November
18, 2013
Familia!!!
It gets harder every
week to remember what happened since last Monday... the days blur together and then the weeks blur together and my mind
and memory can't keep up with it all! Hahaha I'll try my best to give you some of the
highlights of the past week though :)
It was Sister Damato's
birthday last Tuesday so we got sooo much junk food! Cake, fudge, lots and lots
of ice cream, brownies..... ahhhh……we don't know what to do with all of it! We
have been trying every chance we get to give it to people… hahaha! Brother Westcott, in the ward, showed up early
Tuesday morning with two bouquets of yellow flowers for us. It was so cute of
him. They are so beautiful!!! Getting flowers just brightens up your whole day…
plus it brightens up our whole apartment! It was very sweet of him.
Cool story of the
week: Sister Damato and I had dropped by to try and see a media referral that
wasn't home. We were getting back in the car and had this strong impression
that we needed to knock just a few homes on the street we were on. The second
door that we knocked on was an elderly lady named Shirley. We asked if she
could use a prayer and she really appreciated it. As we first began talking she
was in awe at how much I looked like her niece. Apparently her niece had just
been diagnosed with MS and is going through a really tough time. She had this
impression that she needed to call her niece but she had been putting it off...
When she saw us she knew she really needed to call her. She kept saying over
and over again that she knew that God had sent us to her. I said a prayer and
at the end of the prayer, Shirley had tears streaming down her face. We asked
if she had a picture she could show us of her niece and at first she said
"no" but then after a few minutes she let us inside and showed us a
picture. The spirit was working on her!! The more we talked, the more she
opened up to us. She told us that her husband had suddenly died of a heart
attack in under 10 minutes. She said that she couldn't figure out what it
was... but that she knew that she was missing something in her life. She wasn't
depressed, but she wasn't happy. Times like these remind me of the Book of
Mormon where Ammon was filled with joy when he saw that his brethren were going
through a hard time... he wasn't happy because they were suffering, but he was
happy that it would give them an opportunity to accept the Gospel. I truly felt
that way as we told her that we knew what she was missing and asked if we could
share a message with her. We ended teaching her the Plan of Salvation for about
an hour and she was very intrigued with the thought of the Three Degrees of
Glory and that she could be sealed to her husband in the temple. She asked us
to add Mormon.org and Lds.org to the bookmark tabs on her computer and asked
for the Plan pamphlet. She was soaking it all in!! She then gave us a referral
to go meet her grandson. Hahaha! It was such a powerful lesson of the Plan. She
then told us a very cool story about how she knows that there is a life after
this:
After her husband had
passed away, she was kneeling down in her living room bawling her eyes out in
prayer to God to give her comfort and a sign that her husband was okay. All of
a sudden her smoke alarm in the hallway went off. She ran to the hall and could
feel a distinct feeling of warmth directly under the fire alarm. She KNEW in
her heart that it was her husband that was wanting her to know that he was ok.
She said that she hugged the warmth until it dispersed.... such a cool story.
Unfortunately, she didn't want to set up another appointment with us but she
said that she was definitely going to pray and read about what we told her and
that she would call us.... :/ We will try and go back this week to see what's
been going on. She was very, very appreciative of us and kept saying that she
just knew that God had brought us to her doorstep that night because someone
knew that she was feeling very depressed and lonely. You really want more
miracles to come from moments like that…and they may! But, even if you don't
get to see them... it is so rewarding to know that no matter what the results
of your service and efforts, that you are helping people increase their faith
in Jesus Christ. The mission becomes so much easier when you realize that your
efforts- big and small- are all just as important to help others come unto Him.
We were able to fill
out Ed's baptismal records this past week! We went to Ritter's (a good ice cream
place) to celebrate. Yesterday, a member of the mission presidency came for
Ed's baptismal interview. Ed was nervous but I had total confidence. President
Pratt came out of the interview saying that the spirit was very strong in the
interview and that Ed and Michele were going to make a very strong member
family... which I couldn't agree more!!! I wish I could show you how strong and
faithful they really are. They are both so inspiring and I love them both so
much. As President Pratt was talking about how amazing both Ed and Michele are
(he also interviewed Michele for her baptism), Ed began to choke up with tears
again. Every time Ed starts choking back tears from feeling the spirit I
immediately start to as well... hahaha! His baptism is this Saturday at
6!! =D I'm SOOO excited for him!!!! He is so ready! He can't wait for the weekend.
He did ask something of me though. He especially asked that I would sing at his
baptism............. ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! Let's just say I'm freaking out inside....
hahahaha! Let's just say that I don't
feel comfortable singing in front of people.... ESPECIALLY when it's a solo!!!
Sister Damato doesn't sing.... so it's all me.... yikes!!! I hate to ask for
this.... but please pray for me that I can bring the spirit to his baptism!! I
told Ed that it was a good thing I love him because I will only sing for a
certain few.
I'm trying to remember
what else happened this week.... haha…oh! My District Leader called this
morning to tell us that our district (of 3 companionships, the smallest
District in the zone,) is doing the best in the whole zone! As a District we more than
doubled the number of Progressing Investigators and those that came to
church ... the zone leaders gave us District goals and we more than
doubled (and sometimes tripled!) all of those goals!!! I can't get too
confident or feel too comfortable in the work... because that's when God
humbles me ;) but it is always so nice and reassuring to hear of our good work
and effort. It's awesome!
Well, I'm out of time!
We are getting together with the elders in the district and our playing
volleyball! woot woot! Hopefully I don't make too big a fool of myself. I'm
excited to play though! It should be fun :) You should know, there has been a
couple cold days here but it's back up to the high 70's this morning. There is
such a small difference in weather here that it just blows my mind that it's
almost December! haha! Can't believe it! I hope that everything goes well this
week. I love you all so much and am so grateful for all that you do :) I love
you!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Kirkham
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