That's exactly how we felt after conference :)
So we had the blessing of being able to listen to it once again in English, although President laid down a new rule saying that we cant bring "buffets" anymore; little snacks for in between, but nothing huge and extravagant, like we gringos enjoy doing. That of course, was after we had passed some money over to a brother in the ward to do us a favor and go to a special grocery store where they sell Dr. Pepper...haha but we were obedient and drank it in between sessions, coupled with some dried fruits (pineapple and strawberry) and lemon alfahores :) I dunno why, but we just can't do conference without those special little goodies! At least ME, I did after all grow up with Kim Harkins ;)
My list of favorites...
Lynn G Robbins
D. Todd Christofferson (was it NOT the cutest when he said Buenos Dias?)
Deiter F Uchtdorf
Jiorg Klebnegat (his talk was like Alma 5 and 12...PALOS)
Henry B Iyring (the only one that made me tear up)
Richard G Scott
Carlos A Godoy
Jeffery R Holland (when he said Bien Hecho. What a chap.)
and of course President Monson :)
Honestly, I feel such a deep and abiding love for General Conference, much more so than before my mission. I was thinking about it...I have always listened to and loved conference, but I feel that I never truly treasured it until now. To go in with questions that I need answered, as I listened, scriptures came to mind and I was able to receive that beautiful, personal revelation that so many touched on, and it brought me peace and JOY! We are part of such a joyful gospel, and I feel so biased towards the three general conferences that have happened while I have been serving, and of the numerous things that I am thankful to my mission for, I am eternally thankful that it has enriched my appreciation for general conference. I hope y'all treasured it as well :)
And as for the work in El Manzano, we are finally seeing some fruits to all that tiring walking that we've been doing! (My comp and I have both broken some shoes!) We found a woman named Paula. She was receiving the missionaries before but doesn't remember very much, but she did say numerous times that she kept waiting and praying to feel that this is the truth, but that she never received an answer. She remembered that the other missionaries showed her lots of little video clips and taught a lot about the holy ghost, but she was never able to feel that burning in the bosom.
Thank goodness she said that we could come back! There are some situations like that when they just don't see any point to give it another try, but she decided to open her heart once again and let us come and share the message of the Restoration with her. When we got to the point of inviting her to pray to know if it really is the truth, we asked her what it is that she is expecting to feel. She seemed to be caught off guard, and it turns out that she didn't even know what it was that she was waiting for. "Just something magnificent." But that gave us the chance to share that little gem in Galatians 5:22-23 that talks about the fruits of the Holy Ghost. Better believe some of those yummies were present :D haha #missionaryjokes
We also had a touching experience in contacting. While knocking doors, we found an older man named Luis. It took a little while, but he accepted the pass along that we offered and told us that he believes in Christ because of the evidence, but that he does not believe in God. With a little coaxing and Christ-like love, he told us about how he had a family, a house, a car, and a good career. But that because of a mistake that he made, he lost all of it and is now living in this little "shack." He even wept, asking how we could know of such a surety that God exists if he allows such hard things to happen.
It was one of those situations where we couldn't have explained, even though we had the answer, because we knew that his heart just wasn't ready. He wasn't asking to get an answer, he was asking just to get it out. So we simply testified. I know that God is our Heavenly Father and that He loves us, and I know that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die so that the sting of the pains of life are not so unbearable. I know that Christ IS proof that God exists, and I know that God is aware of what Luis is going through, and that He desires that we can all come to Him through Christ so that we can have eternal peace.
He thanked us for our words and told us that it made his day more bearable. He wouldn't let us put down an appointment to come back and he wouldn't accept the pamphlet about The Plan of Salvation that we offered, but he did say that we touched his heart. And that is the most important thing.
So that's my two cents for the week :) Be bold, stay rad, do what you do and let your light so shine :)
Hermana Harkins
No comments:
Post a Comment