Howdy y'all!
Let me start off by telling y'all the wonderful story of Cady Hopkins. I've mentioned Cady in the past but not enough...We see her a couple times a week..She's 22 and lives with her inactive boyfriend who the elders are working with. Last Februaryish..the elders began to work with Andrew..She wouldn't pay any attention to the elders until a couple weeks later she was somewhat interested. Then the sisters came in July and she was a little bit more willing to listen and watch the church movies. But the first time she was ever taught the restoration, it was with me and hermana g. A couple weeks ago she decided that she wanted to move to Utah and go to BYU or UVU and get baptized there..Soo...here comes the miraculous part. On Saturday, we were reading 3 Nephi 11 with her and teaching her about the Savior and the love He has for her. She soaked up every word and thirsted for more. When we were finished, Hermana Hosking (our new companion asked something that we'd never asked before, "When did you come to know that the church is true?" Cady thought for a little bit and explained she felt it when we first began teaching her. She said that in the past, she felt like she doesn't want to get baptized while she's still dating Andrew..She wants to do it when she's married so she doesn't commit sin. When she finished explaining, she curled up in a little ball and said, "Ok, I'll say it....I think I want to get baptized now." I nearly shot through the roof with surprise and excitement. We only had a few moments to react because Andrew and the elders came downstairs...Ugh..talk about bad timing.Hermana Hosking leaned over to me and whispered, "That's the adversary for ya. One time we were teaching this amazing lesson then hundreds of flies came out of nowhere and entered the home...They were distracted for the rest of the lesson." Well...he cannot stop this work from moving forward! Sooo we said a closing prayer and told her quietly that we'd talk more about this tomorrow (Sunday). She said that she'd be at church..
Sunday...The talks given in the YSA branch were amazing. A girl named Samantha who returned from her mission a year ago talked about the five principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. For each of the principles, she related them to an experience that she had while on her mission. This talk was PERFECT for Cady.
Please delete the following in bold before you post it to the blog:
Sister Hosking also gave a talk about the first great commandment...Loving the Lord. She used Elder Holland's talk from last October when he retells the story of the Savior asking Peter, "Do you love me?" The words she spoke echoed into my heart and I asked myself, "Do I love the Savior?" Well, of course I do! So why am I thinking about the future? I need to first love the Savior and do His work!
At the end of the relief society lesson, the teacher, Maddie (recent convert), asked us to share a "treasured blessing". I said that I was so grateful for the elders who taught my mom. I'm so grateful that they chose to serve a mission. Then, it was Caty's turn to share..We expected her to say that she was grateful for her pets or her boyfriend but instead she said something that melted my heart. "I'm grateful for these three sister missionaries. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be the person I am today." Holy cow!
Then...it was night time..We went over to her house because she wanted us to be there for when she announced it to her boyfriend, Andrew and his mother (a member). She announced and Andrew looked a little blank faced..Uh ohhhhh....He doesn't want to rush the marriage but they do want to get married...This changes things up!
So for the rest of the night, we went over the baptismal interview questions to see where she was at..The only problem was the big problem...Her living with Andrew. She said that she's willing to do whatever it takes, she wants to get baptized NOW! She said that when she met Sister Hosking for the first time, she felt the spirit tell her, "You need to get baptized now." Soo we've set a date for her to be baptized on December 21st! She's going to try to move back in with her parents before her and Andrew get married...But she is really getting baptized! Wahoo!!!! It was such a miracle!
Kristen was also interviewed yesterday for her upcoming baptism (next sunday)..She passed wahoo! This is going to be a wonderful december! The missionaries here call it a white Christmas if you have a baptism..Well, we're hoping to have a blizzard!
Our new companion is so amazing! She's 21, went to byu for 3 years and guess where she's from? California! This makes the fourth straight Californian companion on the mission! What's the Lord trying to tell me?!? She's 6'0...So the Spanish people call her "Grandita" or "hermana Husky" because they have a hard time pronouncing 'hosking' haha...she's hilarious! She told us this story of her going into a tiny home and the ceiling fan was at her neck level so she had to bend her knees as she entered the door. She went in saying, "What up y'all, it's the BFG!"...She thinks she's irreverent but I think her humor is just like mine! So maybe it is...haha..
Transfer meeting was SO FUN. Everyone from the Klein zone was there and it was so good to see them! I hadn't seen them in 6 whole weeks! Agh...I love every single one of those missionaries so much. I was filled with complete joy to see Sister Schellhous (my trainer)..She got transferred! But to Magnolia so this is her third area in the same zone! She always says, "Klein zone for life!" Who knows...She'll probably stay in the Klein zone her whole mission!
Anyways...The work has been surging with Sister Hosking's arrival. It's so much fun to teach with her and hermana g! The Spanish is always improving and I'm surprised by how much I know.
I think the most humbling thing I realized this morning was this: I play the smallest part in this work. This work is ALL the Lord and His spirit touching the hearts of His children. I'm just an instrument! All I have to do is show up and teach and love the people!
Elder Holland paraphrased the Savior by saying, "Don't you think that if I wanted fish, I could catch them? I need disciples! I need them forever! I need someone to preach the Gospel!"
The Lord can catch His fish (the people), He can do the work all on His own. He just needs me to be His disciple and preach the Gospel!
I love this work. Why? because it's true.
There is nothing more satisfying than seeing people come to know of the truth. Seeing the light in Caty's eyes will keep me moving forward, never looking back. Always looking ahead to the bright future.
The Church is true y'all.
Love,
Hermana Seymour
took this while laying down on a hammock in shorts and a tshirt..it was 73...and today, it's 37 with rain...The weather here is bipolar!
No comments:
Post a Comment