become as a little child
Hello
all!!!
This week went by SO
FAST!!! But here are a few highlights:
· On Tuesday morning, we were able to take
through tour group from the Church History department!!! This included
Elder Snow of the seventy! It was SOOO cool to be able to take them through.
And what was even cooler was right when Elder Snow and his wife walked in, she
comes right up to me and says, Sister Bleak right? (pronounces it the
right way) And I'm like yeah! So she asks me if I have any pioneer heritage and
I'm like do I ever! I mention James G. Bleak and she's like
welp we just found a cousin!!! So apparently I am distant cousins with Elder
Steven E. Snow of the Seventy! They are also from St. George so when I
mentioned Daniel D. McArthur, they're like, "well wow look at you!"
And then Elder Snow, proceeds to tell me how he actually knows my grandpa
McArthur both Jim, and his dad! He said "Their apple turnovers at his
bakery were my favorite!" So, grandpa, Elder Snow says hi! Haha anyways
though, that was my first tour back at the Visitor Center and the spirit was SO
strong. At the end, one of the men came up to us and just thanked us for our
testimonies and said that he really appreciated how the focus was continually
on Zion, not on the bad things that happened, he said that was not always his
experience there at the visitor center and he really appreciated that this
time.
· This week we also tried to do some more
contacting - we have been able to make contact with a few investigators who
were turned over to us from the other companionship before us - so Sister
Angerbauer and I have been starting at square one with a lot of them. Tuesday
night, as we were contacting a referral, we ended up knocking a random house
and met J-Primers. J is the father of 4 kids. His wife wasn't very receptive,
saying that her dad AND mom were both preachers and that they "knew
Jesus" But J was willing to step out on his porch and talk to us (for like
a good 45 minutes!) He told us how he had been born into a gang family on
Prospect in downtown KC. (This is literally the worst street anyone could be on
- people get shot there like every day.) He had definitely lived a rough life
and made some serious mistakes but all of a sudden, one day decided he wanted
to change. Now, he has a beautiful family, a beautiful house, and a very strong
faith! He shared with us his appreciation for his Savior and what He had done
for him. We gave him a restoration pamphlet and he told us that he was going to
come to church this week. He wanted to check it out. (This was before we ever
invited him) Sadly, he didnt end up coming. BUT it was still an awesome
experience. As we were going to leave, he told us how sincerely grateful he was
for people like us. He said, "You know I really admire you two. I am sure
that a lot of people give you hate, but you still are willing to go out and
spread God's word. And for that I am sincerely grateful, you will never know
how grateful."
PS. J- Primers is a
gospel rap artist so look him up on youtube for me ok
· The BEST thing this week happened with the
McGinnis kids!!!! Ok so some background. the other sister missionaries who also
used to serve in this ward but got whitewashed out had been teaching them
(along with MANY missionaries over the years), so Sister Angerbauer and I had
never taught them before But we knew a little of their story. Rosalyn, the mom,
is a member of the church. At age 12, she was kidnapped by her stepdad and
taken to Mexico. Where she spent the next 22 years. She had 9 kids during that
time. The finally was able to miraculously escape Mexico with all of her kids and
bring them back to the states. They have only been living back here for about a
year. So that in and of itself shows you HOW MUCH these little kiddos have been
through. They have wanted to get baptized, but because of their complicated
past they havent been able to UNTIL NOW!!! So 3 of the youngest kids are
getting baptized this Thursday!!! We got a call on Tuesday night from our
bishop who was like "Hey I just stopped by the McGinnis home and the kids
are going to get baptized a week from Thursday!" We were SO PUMPED!!! But
that was before we had even met all the kids, and so there was a LOT to be done
to make sure they were ready. Their schedules were sooo crazy so we werent able
to meet with them until Saturday. We met with the 3 kids, and Rosalyn and two
of the kids friends. So we all cramped into this room and we were going to go
over the baptismal interview questions with them. And now, this lesson was
CRAZY because the kids like to TALK! Hahah theyre so cute. They are 12, 11, and
9 and everytime we would talk about a question, each of them would have lke 10
questions! (Especially the non-member friends!) And as we tried to answer one
of the questions, more questions would come up and so Sister Angerbauer and I
were on our toes trying to satisfy all of the kids haha! BUT they understood
everything and came back that night to have their baptismal interveiw! While
one of the kids was having the interview, Sister Angerbauer and I took the kids
around the VC. AND GET THIS!!
· So one of the nonmember friends, Selena, came
back with them that evening. Selena is probably like 9, and had so many
quesitons and so Sister Angerbauer and I ended up teaching her like all of the
restoration and the plan of salvation, and man I have never seen a kid so
enthralled in what we were teaching. She already has such a great faith and
believed what we said. Sadly they left the VC too fast for us to get her
information, BUT she left with a Book of Mormon and an excitement to read it!
· So lastly, the #3 little prepared child story
is from our dinner last night! A little neighbor girl from down the street came
for dinner too! As we shared the dinner message which was a bout the Atonement
and explained Jesus Christ's role in our lives, all she could say was
"Wow." She was so amazed and excited that we could be cleansed from
our sins and return to live with God! It was so amazing to meet with those two
special little spirits and share with them the truths that they have only just
forgotten. We hope to have dinner with the little girl's family sometime
soon!!
This week was really
amazing though. I am SOOO excited for the McGinnis kids and also for Bella
Stafford who will be getting baptized this coming saturday!!! AAAAHHH I just am
so happy to be able to be a small part of helping someone change their life for
the better. #grateful
For a quick spiritual
thought, I am SO GRATEFUL for conference talks this week!
Sometimes we get lost
in the motions of life - and I feel like I talk about this a lot, but its
something that I want to overcome - and then we can get past feeling or forget
the true meaning for why we do the things we do. Has anyone else ever felt in
that type of a funk before?
Well i was just
contemplating these things, and then also how this relates to the role of faith
in our lives when I happened upon the talk,
"A Summer With
Great - Aunt Rose" By President Uchtdorf in Oct. 2015
but for lack of time i
will let you just read it and get YOUR LIFE CHANGED AS WELL.
Love you
allllllllllllllllll!!!!!!
Sister Bleak
No comments:
Post a Comment