I have a miracles journal. I filled it up. I wrote in it every
single day even if I didn't have time to write in my real journal. At
first I really liked it. But then a few months ago I got really
frustrated because I felt like most nights I struggled to come up with
even just one thing and everything seemed so menial :/ I know that is
probably not the case. I"ll try to do it again.
Ok so here are my little miracles of the week (that I can remember):
On
Tuesday it snowed a lot. Practically blizzard status and my companion and
I were, as usual, biking!! The day started off so amazing. In the form
of a referral. Sometimes it seems like the work is going so slow here in
Reno, but then there are times like these when I realize that the
members are working hard too and between all of us such great things are
going to happen! So, we got this referral from a brother in the stake.
I've never met him but my companion has (when she cut her finger that
one day and had to go to the doctor...). He works at the doctors office
and he talks to EVERYONE about the gospel and when appropriate he refers
them to missionaries. This time he told us about a young woman. He
explained the Book of Mormon to her and shared his testimony. She was so
interested but he didn't have one to give her. He promised that he
would get one to her - and then he called us :) Referrals are great
things because it breaks the ice for these non-members and then they
feel so much more comfortable talking to missionaries. Unfortunately she
lives on the very far end of our ward, and on the other side of the
freeway too too! So, it is hard to get down there. We have attempted
three times now but she hasn't been home. I really hope that we get a
car for this next transfer. I know that we will be able to accomplish
sooo much more!!
On Wednesday... the day was so frustrating. Because, as usual, no
one was home and we just didn't know what to do. We tried and tried and
tried. And finally we just decided to head towards our dinner
appointment a little bit early... well kind of a lot early actually.
Except we ended up being about ten minutes late. We got held up. On the
bike ride over there, just two blocks from our destination, we saw a man
out washing his car. We slowed down and said hello, then he started
asking us what we were doing. Perfect question for bearing testimony! So
we ended up talking with him for a long time. I can't remember his real
name because it is Arabic. In English though it means "heaven" so that
is what he goes by. He told us that he has a Book of Mormon but he
doesn't know what it really is and he expressed that he really wants us
to come back and talk to him about God. He is Islamic, which from my
experience is such a great religion (if you ignore the extremists who
interpret their religion to meaning terrorism. :s)
Friday was another great day! We biked everywhere. definitely put on
a lot of miles this week! Nothing spectacular happened on Friday in the
day time. But I never got disheartened about it. I don't know how or
why but I was chipper and optimistic and excited all day no matter what
happened. That evening we had a wonderful lesson! With the a family. The father (who is the nonmember) wasn't there but we really got the
rest of the family to open up. I know that the more we go over there,
the more we are helping them. The mom really struggles to get the
kids to church because they all fight and argue. I am so impressed with
her though because she desires it so much and she really loves the
gospel and wants her family to love it too. Though the younger kids were
crazy and quite disruptive, I know that they all felt the Spirit as we
testified of the plan of salvation and of the importance of keeping the
commandments. They are such a great family and I love them dearly. I
hope to see the whole family reactivated, and the father to join.
Then they can all be sealed in the temple!
Saturday was my favorite. We tried to visit the Arabic gentleman again but he was
at work. Our back up plan was to visit less active members in that area
but neither my companion nor I were feeling it. We ended up leaving that
area completely and going to visit a family that the ward council had
discussed. We met the mom and we both absolutely ADORE
her. She is just barely older than us (23). She has four kids and is a
convert of two years. We talked and laughed for an hour just on her
front porch. I think the only think holding her back from coming to
church is that she feels very out of place. Not very many 23 year olds
have four children and express themselves the way she does (they're the
only black family in our ward). We didn't see her at Church Sunday but
we will keep working with her. I'm so glad we went to see her instead of
attempting less actives in that other area. I has mixed his priorities up. I don't know what got into me
(well I do! It was the Spirit!) when he first answered the door and said
"oh, I'm a member I just haven't gone in a while." I quickly responded
"We know. What's going on? It's like you completely fell off the planet"
He instantly opened up and started telling us about him and his life.
He knows his priorities aren't right and asked us to pray for him. He is
such a friendly guy. We got his phone number and will go by and see him
sometime this week when we can bring another sister with us (because he
is single). Then we met another family. They're active but feeling really
out of place at church. The mom is a convert of 2 years and so is still
really confused about a lot of things, plus they don't really have
friends in their walk of life in the ward. They're moving in June so
they've kind of just given up. My companion and I both really connected
with her. She's 24 and a similar personality type. I think we hit it
off really well after my companion asked what things have been hard for
her in adjusting after joining.
Well that is the gist of the week. It was a great week. We didn't
teach a lot of lessons or have anything abnormal happen. But I know that
God was guiding us and that by being positive about everything we were
able to see miracles in the little things.
Well, I love you all dearly! Have a fantastic week!
--Alexis
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