HELLO EVERYONE!!!! :)
Wow...I know that I use that word multiple times in every email that I write, but it's honestly all my brain can come up with after a full day here at the MTC! Ah! Haha. It's frustrating that we only have 30 minutes to write home on Preparation Day because I feel like I have SO much to tell y'all about life as a missionary! I start writing down funny things that happen here or think of spiritual experiences that I'd like to share...and then when I sit down at the computer and see that little "time bomb" ticking, I have an anxiety attack! AH! Hahaha. For all of you return missionaries, I'm sure you can relate...and for all those that are anticipating a mission in the near future - practice your WPM typing skills while you can! ;) Hehehe.
Well, let's see...what can I share with you today?!...got it. This week was hard, frustrating, exhausting and painful....and yet so exciting, comforting, and spiritually uplifting all at the same time! I had many missionary friends back at home that prepared me for this sort of mixture of emotions on a daily basis...so I feel like I have anticipated it well. I guess it doesn't surprise me at all that you can feel all of those emotions in one whole day (...cause let's face it...we women do that even when we're NOT missionaries!) but it's more of the....magnitude?...of the range of emotions. (I don't know if that makes any sense!) Let me explain:
Progressing Investigators: We meet specific ones on specific days. Sometimes we only get to have ONE lesson with them and then it's a new person the next time! SO, as Sister Morgan, this is what goes through my head!
-AH!!!! Someone I don't know!!!!
-Calm down, self!! You do this ALL the time!
-Okay, you're right. So, if we don't know them, what are we going to prepare to teach them?
-Let's Pray!
-...You're so smart, self!
-Okay, let's do this! The Lord has confidence in you, so have confidence in yourself!
Meeting the Investigator: (Thoughts that come into my head)
-Hey, I can really relate to this person! I feel like I am already starting to love them!
-...How can I love someone I just met?!...crazy...
-Oh no!...This person REALLY needs to hear the message of the gospel! They will be SO happy to know that their lives can be so much more joyful!
-...Now I feel SOOOO responsible for helping them to understand and come to know their Savior!
-I LOVE THEM!!!...What ELSE can I do to help them!!
-It's time to leave, but I just want to stay all night and share everything with them!!!!
Bedtime:
-(Brushing my teeth) Hmmm...they need to hear about the Plan of Salvation...
-(Still brushing my teeth) I wonder if they know how much I already love them?
-(Walking around the dorm in a daze)...Or we could teach them about ______...
Dreams:
-WHY AM I DREAMING ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK?! Hahahaha
So, there you go. I don't know if ANY of that makes ANY sense, but needless to say...Investigators become a part of every thought you have. You worry about meeting them and how you are going to teach them...at times you feel insignificant and think that you're too weak to express the Lord's gospel properly. Then, as soon as you meet them, you feel such a LOVE for them that can only come from our Heavenly Father. You lose sleep over how you can serve them and help them know they are loved and that God is aware of their needs. Then...you pray...with ALL of your heart that you can prepare a lesson and have the spirit guide you to say those things that will touch their heart! :) The craziest part about it all is that I'm only in the MTC! And these "investigators" are usually teachers or members of the church that are posing as investigators! I can only imagine how I'll feel when I'm out with REAL REAL investigators with REAL needs!
Funny enough...one of our investigators is SO great. Her name is Hely Meza, and we taught her 4 times while here. She's quite a "chatty Cathy", so we don't usually get much of a lesson in. This drives my Companion NUTS because she feels like we're wasting time letting her tell us about her problems. BUT, just this last time we met with her, I TRULY realized that by letting her talk and explain herself, she answered SO many of her own questions and REALLY progressed! She has 5 children, 3 of which have various types of special needs. One has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. She struggles to stay afloat emotionally, as well as physically, trying to keep up with all three. You can see it in her eyes that she needs MORE than what she has. As we have been teaching her, we challenged her to begin reading the Book of Mormon in the morning for just 5 minutes, and promised that she would recieve an added measure of strength to get through her days. When we asked her about it on Thursday, she said that she isn't reading much because she feels like she gets SO much out of just a verse or so! (WHICH IS AWESOME!!!!). Also on Thursday, as we were teaching her, I felt like I needed to tell her about fasting...yeah, fasting...We haven't even gotten through a full lesson about the plan of salvation. Anyway, I went with it and told her that if she went without food and prayed with faith that the Lord would help them find their missing daughter, that he WOULD answer that prayer! Well, after we talked about her BOM reading, she told us how she remembered what we had told her about "fasting" and tried it out because she couldn't think of ANYTHING else to do in her desperation. Well, that next night, that prayer was answered! :)
Just thinking about how she wept with gratitude and the spirit that we felt in the room warms my heart. We were all crying, to say the least, and I felt so grateful that the Lord granted that miracle. At the end of the lesson she was SO excited to learn more, when I told her that it was our last time meeting with her! She was so upset!...She said, "I know the Lord has blessed me with you two angels...what am I going to do when you are gone?!" I just cried! I suddenly realized that she MAY NOT be a member! (Actually, I'm quite certain that she is a REAL investigator!!!) So, I gave her my mission address and promised we woulld send someone along to help her!!! How amazing is that?!
I have to run!!!! AH!!!
Love you all!!!
Sister Morgan
No comments:
Post a Comment