Hard Work

Hey family!!

The week was incredible! I feel like this week was one of the weeks in my mission that I have learned the most and been humbled a lot. I have learned that blessings always come, sometimes not when you expect them, but they always come.

 This week, we really hit it off running with a huge desire to conquer the world! Hahaha! But seriously, we are running off of the greenie fire that my companion has for the work! I love it so much! We have been contacting like crazy! The sad thing is that though it was a killer we just were having no success. We would walk and walk and talk to everyone we saw but nothing. We kept a positive attitude though and kept at it. We kept thinking, “Okay, wow so we just need to find a new part of our area that is might be more affective.” So we kept at it.

One of the days, we went and visited one of our less-actives. The lesson broke my heart… We learned that she wasn’t baptized though she knew her church was true. She never got baptized though she knew to follow Christ and that you need to be baptized by immersion when you aren't a baby. But she has a lot of places where her testimony is not there. We were prompted to teach her about the Restoration. I honestly had been scared to teach this lesson because I have heard rumors of her lack of faith that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It turns out that it was the best lesson we had all week. We started the lesson reading in Mathew 21, a parable that Christ told that works perfect with the Restoration. Then my companion explained the fist vision. As we saw our less-active quote with my companion the entire first vision, we could feel the spirit enter the room! I tried to end the lesson telling her about the Book of Mormon and how we are so blessed to have such a blessing in our lives. This is when she began to open up to us. She explained that she doesn't know if it is true, she doesn't know if Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that she doesn't believe in all the things of the Church. As some background info: she has been an active member for the past ten years and has only gone in-active in the past 4 months. It broke my heart to know that no one has been there these past 10 years to help her develop a testimony, to teach her the true doctrine, and to show her what we really believe. We both shared our conversion story, about how we both came to know the Book of Mormon was true. It was so powerful to see her be brought to tears as we shared our thoughts and feelings. The most incredible part is when Sister Taylor began to testify. Even though every other word she looked at me to help her translate and the in-active Sister was helping, she brought a whole new spirit into the room. You could literally feel the determination she had to share her experience and her love to this member. I was so grateful in that moment for a companion that doesn't let anything bring her down. I know that she will do so great in her mission and has a testimony that will change so many lives! We challenged the L-A to read the Book of Mormon from the start and pray with a sincere heart to our Father in Heaven everyday to know if it is the truth!

After a week of working so hard, the biggest blessing and miracle came Sunday morning. From about 6:30am, we received call after call till it was about 5 times by two of our investigators that we just double and triple check that they had a ride for church and to tell us that they were ready! It was literally exactly what we needed to see after a hard week. Those are the fruits that make missionary work worth it. Oh, to see the true desire to change and to do the Lord's will like I saw in these three people this week! I know that this is the Lord’s work and I know that through him, I can do miracles!

My Ponderize for this week Mormon 9! Go read it. What’s yours?

I love you all greatly and hope that you all are spending a little time of your day to thank your Father in Heaven for a miracle and blessing that you have been given! I love you all so much and can't wait to see your lovely faces in little over a month on Skype!

Have a great week!!

Con Amor Siempre,

Hermana Harris