Miracles of the week

Dear everyone,

SO. Update on the area? It's going great! Update on the members? They're fantastic! Update on investigators? Still none, BUT we had some major miracles this week.

We were able to contact quite a few of our referrals and we talked to one of our less-active young women about going to Girls Camp. Can I just say something about listening to the Holy Ghost? When we were doing our weekly planning for the week, we felt prompted to visit Alpine on a certain day and to visit this girl Anaiah on that day. This inspiration didn't come on the spur of the moment: it happened a week in advance! God knows what's going to happen and so he may give us inspiration days, weeks, or even years in advance! That's why, whenever we receive inspiration to talk to someone who isn't interested, we're just part of the process to prepare them for that day in the future when they will accept the Gospel. Anyway, it was super cool because we were able to talk to her without her older siblings around and we were able to get to know her better.

Another miracle that happened this week was centered around referrals. We had been trying to contact the Judge and his wife for about a week, but we finally found her at home on Friday! When she initially opened the door (after we'd asked about service projects) she was really hesitant and said, "Just so you know, I'm not a witness." And we said "Neither are we! We're Mormons!" and she got a big smile on our face, opened her door wider and invited us in to sit on her couch. We got 7 different service referrals from her and she invited us to visit her again. Yep, the miracle of not being a Jehovah's witness ;) But isn't it interesting that as soon as she found out we were LDS, she invited us right in and was super friendly. People can really recognize the Spirit about us. They may not know why, but they trust us. Yep, the church is SO true :)

The next miracle we had was pretty intense Sister Christensen and I were in Pie Town (Sister Pass was on exchanges) and we were at our trailer which is right next to the church. The branch has been trying to set up the power on the trailer for a while, so we were asked to check the meter number on the power line/pole located right next to the trailer. Now, before I go any further, I need to tell you all that it's monsoon season here. Which basically means that it rains off and on throughout the day every single day. So it had rained a little bit earlier and we could still hear some thunder in the distance when we went to check for the meter number. We were right next to the pole and were actually touching the metal box (looking for the meter number), and suddenly you could feel the electricity in the air. The next thing we knew was that the power line (connected to the pole that we were TOUCHING) lit up and was sparking and we heard thunder almost immediately afterward. Luckily enough, nothing happened to us, but we ran as fast as we could back to the church. So yeah, the Lord protects his missionaries from lightning. And elk. He definitely protects us from elk. Especially at night :)

I know that the work I'm doing up here is extremely important. I'm grateful that I'm up here because I'm definitely getting pushed out of my comfort zone and I'm learning a lot. Not just about the Gospel or the people, but about myself. I'd been struggling to love the people up here and to feel comfortable in the role I've been placed in. When I was thinking about it the other day, I realized that I loved the people in Eagar because I was praying for them constantly. I didn't love the people up here yet because I was only praying for myself and my own benefit. As soon as I started praying for the people up here, I felt this overflowing feeling of love for them and for this area. I know that, when we ask God for charity, that he will bless us with it and he will help us to love everyone. I know that this Gospel is true and that God will ALWAYS answer our prayers; even when we don't think we are worthy. I love you all so much and you are always in my prayers! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Steph

the sky from the Vernon fire,
branding 1 from last week
'Merica (they gave everyone at the parade flags!) yes, we got permission to go to the parade in Eagar.
A massive spider that we found this morning. It was in the throws of death, so we covered it with a pink cup so that it would die in a happy place :