I have had an AMAZING week. A beautiful, busy, exhausting, miracle-filled week. At the beginning of my mission it kinda felt like I was going to be here foreeeeever. Now I look at a calendar and it's like, wait! No! I need more time, there's work to be done! The week flew by, and it's because we worked like never before. And we're gonna do it again this week. All the way to February. YES!
I have a wonderful companion. Oh my goodness, Soeur Bradshaw is such a blessing. She just popped in with all these great ideas and the most pro-active attitude, and it's been fantastic. Dad, you would be so proud of us. We have developed a "do-it-right-now" theme for our companionship. Like if we think of somebody we need to call, we grab the phone and call them right there. If we think, "Hmmm, we should talk to Bishop about that," we go talk to him. Let me tell you people, this is the secret. Its been a successful, fun week, and it's because we are moving. I remember Mike telling me that the more I move and act, the more the Lord will trust me and prepare people and situations. This is absolutely true. We have had some literal miracles happen. For example, one lady whom we met earlier this week - we have made a pact to talk to everyone, everyone we see, and never miss a chance to share the gospel. Well we arrive at our investigators house the other day, and he isn't there, so we decide to just start talking to the people hanging around. One of them is a middle-aged, beautiful lady named Sylviane. We introduced ourselves... and forty-five minutes later we set her baptismal date. The gospel of Jesus Christ is simply true, and there are truly moments when people are prepared and placed by the Lord to accept it. Sylviane has been through some incredibly hard things recently in her life, and her heart was wide open to what we had to say. When both ends of the conversation - us and the investigator- have open hearts, when we speak and listen sincerely, truth just unfolds itself and it cant really be denied. In a matter of minutes Sylviane became a dear friend. At the end of our conversation I gave her a hug, kissed her on the cheek, and said "I love you." And I meant it. How will I ever be able to say how much I love this experience? I love this. I love being a missionary.
Here was another powerful experience of the week. Do you remember our little dougie boys, Emmanuel and Barry? I'm seriously smuggling those two home in my suitcases. They have become my little brothers. And this week we needed to talk to their parents about accepting their baptism. We went over there at 9AM Saturday morning. Their parents are named V and A, and they live in a cement house raised up, looking over a big view of the ocean. We gathered around and started talking, and the first thing V says is, "No. That is my answer." Hmm. The conversation was long and kind of hard, but I will tell you about the best moment. I asked Emmanuel to say a prayer, and I told V to simply listen to his son and the things he was going to say to Heavenly Father. Emmanuel, 14 years old, said one of the most sincere, touching prayers I've ever heard. Through his tears, he simply asked Heavenly Father to bless his dad so he would accept his baptism with a soft heart and that their family would be happy. My heart was just pounding, and I felt the Spirit so deeply, and there came a moment where I was just kneeling on the cement floor looking up at V, waiting silently and praying with every piece of my heart that he would just say yes. After that prayer and our testimonies, and all the faith and love and hope we were trying to pour into the moment, and moments where it was so close-- he said no. He just simply said no.
But here is the thought that Soeur Bradshaw and I had later on - Heavenly Father is in charge. Those two boys have testimony and faith, and they simply can't fail with that. But perhaps Father has a bigger idea for this family. We wanted to help Barry and Emmanuel get baptized this month, which would have been a wonderful thing. But perhaps there is something much bigger that needs to happen. There are some alcohol and other problems that need to be healed in this home, and I think that over time and with the help of the Savior, this family could change for the better, all of them. We decided to not be sad or worried about the situation, but instead to just keep doing exactly what the Lord asks us to do, patiently and faithfully, and allow Him to work his miracles in His way. For one of the first and deepest times, I realized what it means when we say "wait on the Lord's timetable." It brings so much peace.
I love you all so very, very much. Forever and ever, I love you!
Soeur Mann
