We Are Called To Be Bold: Guess who is a senior comp!

I'm moving up in the world ;)

So for starters, we received the news Saturday evening that Hna. M is needed in another sector and that she had changes. We spent the better part of the next day saying good-bye to as many of our beloved investigators and less active members as we could, some sad, some insisting that she rebel, and in every house, sharing 1 Nephi 3:7 and listening to her tearful testimony. After 6 months in a sector, you come to love everyone with a strong, Christ-like love (heck, with one change in a sector you love em!). Then came the longest night of every change; the Sunday evening of packing or helping your comp pack, and the treacherously long night's sleep, bombarded with the question of "WHO IS GOING TO BE MY NEW COMPANION?!"

But now, here we are in this dinky little Internet cafe, me and my new companion, Hermana Davila! 23 years old, 6 months in the mission, from Nicaragua, and with a crazy amount of excitement and love for the mission and bursting with girliness and squeals.

I love that XD

I am so excited to work with her, to keep taking care of this sector and continuing with the crazy amount of investigators that we have been finding, 8 in these past two weeks, and it is just so much fun when you can tell that your comp is a spunky little gem who is ready to WORK!

As for this last week in the work of the Lord, we had lots of wonderful experiences and were able to see the progression of many people that we are visiting. I love being here, I love being a missionary, I have the best job ever. No battle :)

One experience was with one of the new investigators that we found this week named Evelyn. She is a cute, young mom that we contacted on the bus, a little quiet at first, but I was honestly amazed at first at how quickly she confided in us once we went to her house and started talking about the gospel. She immediately confided in us about the stress she feels of trying to protect her two sons from the harshness of the world, and how she feels that she lacks faith, and knows that she needs to pray more to feel closer to God.

Its basically a dream come true, for me at least, to find someone who has a genuine longing to protect her family and keep it unified and safe, and then to know almost immediately what her need is. For all missionaries, we try and figure out the need in the first lesson, attempting to know how we can shape the lessons we teach to meet that need and answer the questions that they truly have in their heart. We were able to teach the message of the Restoration to meet her need, testifying of the power of prayer in not only knowing if the message is true, but to feel closer to God and know His will for each one of us.

Another great moment was with an inactive member named Jorge. He has been inactive for many years now, and whenever we share a message with him and invite him to church, he nearly cuts us off in saying NO. He is a sassy little thing, and loves talking to us and being our buddy, but whenever the moment came to talk about the gospel, he disconnected.

Until about three weeks ago.

Because he lots his job, and he is getting nervous.

So this last week, when his wife made us lunch, he came in to sit with us to drink his daily cup of tea, which never happens. He then began to ask us what we have to do to fast. How to start and finish, how long it has to be, if we have to pray or do something special to initiate it, that sort of thing. We explained it all, all the while with cautious excitement, and then asked him why.

He told us that he has come to the point where he has recognized that he has to start doing his part again for the Lord, and that he wanted to fast to show our Heavenly Father his devotion.

Well that is a humbled man if I've ever seen one!

We shared Omni 1:26 and shared our testimonies about the power of fasting, and then told him that we would fast with him. He came to church this last Sunday, and you can see in his countenance that the Lord is working a mighty change in his heart. It was beautiful to see how someone can be humbled to return to the Lord, and not angered to the point of rebelling against Him. Sometimes it takes a crisis, but it is always worth the blood sweat and tears so they can return to our Heavenly Father.

We also had a beautiful experience with an inactive sister that we have been working with for a while now named Luisa. Little by little, we have been hearing her story, receiving, line upon line, the sad details of her hard life. It's all very delicate and very personal, and we have felt such strong responsibility and, many times, God's love for her as we ponder and pray over what it is that we can teach and how we can help her. From the very beginning, we have felt to share about the Atonement, and the first time that we visited her, we gave her a picture of Christ in Gethsemane to help her remember that he is here for us, and ever since then, we have always taught something more about the Atonement.

Two weeks ago, she had a pretty serious operation and had to be in the hospital for four days, and is on bed rest now and for a few more weeks. But the first time that we visited her after her operation, she was so excited to tell us about an experience that she had the day after her operation. She was in a lot of pain, and was praying that the pain would go away, or at least be dulled. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but the pain was so strong that she was left with nothing to do but remain in her pain and exhaustion.

That was when she looked up and saw a framed picture of Christ in Gethsemane. The same that we gave her three months ago that she has had on her bedside table this whole time. Now, people, we are NOT in Utah. It is not the norm to have a picture of Christ in the hospital. And it simply is not a coincidence that she was in the hospital room with, not only a picture of Christ, but THE picture of Christ. And the thought came to her mind "the pain He experienced is stronger than yours, and he is with you in this moment."

And that is just the beginning.

Since then, we have been giving her big reading assignments, and the one that she has enjoyed the most was to read all the scriptures in the Guide for Scripture Study about the Atonement. When we visited her the day she read those, which was this last Thursday, she was practically bouncing up and down in her bed (which she shouldn't have been doing because she needs to rest and lay down on her back), ecstatic to tell us about what she read.

And the thing is, when we first obtain our testimonies, especially about the Atonement, there just aren't words to describe how we feel. She tried to put her feelings into words, but ended up saying over and over how huge Christ's love is for us. She realized that she never really had her OWN testimony of the gospel, and she is just barely going through the motions of obtaining that testimony.
It is beautiful to be here and to witness others receiving their own testimonies. It strengthens me and at times, it moves me to tears to literally see and witness the great change that is taking part in the hearts of the people that we are serving. When I got to this sector, it was pretty dry. And it was hard. But now, 4.5 months later, we are seeing beautiful progress. We are seeing sacred changes. And I am crazy excited to keep working, to keep helping, and to keep testifying, because seeing the change in others makes it all worth it.

I love you and miss you all :) Be bold, stay rad, and do what you do :)

Hermana Harkins