First off, we have been trying to go and meet all of the members in the
ward. We have found some members who have not been coming to church but who want
to start coming back. On Saturday we went to see a member of the ward and we had
an amazing experience! She opened the door and was very friendly to us. She
stepped outside and we introduced ourselves. She said, "Oh! I'm not very active
so I usually don't have missionaries coming over to my house!" We started
talking and we asked how her day was. She related to us that she was having a
really hard day. Sister Oh asked her how she deals with the hard days and she
just started bawling. Sister Oh and I just stood there feeling so sad for her
and wanting so much to share with her the gospel. After a few minutes she told
us that she was dealing with some hard things and that she was scared and not
sure how to handle it. We bore testimony of how much her Savior loves her and
how much Heavenly Father loves to hear from her even though she is not active in
church. We told her that no matter what choices she makes in her life, He will
always love her. She again started to cry and told us what she was dealing with.
My heart just broke for her. She took our number and told us that we could come
back any time.
Then, Saturday evening, Sister Oh and I went to a baptism for someone that
Sister Oh taught in her last area. We got there about 15 minutes before the
baptism was scheduled to start and no one was there....not even the other
missionaries. The font was filling, but very slowly and at the rate it was
going, it would never be filled on time. Sister Oh started playing the piano and
people started to file in. But still no missionaries, and still no Rocky (the
guy being baptized.) We texted the sisters and asked if everything was okay.
They replied and said that they had been knocking on his door for 3 hours and he
wasn't answering. By now the Bishop and everyone that was attending the baptism
had showed up. The person conducting the service stood up and announced that as
soon as the missionaries and Rocky showed up, they would start. But, at 4:30,
still no one had showed up. He again stood and announced that Rocky was missing
and so there would be no baptismal service that day. He had asked the
missionaries to come back to the church so that we could pray and have President
Sablan (of the stake presidency) speak. The atmosphere in the room completely
changed. It was now one of sorrow and disappointment. When the sisters came in,
they were both crying. We had a prayer and then President Sablan stood. He spoke
of his own baptism day when he and his wife got all ready to go and left more
than 30 minutes early. They had been to the church several times, but somehow
got lost. It was 5 minutes until the baptism and they were still not at the
church. President Sablan said that "obviously this isn't supposed to happen
today. Let's just go home." But, his sweet wife suggested that they pull over
and pray. As they looked up from their prayer, they could see the steeple of the
church. He started to cry and said, "I knew then that is was Satan trying to
stop me from doing what God wanted me to." It was a very touching story and he
related it to Rocky. He asked us to keep Rocky in our thoughts and prayers and
to show an increase in love for him and help him get to where he needs to be in
the gospel.
Both of these experiences this week taught/ reminded me of the power of the
atonement. It is real. We can move on from hard experiences and rough times
through our Savior, Jesus Christ. I testify that He lives. And because He lives,
we can do all things! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
Love,
Sister Keele
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