June 12th, 2016: The Spirit Works Miracles

So this week we had an up and down week. I will say the bad first so I can end on the good. With Percy we were really starting to see the light in her eyes as she was working towards baptism. She was working so hard and really learning. Then her grandmother went to the hospital the other day and he father was feeling the stress. As Percy was talking about her Baptism he told her that if she gets baptized she will have to find a new place to live and make her own food. She was pretty sad and we will try back after a while to see if anything has changed. Her dad told us that this week they needed some time and we will give it to them. I hope that this will also soften his heart as we talk and teach him about the Plan of Happiness. Now to the good stuff!  

This week we had a little extra time in between two lessons and I had a feeling to check one house. We went and started talking to this girl named Macy. She's 21 and has a child but we haven't met the father and I don't know if there is one around. We just had a good talk with her and we asked her what she thought this life was for, why we are here. She told us that she didn't know and that she feels like her life is lost and has no direction. We bore our testimonies and promised her that our message is the Plan. It is the Plan that God has created for us. We taught about the Book of Mormon and how it helps us know of truth. We really felt the spirit and it showed when we went back. We didn't really have a step by step lesson about anything we just talked about what she read and how her view of missionaries has changed. When we first showed up she thought we were going to be weird people just preaching repentance to people and talking about Joseph Smith. Since then she realizes that we are so much different. She realized that we are here to help people. To help people that feel lost and need direction. We are real people with real lives and though we do help people repent and become better we guide them along instead of forcing them. She really is prepared and I hope she continues to progress and to learn and progress towards baptism. As we were meeting her we also met Gordon. We needed a guy to teach Macy and so she invited her cousin to come and join our lesson. About half way through Macy's baby started crying and the phone rang. As she left we turned the lesson to focus on Gordon. We asked him really good questions that really helped him open up to us. He told us how his life in the past wasn't the best and how he was a bad example and one day he said a prayer because he wanted to change and he felt something that he couldn't explain. We helped him realize that that was the spirit and that it testifies of what is right. As we were talking the Spirit really came in and we helped him realize that he was feeling it then and that was a sign from God that what we teach is true. After meeting with him for only 10 minutes we put him on baptismal date and he wants to change. They are so prepared and I hope they keep progressing and working hard.  

Missionary work really is God’s work and because of that the Spirit is so strong. If any of you feel like you haven't felt the Spirit in a while, go out with the Missionaries. I promise you will feel the Spirit. As you testify the Spirit will testify of you! I love you all and wish you all the best.  

-Elder Hanson