Mission Memoirs : Week 51: A Week of Miracles

Hello! This week was what I like to call a week of miracles. I have 3 stories to share, bear with me.

1. Fey:

At the day long meeting a few weeks ago, Elder Bennett really touched a lot on talking with everyone and truly seeking the elect. He reminded us that our cars are not a shield or bubble where we no longer have to talk with everyone. If you see someone while driving whom you think may be elect, pull over and talk to them! And that, we did! Last Monday, Sister Beck and I were driving to our appointment and we both saw this cute little lady walking on the street. We looked at each other at the same time (#compunity) and said, "SHE'S ELECT!" So we pulled over and went to approach her. She started walking towards us so we said hello, then she came closer and really started to look closely at my name-tag. She saw Christ's name and said, "Oh, my Sister!" and gave us each the hugest hugs. She then told us she loves anyone who believes in Christ. We told her about the Book of Mormon then gave her a copy and she was so excited! She held it close then said, "You know, I was walking on the other side of the street, but the Spirit told me to walk on this side, and now I met you and have this new book!" She then proceeded to tell us that she was only in Cleveland for 2 days for a wedding, but lives in Florida. Usually, that would be an unfortunate thing for a missionary to hear because that means they don't get to teach the person. But since we serve at the Visitors' Center, we get to call her and teach her online! The timing of everything was such a miracle.

2. Sister Franklin:

Sister Franklin is a less-active member in our ward. She lives about 1209743 miles away from everyone else we're working with though, so it's hard to get to her at times with limited miles. I saw her once with Sister Finlinson, and we just talked about how God is our Loving Heavenly Father. I don't really remember any of the specifics of the lesson though. But then on Friday, we went to go see her. She told us that last time I had said something about her having a ward family who loves and cares about her or something, and it really stuck with her. I had no idea! But she really opened up to us. She told us why she had stopped coming, even through she knew it was true. But she also expressed how she was afraid to come back because people would be mad. But we, I mean the Spirit, helped her get over her barriers and SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! AND SHE BORE HER TESTIMONY!!!!!!

3. Bill:

Bill is our investigator whom we found while biking. We have seen him two times since I last wrote home about him. So our first lesson was the one where he asked if we had ever heard of the game telephone. Then our second lesson, last Tuesday, was on the Plan of Salvation. But before we even started, he sat down and first thing he says: "You know, I've been thinking about the concept for Modern day Prophets. At first it seemed like a foreign concept to me, but the more I've prayed and read this book, the more I know that we are in need of a living prophet!" Hallelujah! Then we started to get into the Plan of Salvation. While talking about the Earth life he explained how we all CHOOSE where we will end up after we die, depending on how we live our lives. Spot on. Then we got to the Spirit World and he said, "You just answered my biggest question! I've always wondered what would happen to those who live in 3rd world countries and never learned about Christ, and this answeres everything." What in the world. So we invited him to be baptized and he said absolutely! Then we set a date. He said he would make sure he gets that day off of work so that he can be there. SO GOOD! Then last night, we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we asked what he understood about repentance, he said, "To me, repentance means change. It's not necessarily always saying you're sorry for things you've done wrong, but it's about continual improvement." I died. Then we talked about enduring to the end, and he said, "I really love the concept of never giving up and the fact that I'm finding a faith that really encourages that is really exciting to me." AHHHHH!!!! So then at the end of the lesson, he asked how we got into this whole mission thing, because HE WANTS TO SERVE A MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What. Just. Happened. Talk about elect! Holy smokes this gets me too excited.

So, sorry this email is a mile long, but miracles are happening over here and I LOVE IT!!! And wanted to share. Now I'll send some pictures and stop typing. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Livingston

Cover photo for my new single, "Eat some Grapenuts" (I have a new love for grapenuts.)

Sunny Eyes

Wait, do we like each other or something?

This is what happens at 5pm on Fast Sunday after a day of biking without food or drink and you're stranded in the Church's kitchen for dinner because your dinner appointment canceled.