Hello everyone!
I'm going to start with a funny story because those are the best! So,
when Hna. Wi Repa was with us, we found an empty grocery cart and so
we decided to play a little bit. Hna. Miranda got in and Hna. Wi Repa
pushed her; at one point, they nearly fell over and so I said, being
the caring person that I am, "Alguien va a morir!" which means that
someone's going to die. Hna. Miranda thought that that was so funny!
Now, I say it fairly regularly to get her to laugh.
Ok, for the funny story, so last night we were trying to get to our
church building pretty quickly and so we were moving really fast on
our bikes. At one point, we crossed the street and heard a car moving
behind us so we moved closer to the curb. At that point in the curb
was a driveway and car was backing out. My companion was able to stop
because she had more reaction time, but I was going fast enough with
not enough time to react that I kept going forward. The car stopped to
let us by, but before it had stopped completely, I said again "Alguien
va a morir."
Hna. Miranda was busting up laughing when we arrived at the church! We
were both laughing super hard because I had been so calm! My last
words would've been "someone's going to die" and I was totally fine
with that. It wasn't scary because nothing bad happened or would've
happened, so we were just laughing for a good 5 minutes.
We also saw some miracles this week. On Tuesday, Hna. Miranda and I
were biking along 20th street trying to find the best way down to the
river because we had an appointment with a member along that road. As
we were debating on using Monroe or Washington to get there, I felt
like we should pass through the cemetery because a couple of months
earlier Hna. Felix and I had helped a woman carry her things to a path
through there. I didn't know why I had remembered that out of the
blue, but we went for it. As we were passing through the cemetery, we
saw a woman standing next to a fairly new grave by herself. We almost
didn't stop, but both Hna. Miranda and I felt prompted to speak to
her.
We biked up to her and started up a conversation where we learned that
she lost her brother just back in March and that she's still
struggling with the loss. We started asking her questions about how
she's handling this and how's she's doing until we gradually shared
the plan of salvation. We testified that God loves her and that that's
why He had sent us; she said that she was really grateful we had come
and that she had recently felt like she needs to go back to church and
that she liked what we shared. We then invited her to listen to the
missionaries down where she lives in Salt Lake City and she said she
would really like that; we then felt like we should ask her who else
needs the message we shared with her and she said that her mom does,
who lives up here in Ogden. Actually, she lives within the
Buenaventura ward boundaries so we will get to work with her!
After our conversation we offered to say a prayer with her and she
gladly accepted, so we prayed and asked for a blessing upon her and
her family. It was a strong spiritually moment for me; no one could
deny that God was pouring out His love for His daughter who really
needs Him right now. We then left her, with a hug of course, continued
through the cemetery, and found the path I had remembered. Overall, an
amazing experience that showed us, once again, that God has His hand
in everything. I really do know that He loves us and is watching over
us in every moment.
Another miracle we saw is week was that our progressing investigator,
Judith, came to church yesterday! We had tried to see her Saturday and
Sunday morning to invite her again to come to church but she wasn't
there. We got really anxious because she wasn't there when sacrament
meeting had started at 12:30 but then, SHE CAME!!! She was a bit late,
but she came in time for the sacrament and hen she stayed for all of
the meetings. We had been fasting for her, that she might come and
receive her answer and all of the talks where people testifying of
Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and of this church. It was
amazing! We'll be seeing her again this week to confirm that she
received her answer and is still ready to be baptized on the 24th.
This week really was amazing, but there was one point where it was a
bit hard. So, this transfer my friend, Elder Ortiz, had come back into
the north zone (there are two zones, the north and the south; he had
previously been in the south for a transfer). I was so excited to see
him again and it was his last transfer so I was really excited to work
with him and other friends. This last Friday, the zone leaders, Elder
Barfuss and Elder Ortiz, called us and asked if they could meet with
us. We thought we were in trouble because they usually don't meet up
with us. When we met them, Elder Ortiz told us that he was going home.
I was kinda shocked at first but then I saw his face and he was
serious, so naturally I started to cry. Hna. Miranda had just met him
about 1 1/2 week ago, so she said goodbye first. Then I said goodbye
and we were both crying and we all said goodbye and they left. He went
back home Saturday morning.
He had helped me a lot in Washington Terrace and we have a lot in
common so we had become pretty good friends. I really miss him but I
know that he made the decision using the Spirit and with help from
President Jaggi. It's hard when a missionary leaves at a time that's
not expected but we keep working and moving forward. We'll all miss
him, and others who have gone home as well, but that's part of the
mission life and we learn and grow. He served an amazing mission and
he helped a lot of people; now, he's continuing to serve and help
others, just in a different way. That's how it is with every returned
missionary! We keep being missionaries, using what we learned to help
those around us come unto Christ because that's what we covenanted at
baptism.
I'm good now, I had some mourning time but I'm back and ready to work.
Saturday we worked hard and we'll keep up like that. =)
I love you all! I hope that you have a great week and always remember
that you have the power/ability to affect those around you positively.
Remember who you are and be good!
Love,
Hermana Lindh
P.S. National holiday means the FHC is closed so I'm writing from my
iPad. Sorry that's a response from last week's email, but thank you
for your patience!
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