This week was one of the weirdest weeks of my whole life. So
much stuff happened. I wish that I could tell you all of it, but I can't, so I
will just tell you the really great stuff and try to help you understand why it
was so great.
First of all, Michael and Happy got married this weekend!
They are the couple we have been teaching, that just started coming back to
church after being inactive for pretty much forever. They are completely
different people since I first met them. They used to be on the Do Not Contact
list. But they had diligent home teachers who dropped off a message at their
door every month. Eventually they started opening the door for their home
teachers. They listened more and more until eventually, a couple of months ago,
they started coming back to church. Now they are totally dedicated to the
church, the gospel, and most importantly, the Lord. They are doing everything
they can to become temple worthy. They were technically married under Texas'
Common Law, but they wanted to make it more official to show the Lord, and
everyone else, that they were serious about following Him and working towards
being sealed in the temple. So the wedding happened on Saturday and it was
great. It was really small and didn't take very long, but everyone loved it.
Everyone was just so happy that this finally happened and were reminiscing
about the long journey that has happened with Happy and Michael. Happy looked
beautiful, thanks to my awesome companion, Sister Garlick, who did her hair and
makeup. She was so excited and was on cloud nine all day long. We can't wait
until they go through the temple!
And then there is Deborah... So last Sunday, Sister Garlick
and I decided that it was time to drop Deborah as an investigator. She loves
the Book of Mormon and meeting with us and has a testimony of pretty much
everything, but she just wouldn't come to church, which was keeping her from
progressing. We hoped that by dropping her, it would help her in the end. So
Thursday (I think -- all the days blend together) we went to her apartment. A
ton of her grandchildren were there, both teenagers and little kids, and there
was so much stuff going on with so many people. While everything was calming
down, Sister Garlick and I decided that we couldn't drop Deborah that
night--not with all of her family there. So we were going to share a short
message and then drop her another day.
We shared a scripture in Mosiah about how God has given us
everything and all He asks of us in return is to keep His commandments. Deborah
was talking about all of this stuff that she had read in the Book of Mormon,
and the whole conversation wasn't really going anywhere. Then Deborah said that
she had had a conversation with her daughter, Montrice, a few days earlier.
Apparently Montrice has a testimony of our church and knows that it is true.
Montrice pointed out all of these things that she had seen Sis Garlick and I
do, and all of the things that the church does and said that all of these
things were things that Christ would do and how she didn't see any other
churches doing it ("Ye shall know them by their fruits" Matt 7:16).
Deborah said that this whole conversation made her realize that this was
Christ's true church and that everybody else only had bits and pieces of the
truth, but we had all of it -- the full truth. She told us that she had been
trying to hold on to her Baptist church and beliefs and her old life and hang
on to what we were teaching her at the same time, but now she realized that she
couldn't hold on to both. She said that she was ready to give up her Baptist
church and her old life. And she told us that Montrice said that if Deborah
went to our church and joined our church, she would join, too. So we might just
have two baptisms on our hands! Anyway, that lesson didn't go at all how we had
planned. Deborah said that she would come to church when all of her grandkids
leave next week. I really do think she will come. Also, Montrice will hopefully
come.
Sister Garlick walked out of the apartment and just looked
at each other and said "What just happened! I'm so confused, right
now!" Then we got really excited and freaked out. And we got frosty's from
Wendy's to celebrate. So we are continuing to meet with Deborah and we will see
what happens from here. The Lord has His plan.
And we also got two new investigators in the singles ward
that we started teaching yesterday. They are 18 year old twin girls and they
are really awesome!
I love this gospel! It is true and everybody can know if for
themselves. The Lord knows each of us and our circumstances. He knows what is
best for all of us, individually, and if we trust Him, we can have peace in our
lives. Christ is the only sure foundation.
Love,
Sister Sylvester
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