What's up, guys! Another great week here! Today hits my 9-month mark. No matter how long the days are, the time Is starting to speed up!
This week we had the baptism of our man Caio. His older brother Nico was baptized about six years ago but since then had lost contact with the church. A few weeks ago, we happened to come across Nico in the street which led to us meeting Nico and the rest of the family. Caio has been a champ and super awesome each step of the way. Sunday morning when we passed by to pick him up, he was waiting outside with all his baptism stuff ready to go. The ward did a great job in welcoming them back and there was a great turn out at his baptism!
This week one of the coolest things in my mission happened. One day we were out visiting inactive members and after being out a while, I had Elder Weaver pick a house. As soon as we were let in, we saw a lady about mid-20s sitting on the couch who looked very frail. As soon as I saw her, I asked Weaver if he knew her because I was certain I had seen her before. He knew nothing about her and after getting to know her back story, she explained she no longer had interest in the church and completely lost all faith.
She then went on to tell us she had served a mission in England and after she finished got very sick. The last few years of her life have been very difficult and has caused her to completely forget about all the amazing things the church has brought her in the past. She broke down crying while talking to us and went on to say that morning she said a prayer and let God know she never wanted anything to do with the church again and was ready to leave it in the past. And then we show up. Everyone in the room that day knew for a fact it wasn't a coincidence. For some reason, we got an impression to visit this house and it wasn't until we got there until we knew why. For the first time in five days, she was able to leave her bed just in time to talk to us. We left her with a blessing and talked all about her mission and the amazing experience she had. Weaver and I left the house with a loss for words. The Lord listens to our prayers. He knows exactly what we are going through and is with us every step of the way. Don't ever lose hope. Just when you think you've had enough, keep going. The Lord's time isn't always our time but it's exactly what we need, and he has power to do miracles.
Sometimes all we need to do is take a step back and look for the Lord's hand in our lives. As a missionary you see it each and every day and get the reconfirmation that the Lord is with us. Jesus knows us by name and wants nothing more for us to be happy. This week reminded me how grateful I am to be out here. You can't take an experience like this for granted because it is life changing. Hope everyone has a great week!Elder Copeland
No comments:
Post a Comment