Sorry my post is so late this week. We had a ridiculously busy Tuesday and yesterday was my companion's birthday so we used it as an excuse to meet with people. More on that in a second. I have some quick announcements:
NAKKI: AISHITEIRU YO! GANBATTE NE.
JTTF: Hey, I have a long letter for you, but it sounds like you are moving...tomorrow? I want to send it off but I am sorta waiting to hear about your new address. Until I hear a new addy I will just keep adding to this letter until it becomes a SUPER letter, mmkay?
Okay now for a cool story. I've been avoiding religious stories since this is a public blog but the more I think about it the more they are AWESOME and frankly, I am a missionary. If I avoid topics of religion it narrows what I can talk about greatly.
Wednesday was my companion's birthday. We celebrated by visiting a Sister in the ward who is presently not attending church. When we first met her she wasn't doing anything religious, and she was deliberate and decided in her decision not to attend, but she was happy to have us over. We met with her a few times, and as our meetings continued she was gradually admitting that she was once again praying, reading the scriptures, etc., but she still wasn't ready to come back to church. All fine and well, we'll just keep giving her little spiritual boosts now and then.
So, this Wednesday we have a birthday party at her apartment. At the end of the party we share a brief message about how we can turn to Christ whenever we are having struggles, and through Him we can become happy again one way or another. After we bore testimony about the truth of this scripture (D&C 68:5-6, I think) we asked her if she had ever had an experience where her faith helped cheer her up.
She then shared with us a story of how she was currently friends with a friend from a very different church. They were getting along very well lately and...
(At this point I was a little nervous. Was she about to tell us she was leaving our church forever?)
...when they were talking about what this friend believes, the Sister realized that what they believed was temporary, and since truth is eternal...well, they just couldn't mix. She asked about why the church was changing their beliefs and the friend didn't know. The friend didn't know a lot of the whys and wherefores.
Then the Sister realized that she believed the Mormon church was true, but she had forgotten some of the whys and the wherefores. She wanted to have that sure knowledge again -- she wanted a stronger testimony. We were pleasantly surprised. Then she said:
"So I think I better come to church on Sunday."
We looked at each other and then looked at her. "Yes, that would be a good idea. Would you like to sit with us?"
"Oh, yes, that would be nice!"
So, there you go. A great story and I didn't even do anything.
Oops, we gotta go! More next week, or possibly the week after! Love you all lots!
