August 19, 2013

August 19, 2013

Dearest Family and Friends,

Hello from your favorite missionary girl!  

On Tuesday, we met with Karen.  We had an incredible lesson with her!  We finally got to talk to her about the Restoration!  The Spirit was so strong.  At the end we showed her the video on the first vision.  At the end of the video, it shows Joseph Smith's father entering the waters of baptism.  We've talked with her about baptism before and she's just shakes her head and let us know that she will not get baptized.  But this time, she asked us how a person could get baptized twice (like as a baby and then into our faith) and she said that her deceased husband wasn't baptized and what would happen to him?  We were able to address her concerns and she felt better about the whole thing.  We weren't even planning on asking her about baptism this time but the Spirit had something else in mind.  We followed the Spirit and asked her if she would get baptized when she comes to know that these things are true.  Silence.... To be honest I was waiting for her to say "Definitely not" like she did last time, but then she smiled a little bit.  Then she said slowly, "Maybe........ Probably if I come to find these things are true."  The Spirit was so strong.  But we still have a ways to go, we want to put her on date by the end of the month, but she still won't go to church or pray, but she's reading from the Book of Mormon.  Pray for her! 

When we visited with Ariah she had thrown away ALL of her clothes that weren't temple worthy.  She laughed and said her closet was empty!  She has struggles but her desire to do what is right is stronger. I love her so much.  I can't wait to go to the temple with her in October!  

Speaking of the temple, on Saturday, we got to go!  I love the temple.  I missed not sitting by my beautiful mother or being in the celestial room with my family.  So, I thought of my family a lot in that temple, both my family now and my future family.  I can't imagine trying to raise a family without the gospel.  Luckily, I won't have to.  

We visited with a lot of lonely people this week.  We uplifted a man that thinks only of his wife with Alzheimer and really just needed to talk to someone, we helped a woman water the flowers that she put on her husbands grave, and we talked with a lady who just lost her baby twins.  Sometimes the only things that can help people is the knowledge that Jesus Christ has walked where they have been and can feel their pain.  It is very sad to see that exactly when people need the gospel the most, they shove the Savior out of their life.  It's nice to give them a little bit of light once again!

On Friday, we were at the library doing some online training on stress control... no worries... I'm in the "green zone":) and a man, named Wesley, came into the computer lab.  He saw that we were missionaries and started teasing us (nicely) asking how "the work of saving souls" was going or if he could join the church if he was German and poor, etc.  He told us he's trying to quit smoking and I told him that we have an "addiction recovery" program that could help him!  Anyway, he got on the computer and asked us what he should look up, I told him to type in "mormon.org".  He was on there for thirty minutes and stated being more serious and asking us real questions.  When he went to leave, before I had a chance to say anything he had already written down his contact information and asked us to tell him some more.  I can't wait to teach him!  It just goes to show, that you never know who is ready to hear the gospel.

A while back, we found a man named Justin, he said we could bring by some "literature".  When we went to do so, his wife answered the door and said he wasn't at home and she wasn't interested... when we walked by, we saw him in his back yard.  So yesterday, I decided that we needed to go talk to him again and had the feeling like we should write our testimony in the Book of Mormon and give it to him, however, Sister Nuttall didn't agree.  She didn't feel like we shouldn't visit with him, but she didn't feel like we should either.  I guess my sassiness won, because I felt like we should.  I knocked on the door and Justin answered, he said he didn't have much time to visit because he had to catch a plan, so I introduced the Book of Mormon, told him a little background information, and bore my testimony on it and he said he'd read some of it and that we could come back to see what he thought in a couple of weeks.  Sister Nuttall was silent during the whole thing.  I'm confused how we could get opposite promptings, but I hope I did what was right and I hope that he will read it.  

This week was stake conference and my favorite talk was by the temple president.  It was to "Hear Him". Every time, the Lord introduces the Savior, he says "Hear Him!"  We "hear him" multiple times a day, we just have to pay attention!

I love you family.  I hope you are praying for missionary experiences because they will come! 

Loves,

Sister Crystal Gardner