We are in a car share here (that means we switch the car off every week with the English Elders in town,) and well, we walked about 12 miles Saturday, and it was a lovely 89 degrees and as humid as I could imagine. I have a decent amount of blisters, but it was awesome. I love the feeling of collapsing in my bed at night knowing I gave my all, both physically and mentally. This has been a great week. I spent most of all my free time cleaning the apartment from top to bottom, the last 4 sets of missionaries didn't like cleaning much, but it is starting to actually look livable. My companion just keeps joking about my "military clean" attitude, because I told him Dad was in the military, and I just laugh even more, remembering my room back home. Mom, if you could see me know, you would be flabbergasted at my cleaning skills.
We had an amazing lesson this week. We found this woman, a single mother, and just started teaching her on her front porch. We started talking about the restoration of the Gospel, and how much God loves us, and that is why he has given us prophets to guide us to that happiness. After sharing Joseph Smith's first vision, I just stopped and asked her what this means to her. She just burst out into tears, and started telling us about her life, her relationship with God, and all the incredible trials she has had, and how hard it had been raising her 3 children on her own. But then she said she just knew that this was God reaching out to her to give her a guide, and that she could feel his love. The spirit was so strong, I may have started crying too. You could feel Heavenly Father's love for her so strong, it was amazing to be able to be a part of his work, helping her. . We keeled down and had a kneeling prayer with her right on her porch, and she bore her soul to God, and thanked him for sending us. All we did was share a message. Days like that are the pay days on the mission, when after a week of everything falling through and going wrong, God lets you be part of a lesson like that.
I know this church is true with every fiber of my being. Every day only reconfirms that. Wow, I love this work. One of my favorite scriptures is 3rd Nephi 17:
20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
How great of an experience must that to have been? And Through this work, my own Joy is beginning to be full, because Jesus grants it unto me the same joy.
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