So
its been a crazy week here in Chicago! At 9 AM on Thursday we got a
call from President telling us hes doing any emergency transfer and now
we will have 3 sets of missionaries in this ward! He then proceed to ask
us where he should put the boarders. We met with the other missionaries
and President really let us decide where the lines will be. He didnt
say anything the whole meeting except, "lets pray if its right."Sure
enough when we prayed, the Spirit knew exactly where it should be and we
stayed with our orignal plan. My area is now a third of what it was.
But the blessing is we kept all of our solid investagators whos
progressing. We didnt lose any of them. That meeting really strengthen
my testimony.
In
addition, weve been laboring over this baptism. We invited anyone and
everyone to it and sure enough a third of the ward was there and most of
our investagators as well! By Wednesday night everything was in place
and we were pumped. Although, Friday night was probably one of the
longest nights of my life. Two days before his baptism, John
accidentally clicked an ad that had heavy anti-LDS stuff on it. It
really shook his faith and totally scared us. The stuff in the articles
were full of half-lies and would look offical to any non-member. In our
lesson with him, at first we fought like lions going back and forth.
Until the thought came to me to just listen. We let him talk. And
suddenly everything was calmer and peaceful. We then all worked together
and discuss the ideas on the website and compared it to the simple
truths of the gospel. We all bore testimonies, even John, then we left
and prayed for hours. One of our members that came is named Seth. He has
been inactive for years but has recently came back because theyre
having a baby. The Bishop has asked us to bring him to lessons to try to
spark a fire in him. And boy is he burning bright now. He stayed behind
and talked it through with John until midnight!! John knew it was true
through the Spirit and scriptures Seth showed him. John has always been
solid but that really tested his faith and he said that know he doesnt
have even a particle of doubt because Satan was really fighting against
him. Really cool experience.
I
know this church is true. When John came up from the water, there was
so much light and understanding in his eyes. Afterwards he was telling
everyone there that this church is true multiple times. I admit I was
crying, I was so happy and grateful that God allowed me whos only been
in the field for 8 weeks to find and teach a man whos been searching for
over two decades. This work is so great and full of purpose. The gospel
has the power to heal any broken heart.To all my mission friends out
there, every heartache, every rejection, every effort is absolutely,
completely worth it. "Great shall be your joy if you bring one soul unto
me." I hope you all have a great week!
Sister Emily Coley
D&C 18 "the most important work is to preach the word of God" Joseph Smith
Photos: 1. John and Seth before baptism!! 2. Eclipse in Chicago 3. and 4. Walking around Wrigley Stadium where the Cubs play
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