it has been a week of miracles, and how many more will
be coming i am not sure but how grateful i am to have witnessed the few
already. near the beginning of the week i had this distinct impression
to go check on Shirley and earl (an older couple we had raked leaves for
the weekend before, we met them because someone referred them to us)
but i ignored it because we had too much to do, and faintly later that
day i felt like i should call them but i forgot. then as we were heading
to do some dropping by people i felt it again, and i told my companion
we needed to go see them either later today or now, then i rethought
that through and said no we need to go see them now, so we turned the
car around and headed towards their house. there was a different car
parked in the drive way (not their car) and we had a few urgent things
to take care of so we did so, as we finished them the car left and we
headed towards the house. the phone started to ring in my pocket, and
normally i would just let it ring until after we leave someones house
but i felt impressed to pick it up so i stopped where i was standing
which was halfway up their drive way and i looked at the number, and it
wasn't programmed in but i had remembered the number just by the number
themselves and it was Shirley, she was calling us! i answered and right
away she said, i am sorry to be calling you again! but i really need
your help raking up our leaves, earl and i just cant seem to do it, and
my immediate response was we are already here, so we walked up the rest
of the drive way and raked her leaves. it was in the moment of checking
the phone number to see who was calling that to me it felt like heavenly
father was saying you are in the right spot at the right time. that
sometimes our planned activities may need to change, but first we have
to be able to listen to the spirit, other wise it doesn't work and we
don't do the will of the father.
second miracle--- Monday
we started teaching another incredible couple that came from a
referral, their names are Sharon and earl. we taught them the
restoration and Sharon had questions and as soon a those questions came
out more did and a few of them were from negative resources such as
gossip of friends of the beliefs that we apparently have that are not
true at all or have been twisted. However she and her husband listened
as we explained that it is through prayer they can receive a
confirmation of what we have taught and is true. They let us come back!
and yesterday we taught them again but this time the gospel of Jesus
Christ, it was such a good lesson, it seemed as it dot were connecting
in their brains, we found out that Sharon is related to an investigator
that is getting baptized this Sunday
(another miracle i will you all about)and so we invited them to come to
the baptism, and they said they would see how they are feeling, Sharon
has open heart surgery today (please pray for her that all will go well)
and so they may not be up to it, but they didn't say no! and both times
we went to teach we had incredible fellow shippers, one of them was a
friend from a few years ago and had lost a bit of contact with each
other, it was incredible to sit there and to hear her testify of the
gospel to her friends. so more good news to come in the future, .....
they might have already bought tickets to come to Washington in the
spring.. or they were talking about it. they are such incredible
people!!
third miracle JIM leavens is getting
baptized!!! So.. Jim is the husband of our relief society president (who
has cancer and has been fighting for a couple years now, she goes for
chemo on wednesday,
please keep her in your thoughts and paraders as well). this couple is
the most loving couple i have ever known, they have taken in her sons
kids because he couldn't take care of them so they are about 70 years
old each and have 3 teenage kids, they are incredibly strong in that
house. anyways... jim has been taught by missionaries for years ever
since he met and married sister leavens which was quite awhile ago. but
he has refused to be baptized for many reasons. when we first got here
he had just finished a baptism interview because the sisters before us
had prepared him to do so. well we asked him about it and he didn't want
us to teach him , and he didnt want to be baptized even though he goes
to Church every Sunday,
and get the church news every day, and is a family history consultant,
AND shares his testimony in church, so his "nos" didn't stop us from
going over and sharing spiritual thoughts and engaging in doctrinal
conversations. this Tuesday
we said that's it, this man needs to be baptized so he can go to the
temple with his wife before something happens to them. so we went over
and boldly but lovingly asked him to let us teach him so he could
prepare for baptism and briefly reminded him of the blessings of the
temple, but he declined, and we walked away very distressed, actually my
companion was in tears and i had felt as if my heart had been ripped
out of my chest, we were beaten we didn't know what to do well we did
but we didn't know how to do it. so we as we paryed we included jim in
our prayers, pleading to know what to do. Well we had asked jm to help
us with family history work for a recent convert and his recent convert
brother, and he gave us a call on thursday
and said to pick it up, then he started to say something but said never
mind we'll talk about it when you get over here. i hung up the phone
and exclaimed he wants to be baptized (i felt like i was in the best two
years where the elder is just waiting for the phone to ring and then
starts singing "hallelujah".. even though its not the same thing it felt
that way. my companion and i got really giddy we tried not to get our
hopes up but just kept feeling like that was what he was going to say..
so we went over when we had arranged to and were very calm as we did so,
and then after he explained the family history stuff he said i have
decided to be baptized! and he explained why and the whole time i felt
like singing and jumping up and down, i am so happy for those two, they
truly deserved the blessings of the temple in this life and in the next
and now they are going to get them. we have gone over to teach him the
few things that were missed or not recorded that may have been taught.
and he will be baptized next week at 7 o'clock on Sunday! the blessings of God are so Great!
we
have met with and taught many other great people but i have written a
very long letter so i will let that be. i love you all and constantly
keep every single one of you in my prayers, how grateful i am for the
blessings of temple and the truth that we have.
Love sister Hadley
ps transfer call are this next Sunday
