Family,
Hello there! Well this
week has been chaos! So much has happened...new companion, moving
apartments, Humanitarian, Big mission meetings and WOW I hit a year on the
22nd!! But only 5 more months to go....time is going way too fast!
CONGRATS on graduation CLARA!!! I cannot believe that you are already
done...what the heck!! Also Clara you looked GORGEOUS at Prom! Elder Clarke is coming tomorrow and I am soo excited he changed
my mission when he came last and I am excited for him to change it again and to
help me be a better missionary! This is what happened this week!!
Tuesday- The last pday
with Sister Ye. We went to Walmart to get a couple of things, and we saw
this man named Amram. He is in the Tabernacle Choir and is from
Kenya. I have gotten to know him very well because he is from Africa and
he helps me when we teach our African investigators :) Well we saw him at
Walmart and he said that a couple of days ago he was at Walmart and saw this
black guy so he said of course I had to go see where he was from and talk to
him, well he was from Kenya as well and they started talking about the church
and the man said he wanted to be taught by the missionaries and so Amram said
he has a friend he wants to have teach him....ME!!! So he gave me this
referral for this guy who lives in SLC, and he can come to Temple Square and be
taught! His name is Benson....just remember this story!
Wednesday- First day with Sister
Cano! She is super sweet and very upbeat! I am excited to spend the
next 6 weeks with her. Today everyone ONLY had square time for the entire
day....I was SOOO SICK of walking around the same place having no assignments
or time in the teaching center to call investigators, but I was supposed to
pick up Sister Peters today and her flight got cancelled till Thursday! I
was soo sad! Good news was we contacted Benson and he is coming to Temple
Square on Sunday to have a lesson with us!
Thursday- Relief
Society this morning was amazing. Sister Sheri Dew came to speak to
us. Lately, every speaker we have had has talked about women and the
priesthood. It is such a big issue I guess, that they want us to be
informed so that we know what to say and do when we get asked questions about
why women don't have the priesthood. Sister Dew spoke a lot about being
able to access heaven directly, and how so many people misunderstand that you
don't have to have the priesthood to access heaven, but women can also access
heaven directly, when we have the Holy Ghost and are living worthy of it.
Without going very into depth, she talked about the temple and how women and
men are equal inside the temple, and women only have to be interviewed by their
Bishop and recognized as "worthy" to go to the temple, but men have
to be "worthy" and be ordained with the priesthood to enter the
temple. An interesting thing to think about. I have been studying
the priesthood a lot in personal study and how we can access the power of
heaven in our lives and have learned so much and my testimony has grown so much
that women and men have completely different roles in the church, and its ok
that we have different responsiblities and that I don't hold the priesthood
because I don't have to hold the preisthood to be able to receive the blessings
of that power. It has also made me understand that it is only with men
and women together that you can enter into the celestial kingdom and women and
men need eachother to return back to our Heavenly Father's presence. I
got to pick up Sister Peters and it was the best thing! I have missed her
so much! It was so fun to see her and to welcome her back to Temple
Square.
Friday & Saturday- The work is
going so well, and Heavenly Father is preparing so many people and helping them
to progress to prepare for baptism! We talked with Bobby today. He
is doing amazing! He is meeting with the missionaries and is going to
church every week! Pray for him he should be baptized this Saturday!
:) Another cool story, this man named Jesse called me from mormon.org about
2 weeks ago wanting a DVD and so I sent it to him and when he called I asked if
he would want to meet with missionaries and he said YES! So I sent the
referral to the local missionaries and they did their job and contacted him
right away. I called him today and he is getting baptized June 7th.
He is an excommunicated member and so has to go through the lessons again
and be baptized again. He started fresh from the beginning. He
didn't want to just add to the knowledge he had but he wanted to start as if he
knew nothing about the church and his testimony is rock solid. He is
doing awesome and so I am so excited for him as well!
Sunday- Benson came to Temple
Square!! He is amazing. I will try and make this story short and
sweet. Benson about 4 years ago was given a Book of Mormon by the
missionaries and they left their number inside. Well he did not want to
learn at all, but a year later he called the number and of course it was
different missionaries but he started taking the lessons, but was not wanting
to get baptized because of how big the commitment was...fast forward 2 years
later, he moved to Utah and has not talked to the missionaries since until I
contacted him this week. Me and Amram helped him get in contact with the
local missionaries this last Saturday, he told them he was taught everything
and he remembers everything and never was ready to be baptized but is ready NOW!
So he is getting baptized June 8th and we are going to be able to go
to his actual baptism!! We had an amazing lesson with him, tears were in
all of our eyes, and the Spirit was SO strong. We have now been talking
with him daily and he is a rock. Things are going so well! It is
amazing to me that when we follow the commandments and for me follow mission
commandment EXACTLY, the Lord blesses you so much! I have also been
reading 1 Nephi 17 in preparation for Elder Clarke from the 70 to speak to us this
Wednesday, and being on my mission I know how Nephi felt. Sometimes in
life and on a mission we are asked to do things we don't think we can do or we
have no idea why we are asked to do them, but the Lord prepares a way for EVERY
single thing so that we accomplish those things. And just like Nephi he
was blessed in so many ways and they "prospered in the land", and
that is how it will be for us as well as we do everything and all that the Lord
asks of us, he will bless us so much for obeying Him.
I love you all. I pray for you daily
and think about you always!
The church is true.
Sister Mindy Marsh
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