Never did I think that things could be so hard but still the best thing to ever happen to me. This week has probably been our most successful week and definitely my hardest of the mission. My companion gave me this scripture this week and it was such a source of strength.
D&C 78: 17-18.
17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;
18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.
This week I was in bed sick pretty much every day. I am so grateful for a companion who is so patient and a master smoothie maker. Let's just say there was a lot of scrapbooking and insane amounts of scripture study....along with sleeping, but that is a minor detail, right? We are not quite sure what it is that I was sick with because this is the 3rd time now and the same symptoms but it doesn't really matter because I just need to keep pushing on. When we did go out though I was blessed with the strength to teach even if it was just for an hour. Some of the fruits of these miracles consist of:
1 new baptism! There is a family we teach, the Sagastizado's who is a part member family. The husband has been active for a long time and the wife is not a member. She has been taught for 2 years and was waiting on her husband to be worthy to baptize her, which he almost is but she is getting impatient. Well we went in this week hoping to explain to her that it is her Salvation and she really needs to pray about it. We had the intentions of setting a date with her for the end of March. We sat down and said "Ashley we really want to talk to you today about baptism." She said "Oh me too, I am ready to do it and I want to do it on March 8!" We were shocked. She then adds that she not only wants to get baptized but she wants to surprise her husband with it, meaning the night of the baptism he will not know until he walks into the room. We kept saying are you sure that he is going to respond well to this, and she kept saying she was sure it would be good and he would be excited. On top of that she wants him to baptize her because she knows he is worthy, he just hasn't forgiven himself. It is quite the plan and so we are working our hardest to keep it a secret from him and still get him ready to do it. PURE MAGIC haha, it is really exciting.
We got 2 new investigators!!! They are absolutely awesome. One of the guys names is Brandon. He is a part of a music group in the black community trying to spread the message of Jesus Christ. We met him on campus and he lit up. He was so excited to talk to us and so we set up an appointment. Well we met with him this week and it just clicked for him. We explained the Book of Mormon and he said "WOW...this makes total sense, I feel like my prayers have been answered." It was so refreshing to talk to someone who had such an open heart and who had truly been prepared by God. It was definitely a testimony strengthener for me of how blessed we are to have the full knowledge of the gospel that so many people have no idea is out there.
I have seen so many tender mercies this week, we were able to go to the Nashville Tribute concert with one of our recent converts Tracey, who wants to serve a mission. The music was so powerful and I felt like it helped lift me up so much. Before the concert they had us come backstage and pray with them and then during the concert all of the missionaries went up on stage and sang with them. SO....my mission really is the best....lets be real!
As far as our other investigators, we were dropped by 2, Mariah and Jon, which really sucked because they KNOW the church is true but are just not ready to change. Their time will come though, God has a plan for them too. Our baptism this week with Kevin, went so well. Sister Odom and I sang and signed (ASL), "Nearer my God to Thee" for it and the spirit that was there when he was baptized was really strong. I felt so blessed to be a part of it.
I hope you are all well, I love to hear from you
Much Love,
Sister Engelbrecht
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