Colorado

When the student is ready, the teacher appears

January 20, 2014

This week one of the members in the ward shared with us this quote. "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." That definitely became the theme of the week! we had one of the best weeks we've had so far!

There are a few people that we've been trying to see since sister Hilton and I started serving together. One of them told us she would love to talk to us like....4 months ago...haha and ever since then whenever we're in the neighborhood we stop by but we could never catch her at home or at a good time! But one day this week we didn't have a dinner appointment and her name kept coming to our minds over and over so strongly. So we went to her house, and what do ya know she opens the door, pauses, looks at us, pauses again, and says.. "come in." haha she kept saying over and over how amazing it was that we caught her at literally the perfect time! It was a really cool lesson. She really just had a lot of questions for us, and because the Book of Mormon play keeps coming to Denver, it is the topic of a lot of conversations around here and among neighborhoods. She really just wanted to know what we believed because she had heard things that weren't right like that the Book of Mormon was our Bible, etc. It was an amazing lesson because the questions she asked just led us through the Restoration and even along the way asked our testimonies! At one point she held out the Book of Mormon and said, "Sister Hilton, WHAT does this book mean to you?" at the end we really had enjoyed our time with her and she was excited because now when people talked about it in the community, she would know the truth because so many people were confused and couldn't ever answer her questions. I thought it was so cool! She was very grounded in her church and absolutely loves Jesus Christ, and although she really wasn't interested in learning more, she now knows that missionaries aren't scary and we will both always remember that meeting we had together. I think missionary work often scares a lot of people because they think that by sharing with their friends what they believe might offend them. or scare them. But the truth is, it is something that matters to YOU. Its something that has helped you in your life and you should want to share that! not hold it in! we have a member in our ward who is getting her Patriarchal blessing. Its the first recommend that she's ever held, and she was so excited she was telling everyone because she literally could not hold it in. None of her friends knew what this was because they didn't go to our church, but they all were very happy for her and shared her excitement. There was a talk on Sunday by our ward mission leader and he said something that really stuck with me. He said, if you KNOW the truth, you are happy and that is a great step! but its even more to LOVE the truth, which makes you even happier.  What makes you even happier than knowing and loving it is LIVING it. The last part of it all is that if you do all three of those things and SHARE the truth, you will experience more happiness than you can even imagine. A lot of the world is searching. A lot of the world is struggling because the fact of the matter is, hard things happen in life. A lot of the world is still seeking to KNOW the truth.

We had the opportunity this week to witness one of the greatest miracles- someone getting to know the truth. The man that is getting baptized is doing so awesome. A family invited him over to their house last night so they could get to know him better and have us share a scripture. He expressed his excitement for baptism because he feels like he has searched for so much of his life. His upbringing was pretty tough and he hasn't seen much happiness. He said that since this past summer, just as we started coming around his house, he is actually happy when he wakes up in the morning. He feels more patient with his dad. He is experiencing getting to know and love the truth, and when he is baptized this Sunday, he will be fully living it. He expressed that he hopes that his friends see this change in him and that he will be an example to them. An example of someone who after a long time of depression and sadness, has found the sweetest joy there is. Getting to know his Savior Jesus Christ.

We also had an opportunity to teach a family at someones house. We taught the plan of salvation, and I decided that its my favorite thing to teach a family. They have two kids around 4 and 7 I think. The 7 year old was really into hearing about the plan! She thought it was so cool that we lived with our Heavenly Father before this, and the Spirit World made so much sense to her. My favorite part is when the other kids chimed in and explained a lot of the parts of the plan like Resurrection and the three degrees of glory. At the end we asked if we could have a kneeling prayer, and we explained that one of the biggest parts of prayer is thanking Heavenly Father for all that we have. We all knelt down, both families and us, and went around and said what we were thankful for. One of the little girls said that she was thankful for her family then wrapped herself around her dad's leg. We asked the dad to say the closing prayer for us, and it was such a powerful prayer- to hear this father pray for his little girls as they are learning the truth of the plan of happiness and how they can live together FOREVER. This goes along with how our Heavenly Father feels about us. He is up there rooting for us every step of the way. He does things for us that we don't even understand, just like we as kids don't understand all that our earthly parents to for us behind the scenes. I am so thankful for our knowledge of our Father in Heaven! We asked this little girl if she knew she was a daughter of God. her face lit up and she said YES!

THAT is how we should all feel. We should be able to stand up and say YES we are children of our Heavenly Father who loves us more than we can imagine.