Well well well. Found my first gray
hair this week. Dang it. The mission truly ages you. Oh well. It happens.
This past week we went to a member's
home who lives out in the boonies! It was gorgeous! We ate lunch and walked
around their quaint little village. It was awesome and soooo beautiful. They
also had this huge race car track thing. So we played with that for a bit...
So Sunday night we still hadn't
found a single investigator, and our goal was three for the week keeping in
line with the zone vision. It was about 8:30. We were about to start some
serious finding. We stopped to pray and asked to be lead and guided to where we
needed to go. My companion said, "I think we need to go down this
street." So we headed off! I see some people walking down the other side
of the street, and I say, "Them! We need to talk to them!" So we
cross quickly, and we head towards these three girls. We stop them and it turns
out that we had already talked to one of them a month ago in a store one p-day.
She has friends in the church down in Ecuador and was open to meeting with us,
as well as her other two friends. So we taught them a quick lesson, said a
prayer with them, and set an appointment to see them next week! It was
incredible!!! MIRACLES.
We also had a great FHE with another
family in the ward who had invited a less active family over. We ate, we
talked, and we taught about patience. LA PAZIENZA. It was great. :)
We also had a really powerful lesson
this week with someone about forgiveness. When we don't forgive we hold on to a
burden that desperately needs to be let go. It sinks deeper and deeper into our
hearts and souls and it begins to destroy who we are. Physically, emotionally,
spiritually. Every aspect of our lives becomes darker and more difficult. I
have such a strong testimony that it is absolutely necessary for our happiness
and for our SALVATION that we forgive others and ourselves. It is so hard. But
God forgives us every single day for all of the things that we do wrong over
and over and over again. Who are we to deny someone else forgiveness? By
denying forgiveness to someone else, we render ourselves unworthy to receive
forgiveness from God. Through prayer, through coming to know who Jesus Christ
and Heavenly Father are, and in some cases through help from church leaders, we
can become free from the burdens that weigh us down. We can let go of our
grudges and our pride and we can truly move forward with our lives. Forgiveness
is one of the most effective medicines in the world. It really has been a great week!. We had several cancellations, but we are working hard to make up for appointments that fall through. My companion is great! She has a great knowledge of the scriptures and it has been a wonderful start to the transfer together. Alessandro continues to struggle to quit smoking. We will have to push back his baptismal date a week. But we know that he can do it! We need to step it up with setting baptismal dates. That will be our focus this week.
We miraculously had 5 people come to church this past sunday. It was AWESOME. There are a lot of great people in this city that are truly ready to accept the gospel. We just need to find them!!
GENERAL CONFERENCE OH MY GOSH. I am so excited! We have the
incredible opportunity to listen to the prophets and apostles and leaders of
the church speak to us. They will give us counsel and advice and direction. I
can hardly wait! I encourage all of you to prepare a few questions that you
have in your lives right now. They will absolutely 100% be answered during
general conference.
I absolutely love being a missionary. It is the greatest thing that
I have ever done in my life. It has changed me and continues to change me and
how I see the world and how I picture my future. I absolutely love the gospel
and I love my Savior Jesus Christ. He carries me every single day. He gives me
the strength that I need when I have nothing left to give. I am so grateful for
the knowledge that I have of who I am and of the plan that God has for
me.
Heavenly Father answers prayers. He loves His children. He is a
merciful. loving, and unchanging God. I know Him. And I love Him.
Be good! Make good choices! Love your brothers and sisters!
Love,
Sorella Tokarski
