Have I ever mentioned I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY?
This week was absolutely amazing. I am on cloud 9 thousand right now :)
First off I will tell you about the highlight of my week! :)
BLANCA
AND IRENE AND SALVADOR WERE BAPTIZED!! It was honestly the happiest day
of my entire life. They are the greatest people ever! So we have only
been teaching them for 3 or 4 weeks now, so everything was super fast
but also INCREDIBLE and MIRACULOUS.
This family has come so
far and made so many changes for the better. I feel like I have known
them for so much longer than I have, they are a HUGE part of my life and
I want nothing more than complete happiness for them. I love them with
all my heart!!!
The day of their baptism, Salvador told us a
miracle that had happened to him earlier in the week- there had been one
thing that would hold him back from being baptized, and he had an
experience where his heart was cleared and full of light, and he knew
that there was nothing holding him back any more. Then after his baptism
and confirmation he had tears streaming down his face and told us that
while he was being baptized, his life had gone before his eyes really
fast, and he was just watching it, but then all of a sudden he just saw a
flash of light and his grandpa, dad, cousin, and one of his sons (that
had all passed away) were standing in front of him. We talked to him
about the work that he can now do for them in the temples and his face
just lit up. He is AMAZING. I am SOOOO proud of this family.
Irene
had been so nervous beforehand, she is 9, and they told her she was
going first and she was really anxious about that, but after her baptism
she was SO happy! I don't know how much I have mentioned about Irene in
the past, but she is the one that had SEWED A CASE for her Book of
Mormon the day after we gave it to her. She is SO SWEET!
Blanca
is SUCH a strong woman and has endured a lot and came out for the
better. She is an amazing example of faith and perseverance, and now her
and her husband will be working together to continue to establish their
family in the gospel! :) She was so full of joy that her husband had
chosen to take this step as well-- they are just my favorites!!!!!!
Anyways
so to summarize, Sunday was the greatest day of my entire life <3 I
love the gospel. I love the opportunity that I have to be a part of
God's work to help bring to pass the eternal life of God's children. I
know that He loves every single one of us and has made the gospel path
very clear! I am SO happy that I got to watch 3 of His children take the
first step to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized. I
am excited to continue to work with them and help them endure to the end
:)
Otro milagro that I saw this week! So
Friday I got a random email that was a referral from a missionary in
VIRGINIA. She had taught this guy named Josue and then he was moving
back to Beaumont or something like that. So we called Josue and he set
up an appointment with us for that night. We went over, started talking
about the restoration and the story of Joseph Smith, and he said, "wait
one minute, I want to see if my brother wants to listen". So he went
inside and brought out his brother Daniel too. So we taught both of them
and after we shared the experience of Joseph Smith, we asked them how
they felt. Daniel chimed in and said that he felt incredible, he said
that it was very clear that we needed a prophet to guide us, so it made
sense to him that God would call another prophet. He said he believed
everything we taught him, and then later, we invited him and Josue to
follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone that holds
God's authority and they accepted right away! So we asked them why they
thought that would be important and Daniel said, "Well when Christ was
baptized, He went to John the Baptist who had that authority…and so we
are supposed to follow Him…He also said in the Bible somewhere that if
we don't get baptized, we can't go to heaven, right?" (Ummm YEAH he
already knows!) It was AMAZING! Then we extended a date with them, and
asked if they would prepare to be baptized by that date, and Josue said
he would, then explained that he knew we were there to help them
prepare, so if he wasn't ready by that date, it would be his own fault.
They are INCREDIBLE and that was a huge miracle.
Daniel
showed up to church on Sunday and stayed for the baptism, then texted
US and said thank you! He was so happy as well :) This morning I was
talking to him asking when we could come by and see him again, and he
told me that he has a friend that wants to come to church with him next
week!! He said that he was talking to him about us and the church and
that it is all very special! HE IS SO COOL. Josue was in Houston, so he
couldn't make it to church, but apologized a lot for not making it!
Ok
quick recap of another amazing day-- Tuesday I went on exchanges in
Vidor-- which is East texas in a nutshell haha its crazy out there but
IT WAS SUCH A GOOD DAY! It was one of those days where I really felt my
purpose as a missionary. We met a bunch of different people that have
such different life experiences, but with every single person, we shared
our testimonies of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, and 3
different people that we taught all told us that they felt peace while
listening to us talk.
The first guy, Rogelio said: "I believe
what you say. I can see the peace in your faces and I can tell that you
are close to God. I am happy you came to inspire me, you have brought
me a lot of peace".
The next lady Marilyn
said, "I know what you said is true-- usually I don't let religious
people come talk to me but something told me to listen to you guys. I
don't believe whatever people tell me, but I believe what you say, I can
tell it is true".
And the last one Nicole, we
were trying to get ahold of her daughter, but she asked us who we were
and what we were doing. She told us, "If I'm not mistaken, Mormon and
Christian are completely different, right?" So we started to clarify
with her that Christian means someone who believes and follows Jesus
Christ, and told her that our purpose as missionaries for the church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was to invite others to come unto
Christ by living His gospel. We read with her 2 Nephi 25:26 "And we talk
of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of
Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may
know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins". As we
were talking with her, tears started streaming down her face and she
said to us, "You girls really bring people peace. I have seen a lot of
bad, and I haven't been to church in a long time, but I really felt
peace with you guys. I want to listen to what you have to say".
IT
WAS AN AMAZING EXCHANGE and SUCH a powerful experience to hear people
confirm to me that I am helping bring peace, publishing this GREAT JOY
that the gospel has brought to my life! I know that truly the gospel of
Jesus Christ is where we can find peace, and it doesn't matter what our
struggles are, the Savior and His gospel will help us! He knows and
loves us perfectly, and His message is for EVERYONE! :)
There are so many other miracles that happened this week, it was basically the coolest. But moral of the story,
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IS PERFECT AND GOD HAS A PLAN FOR EVERYONE.
THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND WAS RESTORED THROUGH A PROPHET OF GOD.
BAPTISM IS THE FIRST STEP TO ACCEPTING AND LIVING THE GOSPEL.
THIS MESSAGE AND THE SPIRIT BRINGS PEACE TO HURTING HEARTS.
AND I AM SO GRATEFUL THAT I GET TO BE THE LORDS HAND TO SHARE IT.
THE MISSION IS THE GREATEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME
I love you all SO much. Thank you for being a part of my life.
Have a great week!
Remember that God loves you and wants you to be HAPPY!
Love y'all!
Hermana Shaelyn Rogers
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