Familia!!!
HELLO! I hope that everyone is having a good week. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!! I am so excited to talk with you all! ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD!! I think I have found the best way to email which is to go day by day........So this was my week! :)
Wednesday-
Sister Ye had a Mandarin meeting for almost 4 hours, so Sister Nakayama came with me to the Humanitarian Center. We are becoming very very good friends because we always have to go on exchanges together. Earlier in the week we met a boy on chat whose name is Jamie. He is from Scotland and he was asking so many questions right off the bat about baptism, which of course made me happy. So, I got his information and I sent the missionaries to him and planned a time to call him a couple days later. Well, I called him and the missionaries had already met with him and they invited him to be baptized; so he is getting baptized in a couple weeks…...MAY 16th!!
The Humanitarian Center was very slow that day so we went upstairs and quilted! It was so much fun and very relaxing. Then, before we left to go back to Temple Square we called Bobby. Everything is going so well. Everything I could ask for is happening and all my prayers are being answered:) The missionaries had visited earlier that same day, and instead of getting baptized June 7th, he is getting baptized May 24th!!!! I am so happy because HE sounds so happy and he is happiest when we talk about his baptism!
Thursday-
Relief Society was really good. I love President Poulsen; he is very very powerful when he teaches and I love when he trains. He told us that from the letters he receives on p-days and by talking to the sisters in the interviews; he is seeing so many people who are thinking negatively and are kind of depressed. President talked a lot about controlling out thoughts. We cannot control what we “see”, but we can control “what we do with the things we see” and the things that “we think.” It made me laugh a little because I just thought; ONLY in a mission with 200 girls would we have training on this:) But I think it was beneficial even for me. I feel like I am not a negative person, (especially on my mission), but he said, “WE are daughters of God, with seeds of Deity, FAR stronger than Satan, and we can overcome one of Satan’s most powerful tools of influencing our thoughts negatively.” President talked about when thoughts come into our mind, we should sing “I am a Child of God”. What better way to turn our thoughts the other way than to sing,
I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
Friday-
Sister Ye had ANOTHER mandarin meeting, so Sister Nakayama came with me to the Humanitarian again. It was the busiest it has been since I have been there. We had tours every hour! And I am in love with Africa. Every time I talk with Africans or meet them at Temple Square I fall more in love with Africa. 5 people walked in at 1:00 who were all cousins and 3 were siblings from Rwanda; so right away I was excited! As we took them around we learned so much about them and about the refugee camps that they had lived in. The three siblings had not seen each other since 1994. It was amazing to see and to listen to them because everything we talked about, they had benefited first hand from. I am so intrigued by the lives that these people have lived and by the experiences they have had. The spirit was so strong and during the tour I got so emotional, and even lost it at the end as we showed them the video. I was able to get their emails and I’m excited to talk with them soon. I am amazed and admire everything these people have gone through and all I want to do is help them. As a missionary I can only help them with one thing though; the gospel. It is something that can change their lives though, and can create hope and peace for them. I love that as a missionary I can teach them and give them something that won’t just help them for a year or 5 years, but can change their life for eternity. This gospel is amazing and I am blessed and so grateful that I was raised in the church to knew these things as I grew up. Also, it was fun because I called Ben to see how he was doing and to talk with him about getting his temple recommend to do baptisms. Sister Nye and Sister Bingham were meeting him at the library, so I got to talk to her for a minute on the phone….....she started to cry when she heard my voice. I love her so much!
Saturday-
Today we had TC desk, which is usually the quietest part of the Visitor’s Center and not as many people stop there. But a group of 4 Nigerians walked in.....….I immediately walked up to them because as I said before; I love Africa! They told me they were from Nigeria and they were here for a couple of weeks. I talked to one of the boys longer than the others and he wanted a copy of the BOM and he gave me his information so that I could email him. :) Later that night I felt prompted to call a member who has given us referrals in the past. When I went outbound, he stopped going to church and started to become less-active. So I have been calling him a little bit more lately to help him remember the truth that he once knew. Well, I called him today and he told me he is very depressed and that he doesn’t want to live anymore and that he wants to commit suicide….......it blew me away. He told me that he wanted to end his life and prayed to have God show his love for him, and then I called. I talked with him and shared the talk by Elder Holland about not ending your life and that through other people,(even me) God is showing His love for him. He was very grateful that I was able to call him and help him. I have learned on my mission that when the Spirit speaks and prompts you, that you can’t ever disregard the feeling, just act upon it ALWAYS......even if you don’t know why.
Sunday-
A nice surprise! We walked into sacrament meeting and Elder Quentin L. Cook was there!! He sat in the back with his wife and daughter. So so awesome! That is twice that he has done that now. It was fast and testimony meeting and EVERYONE in the ENTIRE mission wanted to bear their testimony. We start church at 7:30 and we didn’t leave until 9:15…....haha. It was long, but a very good meeting! Also, the Nigerian guy I talked to Saturday, (his name is Osazee), emailed me back today and he has already started reading the Book of Mormon. He started reading it the night he got it, he liked it, and thought it was very spiritual and uplifting....…YAY!! We also had an awesome lesson with Bobby. He is going to church every week and he is meeting with the sister missionaries very regularly. It is the best thing!! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he had a couple of really deep questions. Me and Sam, (the member who helped us) answered his questions and bore our testimonies that we, “knew the things we taught were true”. Then Bobby just said, “That makes sense, thank you!” Awesome….......so easy and fun to teach people that are open and recognize true the truth when they hear it!
The church is true.
Love, Sister Mindy Marsh
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