A Week Full of Miracles

Sisters in the Bismarck Zone

Me and Sister Suva from Fiji

Hello Family!  I am doing well. I am getting used to Dickinson and the people are SO GLAD to have sisters back in the ward. They all say the same thing, "It isn't that we dont love the elders...sisters are just better." :)  My new companion is Sister Capson from Oregon.  We get along great!  We also have another companionship living with us.  One of them is from Fiji and comes from the same ward as Macy's companion, Sister Taito. 

 

The mission home left Rapid City and moved to Bismarck this week so now I am closer to the mission home which is awesome.  The mission boundaries for my new mission are:  All of North Dakota, the majority of South Dakota with the exception of the southeast tip which is now in the Nebraska Omaha mission, a good chunk of the northwestern part of Minnesota, the Eastern third of Montana, and the northwest section of Nebraska. We no longer have Wyoming or Iowa in our mission.

Dickinson is really cool. Five years ago was the big oil boom in North Dakota so people moved here from everywhere! There are lots of Africans so it has been fun teaching people from many different cultures.

North Dakota in a nutshell

Here is an update on some of my people:

First, "W". I talked about him last time. He is from Utah and comes from an FLDS family but he left and came here, and is working towards being baptized. He gained a testimony of Thomas S. Monson and past prophets so quickly once he started reading their talks and watching conference.  He is really looking forward to being baptized.  He just needs to interview with a general authority and get First Presidency approval first since he is coming from a polygamous FLDS colony.  But he is great and very focused on getting baptized and fully living the restored gospel of Jesus Christ- something he always felt he was missing out on.

Next, is "G". G is an awesome Mexican guy from Texas and he is covered in tattoos.  He's had a very rough past and got into a lot of trouble and is only 20. He came to North Dakota to get away from all of it.  Miraculously, he got hired by a member in our ward.  He had no where to go so the member allowed him to move in with his family.  Risky, but they just had a feeling about him.  He was so happy in their home, happier than he has ever been, and wanted to know why so they told him and that is when he agreed to meet with us.  He is awesome!  I know that he was prepared and sent here to this family's home for this specific purpose.  He is going to be an amazing instrument in God's hands.  He is so happy and told us he wants to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ, so after we help him get some things worked out, we will be planning his baptism.
 

AWESOME STORY!!  One night while Sister Capson was on an area call with some sisters in our zone, I was ferociously studying the area book and came across a "former" investigator named "O". He stood out to me more than anyone in that book and I decided I would pray for him.  So I did just that and the very next day... He called us! :D It was weird! HE called US and wanted to meet up with us.  SO we set up a time and met him at the church.  He is a young guy from Atlanta, Georgia. He was a Muslim his entire life but started becoming unsure about it and confused about the differences in Muslim and Christian beliefs.  Muslims believe that Jesus Christ was a good prophet, but not the Messiah or Son of God, just a prophet. Anyway, he prayed later that night and asked Heavenly Father to know the truth.  After he fell asleep, he had a dream and was told that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God.  We asked him if he would like to be baptized and he said that he will continue to study the restored gospel and if he finds out it's true, then he most definitely wants to be baptized.

 

Many miracles have been seen this week but the most amazing miracle of all is that one of my best friends, M, my investigator in Bemidji, was baptized on Sunday.  It hurts my heart that I missed it by only two weeks but I am so incredibly happy for him. We met M a month ago and he didn't even believe in God. Now he is a happy member of the church. I am so proud of him!  He now has a firm testimony of this Gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ and a whole new view on life.  He said his biggest goal is to get married in the temple. He has changed so much since we first met him and it all started with simple, sincere prayer full of real intent to know if God is there and if he cares. 

 

Here is an email that Sister Haycock sent me about his baptism:

 

"His baptism was right after church and sooo many people stayed. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that he bore his testimony during sacrament meeting. It was very simple, but powerful. He said how he knows this church is true and he knows that the Atonement of Jesus Christ saved him from himself. He knows he felt the Holy Ghost and it has changed his life forever and ever and ever. Pretty incredible! That is one of my favorite things about being a missionary.. truly seeing the Atonement in action. It has literally transformed M from a bitter and skeptical and unhappy person into a faithful and confident and joyful man. I wouldn't have believed it unless I had been a part of it. It's truly miraculous."

Have a great week everyone and remember that He is in charge and that everything will be okay!

2 Nephi 2:24 "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things."  We don't always know why things happen and it doesn't always seem fair (like having to miss M's baptism) but it is always for the best and He does everything according to a much bigger plan that we will come to understand one day.

 

Sister Haycock just sent me a box with some of my things and some cards/letters which I will get this week so I'm sorry if any of you sent something to the old address and I haven't mentioned it yet.

 

I love you all!

Sister Park