Miracles and Cold Weather!

This entire week has been marvelous!

 

On Monday we received a referral from a nearby ward. A man named D____ began attending church in their ward a couple weeks ago with his LDS Grandpa. He attended church regularly when he was young but his family fell away before he was baptized. Tuesday we met him and began teaching the lessons! He is incredible! He is reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, and he loves it! As we discussed the gospel he explained to us that he was aware of the Spirit and that he knows these things are true. When we taught D___ about Baptism by the proper Priesthood Authority of God he asked if he could be baptized on his birthday, March 22, to remind him that baptism is "rebirth" and is a primary step in his life that will bring him closer to the Savior. We were thrilled! He has definitely been prepared by the Lord to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

We also received a media referral on Monday. When we knocked on her door she peeked through the peep hole and joyfully exclaimed, "It's the Mormons!" She swung the door open and practically shouted, "I have been waiting for you! What took you so long?!" Quite the greeting! We loved it! 

She is wonderful! Within the last few years her parents and her siblings have all been baptized in various places throughout the country where they are living. Even her two children (12 and 13 years old) who live with her Mom have been baptized. They have been sharing the gospel with her for years, but she has never taken the missionary lessons. Recently she suffered a very extreme experience which helped her understand that she wants and needs the gospel in her life. She called her Mom, so her Mom sent the referral to Salt Lake. C____ readily accepted the message of the restoration of the gospel and of the Plan of Salvation, and she has been reading the Book of Mormon like there is no tomorrow! She loves all of it and she feels that this is exactly what Heavenly Father has been preparing her for. She committed to baptism for February 22, and she is ecstatic about it! Her children are very excited as well!

 

C_____ told us that she smokes and drinks coffee, and that she was not planning on quitting. However, on Sunday when we arrived with a member of our ward to pick her up for church, she told us that she was quitting coffee and cigarettes! We haven't taught her the Word of Wisdom yet but she feels that God will help her quit because He wants her to. She is amazing. The gospel works wonders in the lives of those who readily accept it.

 

It is a blessing to witness this process of conversion in the lives of our Heavenly Father's children! The Spirit is the key, not the missionaries. It is our responsibility to create and cultivate the environment where the Spirit can dwell, but the actual process of conversion is between the individual and the Holy Ghost. "True conversion comes through the power of the Spirit. When the Spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed. When individuals feel the Spirit working with them, or when they see the evidence of the Lord's love and mercy in their lives, they are edified and strengthened spiritually and their faith in Him increases. These experiences with the Spirit follow naturally when a person is willing to experiment upon the word. This is how we come to feel the gospel is true" (M. Russell Ballard PMG 93). I love the Lord and I love the spiritual process of true conversion.

  

Love,

Sister Shumway

Tracting in the Cold, Cold, Cold!!!!