2014 - "Ball of Light (Part 2)"

"So remember our friend Oscar, the one who saw a ball of light? Well here is this week's update! We got a text from him on Monday and it came in like 2-3 texts. The first part was like, 'Hey Sisters, thank you so much for everything that you have done for me, I have really enjoyed my time learning about the church. As a result I feel like I should stop...' The next text didn't come in for 5 minutes! We thought he was going to drop us! But then the text continued, 'Smoking. It just seems like the right thing to do. Everyone has impacted me so much and I want to change and become a better person. Thank you so much for all that you have done for me. Also my friend wants to have your number so he can come to church next week, can I give it to him?' WOW!! The amazing thing is we haven't taught him the word of wisdom! I joked with him once about stopping smoking when we first met! His friend we met our first lesson with Oscar ended up calling us 6 times in a row asking if we could teach him more and if he could come to church! What I miracle! They are both on date for the 19th of July! How amazing is that! They are both so prepared and ready!"

6/23/2014 - "Ball of Light"

"So we were driving home and we had a missed call from a number we didn't know, and so I called back because sister Osmond was driving and we got a hold of a guy named Oscar! He was like, 'Are you the missionaries I met a few months ago? Because I need to tell you what just happened to me...' He then went on, 'So I went out on my balcony this morning at around 5am, the sun wasn't up and it was dark, but then I saw a ball of light, it came so close and was just staring me in the face, I looked at it for a minute and then I was scared and went inside and started praying. Then I just had the feeling and knew I needed to call the missionaries...'
I was so shocked, then I just felt the spirit nudge me into starting a lesson over the phone. 'Oscar, Have you been baptized?'
'Yeah, when I was 2... but I don't remember it..'
'I know that when you prayed Heavenly Father led you to the missionaries because he knew that you were prepared and needed the blessings that come from baptism in your life.'
'Oh wow, yeah you are probably right.'
We just went on to teach him all about how the spirit could be a guide, comforter, and a protection to him and he was like, 'When can you come over and we can talk more?'
So we set up a time and he was like, 'Oh yeah, and last time you came you couldn't come in because you didn't have another girl with you, will you be sure to bring a friend so that you can come in?' WOW! Oh my lands, we just got off the phone and were amazed! The funny thing is is that no one remembers ever meeting this person! We asked a few of the other sisters and no one remembers him!"

6/9/2014 - "Let's Do Lunch"

"This has been an amazing week and we have been working so hard and have been seeing miracles! I just love being a missionary! So on Tuesday after a meeting we ran to Subway before our next appointment, it was a small whole in the wall restaurant and so seating was tight! We were ordering our food and there was an Egyptian guy standing behind me who I started talking to and we started talking about the church and what we do as missionaries. Then it was my turn to order and I was like, "This is a really great conversion and you have so many great questions! Would you like to sit with us during lunch and we could talk to you a little bit more?" To which he said yes and we had lunch with him and taught him the whole restoration, gave him a book of Mormon, and invited him to church and to be baptized if her knew it was true! It was amazing and he said that he was interested in learning more and would read the Book of Mormon! It was an awesome random lunch lesson! He was super nice! I hope he comes to church with us!"

5/25/2014 - "What Just Came Out of My Mouth?"

"I have talked to everyone that I see as I am going throughout my day and I see a difference. I don't feel guilty about anything anymore. We have seen a miracle this week that came from talking with everyone! We got a new investigator! Her name is Shawna. Here is the shortened version of this story. About a month ago, we went to go do a pass off lesson with the Vienna Sister's because we found out one of our investigators lived right outside our area! We drove right past his house, and [my companion] just kept driving. I looked at her and asked why she didn't pull in the driveway like she always does. She didn't know why. She just kept driving. She drove for THREE BLOCKS then parked. It was pouring rain and cold. She asked me if I wanted to be parked closer. In my mind I said yes but my mouth said no. I thought "What the heck mouth! That isn't what I wanted to say!" But we turned off the car and got out. While we had been talking, someone had parked behind us and was getting out of the car with her three kids. We decided we would talk to her. We found out she has talked with missionaries before and that she has read the Book of Mormon. Things didn't go anywhere past that and as we were walking away, she yelled to us that we could come back and see her! We got so exited! So after a month of dropping by and never catching her, we decided we would try one more time and we finally caught her at home. She saw us and asked why we hadn't come and seen her! She has been waiting for us! We told her we had been checking up but she had never been home. We set up and appointment and we met with her, taught her the first lesson, and she wants us to come back! AH! So great!"

5/19/2014 -"Omniscience of God"

"Things are going well in our area. We have found a great potential and a couple new less actives that are open to us and one that has agreed to hear the lessons! The one who agreed to hear the lessons was such a miracle! We felt like we should go visit her even though we didn't know where she lived. She lives at the bottom of a hill on a dirt road...it was raining and the road was a little muddy and it was slightly scary to go, we almost turned back but I hadn't received a prompting so clear in a long time that I KNEW we were supposed to be there. We made it safely to her House and we were visiting with her. She said that she had just prayed 2 minutes ago for extra strength and then we showed up at her house...She said it was like God was telling her she can do it. What I think is really incredible is that she lived about 20 minutes away from where we were when we got the prompting...that is about 18 minutes before she prayed. Isn't that so amazing? God knew that she needed an answer to her prayer even before she prayed and so he prepared a way for her answer to come so quickly."

4/29/2014 - "We Find Families By Working Through Members"

"We had a member referral miracle this week! We were on an exchange with a member of the ward a few weeks ago and were doing quick member visits with some members that she had prayed about seeing. We stopped by one house and at first the mom did not have time because she was trying to put her 3 kids to bed. When we were about to leave she said, "Wait, come inside for a second". She then began to tell us about her friend that lived across the street that had met with missionaries before. She told us how she had told her friend that there were Sisters in the ward now and she was really excited to meet us! So our member set up a brunch for us to meet them on Saturday and they are amazing! As we were trying to get a return appointment when we were leaving, the adults were talking and we couldn't get a word in. We almost gave up when the wife turned to us and said, "We have to have you back when we get back from our trip! Here's my number and we get back April 30!" Member missionary work is truly amazing! The best part is that it is a family! Mom, Dad, and two kids! First family of my mission that I've been able to teach and it is such a blessing!"

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