Hello
hello! January
13, 2014
What a beautiful week
it should be! The sun is going to be out and the temperature is supposed to be
above freezing! I believe in tender mercies :)
Austin is preparing to
be baptized on Sunday!! I'm so excited! I can't remember how much I've
told you about him, so I'll just tell you his story. We met him during what our
zone called a "consecrated finding hour." One Saturday afternoon
back in December we all prayed at 2:00 then went out for that hour
with the faith that we would find prepared people to teach. We went tracting
and knocked on the door of a college student that just rolled out of bed and
wasn't very interested at all. We continued tracting the street then on the way
back there was a guy shoveling the driveway of the college student house and we
went over and talked with him. It wasn't an incredibly spiritual contact, just
the usual introductions, testifying of Restored truth, getting his phone
number, giving him a mormon.org card with our number, etc. We
called him the next day and set up an appointment. That was when we realized
how prepared he was! He asked why there are so many churches that teach similar
doctrines and why there isn't just one way back to God. We testified that there
is. Before Sister Dyer said the first vision from memory, I told him he would
feel the Holy Ghost. I briefly described what it might feel like then told him
we would give him a minute to think about it. After Sister Dyer finished, the
spirit was so tangible it was incredible! After a few moments of silence,
Austin grabbed his chest and asked, "Do you feel it right here?" I
said, "Yes. That is the Holy Ghost." We then promised him that he
would receive the same feeling every time he read the Book of Mormon. We set
him with a baptismal date for the 19th and he was so excited about it! He was
also super excited to come to church, but that was the week of the ice storm.
So because church was cancelled, he watched a session and a half of General
Conference! How amazing is he?! He's been to the YSA branch 3 times now and has
made some true friends. The adversary knows he is getting baptized this week
though, and some extremely hard things are happening in his life. So pray for
him. He knows this is true. And he even told us that no matter what, he is
getting baptized. Whether it is this week, or another week, it's going to
happen.
As all of these hard
things have been happening to him I have been praying so hard. I have been
thinking a lot about helping someone develop enough faith to withstand hard
things. It's hard enough to go through your own hard things! So how do you help
someone else? I studied a lot about adversity and these are some of the things
that I learned. Adversity comes from one of three ways. 1) SIN. Sin is a self
inflicted trial and is caused by bad usage of agency. It is the consequence of
one's own pride or disobedience. 2) LIFE. Why do hard things happen to good
people? Because that is why we are here. Some trials are God given, and even
though they are hard, these trials are meant to bless us. 3) OTHERS. Trials
caused by the poor choices or hurtful words of other people are called
afflictions. They are also meant to strengthen us as well. Some of these things
I learned as I read about adversity in "True to the Faith" and one of
the quotes that I love in there is this, "Your success and
happiness, both now and in the eternities, depend largely on your responses to
the difficulties of life." No matter what kind of trials we get in
life, if we respond with faith and trust in our Heavenly Father and Jesus
Christ, everything will be alright in the end. I came to the conclusion that if
an investigator is reading, praying, and coming to church, they will receive
the strength they need. Austin faced a temptation last night, and instead of
giving in, he read his Book of Mormon. He recognizes the strength that he
receives from reading and praying and it just amazes me! It's the same for all
of us. So let's follow Austin's example and face trials with faith okay? :)
We had another cool
experience this week. Probably one of the most powerful of my mission. We got a
text at 10 as we were walking out the door one day to go work from a less
active asking if we could go visit him sometime that day. This was unusual
because he's been rather cold lately, so we decided to go right then. When we
arrived, we found him in tears. Absolutely a mess. I have never witnessed
someone so low. We talked and he expressed his feelings of darkness and said,
"I need Heavenly Father again." We had him read 3 Nephi 9 where it
says, "Will you not repent and come unto Me and be converted that I may
heal you?" to the end of the chapter. We then promised him as representatives
of Jesus Christ that if he knelt and pleaded with Heavenly Father in prayer, he
would feel the calming influence of the Holy Ghost. He sat there for a minute
in thought, then decided to do it. We all knelt down, and he offered the
prayer. It was the sweetest, most sincere prayer. It was interesting to hear
someone else say a personal prayer. Usually in a group setting, the person
praying prays for general things representing the group. But in this case I
heard the plea of a man in agony asking his Father in Heaven to pull him from
the pit of darkness that he was sitting at the bottom of. I think the miracle
factor was that he was willing to work to climb out. He had faith. The spirit
was so strong!! SO strong. After his prayer ended, none of us moved for a
while. That little spot where we knelt became a very sacred place in my mind.
We went on exchanges
this week! Well, sort of... Sister Waldron came to our area and we worked as a
trio for a day! It was a blast! We had a few other changes in our area this
week. We got a lower monthly kilometer limit for the car and bus passes! Sp
that day with Sister Waldron, we were on buses all day and it was so good! I
have missed bus contacting. I didn't realize until that day, but I've really
missed it. There is nothing more awkward, but I love it! Sister Dyer's trainer
always said, "As missionaries, we learn thrive in awkward
situations!" And it's so true :)
Well I hope you all
have a fantastic week! Let me know if any of you have any missionary
experiences this week! I'd love to hear about them! Keep smiling because THE
CHURCH IS TRUE!!
Love and
Prayers, Sister Felix
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