Dear Family,
We had a Great week this week! Elder farnsworth and I were able to find and teach 3 prepared people! Melissa Martinez and ken and Felice Spencer. Seriously one of the coolest moments of my mission was this week when we were teaching Ken and felice and Felice was reading us a part of the Restoration Pamphlet.(She had read it on her own and highlighted it and wrote notes in it and had questions ready for us!) She read in the section "The restoration of the Priesthood" where it says, " After he received priesthood Authority, Joseph Smith was directed to organize the Church of Jesus Christ again on the earth. Through him, Jesus Christ again called twelve Apostles." Immediatly after she read that to us Felice Exclaimed, "I believe that!" And she went on to say why wouldn't Jesus do again what had been done before? It just makes sense that he would call another prophet and more apostles! And it was so funny because later on in the lesson as we gave her a Book of Mormon and testified about it she said, " Oh boy, The Holy Spirit is crawling all over me right now!" It was so sweet! And they are just so excited for us to come over again and they call us and make sure we are still coming and they are just truth Seekers! So that was a great experience for us and we are so thankful that the lord Placed us in their path!
We had found Ken and Felice through a street contact. We literally intersected each other. Elder farnsworth and I had parked the truck and were hurrying to get to an appointment that we were late for. As we went to cross the street we noticed a couple walking down the street right at us only a few yards away and so we said hello and it went on from there! They were looking for a church and she was looking for "sisterhood" so we told her about relief society and about Jseph Smith and they told us we could came tell them more about it.
If we had been one minute earlier or later we would have missed them and they would not have ever been presented with the truth that they had been kept from. Isnt that amazing? Well I have something even cooler to tell you. The investigator that we had been going to see wasn't even feeling good and if I remember right we had a brief conversation with her. But the night before in our planning session we both felt like we needed to come see that investigator... I know without a doubt that it was not the investigator that we were supposed to see. We had been inspired to be in a certain place so that the Lord could place in our path a pair of prepared Truth seekers. We have taught them twice this week and it is at this point going amazing! We didn't even have to offer them Books of Mormon, They requested them so that they could read them and find out what it was about! So cool.
We had found Ken and Felice through a street contact. We literally intersected each other. Elder farnsworth and I had parked the truck and were hurrying to get to an appointment that we were late for. As we went to cross the street we noticed a couple walking down the street right at us only a few yards away and so we said hello and it went on from there! They were looking for a church and she was looking for "sisterhood" so we told her about relief society and about Jseph Smith and they told us we could came tell them more about it.
If we had been one minute earlier or later we would have missed them and they would not have ever been presented with the truth that they had been kept from. Isnt that amazing? Well I have something even cooler to tell you. The investigator that we had been going to see wasn't even feeling good and if I remember right we had a brief conversation with her. But the night before in our planning session we both felt like we needed to come see that investigator... I know without a doubt that it was not the investigator that we were supposed to see. We had been inspired to be in a certain place so that the Lord could place in our path a pair of prepared Truth seekers. We have taught them twice this week and it is at this point going amazing! We didn't even have to offer them Books of Mormon, They requested them so that they could read them and find out what it was about! So cool.
the other investigator, Melissa martinez, is a pretty cool story as well. She was actually a media referral. We got a text message saying that she wanted requested a Missionary Visit. Along with that message came her phone number so I called her and she seemed at first to only be interested in obtaining a free Bible... But as I talked to her I just knew something more was going on. She didn't just want a bible. So I asked her if we could come by tonight and bring it to her. I cant really describe it but how she responded just hinted really strongly that she wasn't expecting just a quick drop off and was way more excited than she should have been. So My comp and I made up a game plan on how we would approach her and what we would say in order to make it more than just a drop off.
It turned out to be much easier than that. We went over and she came out and we sat out in her front yard on some patio chairs and it was SO obvious that she had been through this before. How she set up the chairs and offered us drinks and it waws just all to obvious that hse had met with missionaries before! And it turns out that she had!! It also turned out that she had had one heck of a life. I feel as though I should not tell you too much about her, but I will say that she has battled mental issues and has tried to kill herself among many other things. As we talked at first she was very apprehensive but I think the spirit settled in nicely and she quickly understood who we were and represented and she opened up to us and told us quite a bit about her life and struggles. She expressed one of the most sincere desires that I have ever heard on my mission. With all the bad things she had done as a result of her mental issues and the people that she hurt and the pain she had caused and felt one of all the many desires that she epressed to us the overarching theme was that she needed to repent and she needed to feel forgivness but she very directly told us that she didnt think that God would ever forgive her. She thouhgt she had done to much.
How sad is that? Doesn't it just break your heart that anyone could possibly think that they were to far gone to ever be forgiven? That the atonement does not apply to them? What a horrible way to live! to think and believe that there was no way that she could be forgiven. that her fate was sealed.
I felt so much love for her in that moment. And I will always and forever be thankful for my own experience with the atonement and for the spirit backing my words as I testified to her of the power of the atonement and that she could be forgiven. That the Lord on conditions of repentance would remember her sins no more! And that Nothing in this world can seperate us from the Love of God and of our savior! No matter what we do our heavenly father will always love us and desire what is best for us.
As we finished the lesson you could see in the hour that we spent with her that she had a new light about her. the light of HOPE. The light of excitment and anticipation and of faith. She has a long way to go yet, but it was truly a special moment for me to see somone go from utter darkness to a realization of the Hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so awesome.
Sometimes all you can really say is thank you. And I feel so thankful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to have these experiences and to bring the hope of the gospel into peoples lives.
Well I was going to tell you more about the little details of my life since mom is into that stuff but i dont have any more time :) so i have to go!
I love you all and i am so thankful once again for all of your influences in my life and for your love and prayers. They are being answered in the form of wonderful people to teach! Keep Praying!
Have great week!
Love Elder Nelson
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