March 14th - Miracles and Blessings

Dear Reader: Brace yourself.

One of the greatest things I learned is that sometimes investigators are the ones who answer our prayers, not the other way around; and not necessarily because they’re "golden"- simply because they're in tune with the Spirit and give needed encouragement and love.

One of those times was yesterday, tracting before church. We met a gentleman on the sidewalk who told us he'd met with missionaries before, that he was still interested, but his wife was against meeting with other religions. As we were parting, he told us that we were changing lives and that we were sent by God to help others.

The more powerful time was after dropping in on a potential named K. She had said she was going to call us the last time we met her but she hadn't, so we decided to stop by. She invited us in and she explained that she hadn't called us to come over to visit because ***1) the neighborhood apparently is crazy dangerous and she didn't want us to get mixed in with the wrong people (this is the neighborhood where several people thanked us for coming to see them even though it was sketchy) and ***2) she's been somewhat depressed lately because she had to give her dog to her neighbor for a time because the less-than-fantastic people in her neighborhood let her loose the last time she left her out on a chain. But, she proceeded to tell us that her mom is actually LDS (convert) and talked about how happy her mom was in the LDS church. We shared a short message with her from Alma 38:5 and said "my daughter, K." instead of "my son, Shiblon" and assured her that even though things were hard right now that God loved her and would help her. When it was time for us to leave, we asked if she wanted to say a prayer. She suggested that one of us as well as herself would say one. She went first and said in her prayer that we were touching/blessing lives all around us and that we were making a difference. I had been feeling the few days prior that my presence wasn't making much of a difference here at all, but when she said that it brought the Spirit to my heart, as it is doing now as well, recalling that moment, that even if I don't see any of these people enter the waters of baptism that somewhere along the line I did some good and that's what matters. She also said "When you get out there... Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop!" So grateful for her and her words.

***Tender Mercy: we tracted the upper level on the 3 buildings, bottom levels of 2, and the top and bottom sections of the apartment houses across the street. K. told us the places where the dangerous people live is the bottom level of the first building that we skipped and the houses in the middle of the street that we didn't tract. Coincidence? I think NOT!

Another amazing experience was when we stopped by to see the gentleman named M. K. again. After he opened the door, he apologized for not responding to our voicemail and said, "My wife doesn't want to add another book onto the Bible. I mean, what's the purpose of the Book of Mormon anyway?" Sister Portilla responded "That's a VERY good question." MIRACLE: he invited us to sit down on the couch on his porch (very common in the South) so we could explain. So, we explained more about the purpose of the Book of Mormon and how it corresponds, supports, and testifies of the Bible and of Christ; how they work together; and that it's not a replacement. We finished by explaining that the Book of Mormon is necessary because it's the evidence of the Restoration; if the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet. If not, Joseph Smith was a phony. Ta-da! We bore our testimonies and that really brought the Spirit to the discussion. He agreed to meet with us in a week after reading through the Restoration pamphlet so we could answer more of his questions/discuss some more. (they are having a Book of Mormon shortage right now, so they weren't able to give him one - Laurel felt really bad.  I got several at the distribution center and mailed them to her so hopefully that will hold them over until they get a new shipment to their mission.)

The Sparkman Elders met the A. family and we've started team-teaching them. The mom has accepted the invitation of baptism. :) Looking forward to seeing her progress and hopefully getting her children and husband more involved as well; the parents have been reading and praying together!! Just need to get them to come to church. xP

Also, Temple Trips make everything better.

Miracles and Blessings all around!

The Church is true,

the Book is blue,

and God loves you!

~Hermana Laurel Martin

Group picture at the temple

Cute sister missionaries!