Before I jump in, I found out that there is a P.O. Box
in the states that the mission office goes to twice a week so if anybody is
going to send a package ever, that would be much cheaper to send it to!! I won't
get it until I go to the office for transfers every six weeks, but that is okay,
it is super cheaper! The address is below:
Sister Ashlyn Biggs
Canada Vancouver Mission
PO BOX 149
Point Roberts, WA 98281
Well, let's jump right in I guess! I will start with
Robin. He is a man that we talked to on the sidewalk. He is not very religious
but he has a firm belief in Jesus Christ and God. We taught him about the Book
of Mormon, and then gave him his own copy. We ended the lesson bearing our
testimonies sincerely about the Book of Mormon. He looked up at us when we were
done, with tears in his eyes, and said "Girls, I feel like I am in Heaven". My
heart rejoied. I felt like the Sons of Mosiah as I witnessed the Holy Ghost work
in his heart. He took the Book of Mormon from us and said "Thank you for this
incredible gift". I walked away from that lesson knowing that the Holy Ghost was
testifying to him of the truthfulness of our message. We will be meeting with
him tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see how he felt about reading from this
incredible Book. That is what the Book of Mormon does for us. It makes us feel
like we are in Heaven. An investigator helped me realize that once
again!
Next I will write about William. My heart swells with
emotion as I even write about him. We have been teaching WIlliam since I first
got here. He is a little bit slower in the learning process, but since day 1 we
have been trying to get him to Church as we know what an impact that will have
on his life. For weeks we have been disappointed as we call Sunday morning and
find out that he is not able to come from his wife. He has quite a few health
problems, but he is also a little hesitant to come to church. We decided this
last week to give him a church tour to help him feel more comfortable in the
building. He accepted, and we felt the Spirit strongly. The next morning before
starting the day, I prayed more sincerely than I have ever before. I poured out
my heart to my Heavenly Father, asking him for a miracle. I asked him to please
provide a way for WIlliam to get to church today. With tears in my eyes I stood
up, leaving it in God's hands as I prepared for the day. On the way to church,
we made our usual phone call to his house. His wife picked up, which made my
heart sink, as I figured he was still sleeping. However, then I heard her say
the words "Yes William will be there, he is just getting ready right now. He
also has some muffins to bring to the potluck." My heart rejoiced more than ever
before. Immediately I began sobbing in the car as we drove to Church. Heavenly
Father had blessed me with the greatest miracle of my mission thus far. After
PEC we waited anxiously at the door, hoping to see William walk in. 5 minutes
before the meeting, there he was. I cried as I shook his hand and welcomed him
to church. Tears were in my eyes throughout the entire meeting. It is hard to
explain these feelings. But this was in fact the greatest miracle I have seen so
far in my mission. After Church we asked him how he liked it. He said "I felt
something warm in my heart the whole time". After telling him that that was the
Spirit, he looked at me and said "I want that feeling forever". I cannot
describe the joy that my heart felt adequately enough in an email. But I will
forever cherish that incredible moment with William. The Lord blessed me
according to our faith and our constant prayers. He is there. He is so very
aware of this work. Miracles have not ceased.
I am now training Sister Haight, and Sister Okano has
finally gone to the MTC. Like she even needs the training...Sister OKano is so
great and helped me so much. I will certainly miss her as we part ways. But I am
so grateful to be with Sister Haight now. She is from California and has an
incredible testimony of the Book of Mormon. What a blessing she will be to our
investigators! I am not sure why the Lord trusts me training these wonderful
missionaries, but I know that He has helped me to grow from them probably more
than I have helped them grow. Sister Haight will be a great asset to this area.
I hope to be able to help her jump with both feet in!
Glen and Barb are two other investigators we are working
with. They are Mormons essentially, just missing the baptsim part. They are such
a great family and I have grown to love them so much! We had an appointment to
teach them yesterday. So yesterday morning during companion study, we started
preparing their lesson. We prayed hard for direction on what we should share. We
knew we wanted to speak about the Book of Mormon, but we were not sure what. So
we prayed again. Stupor of thought for both of us. We were really confused,
because we needed to plan a lesson, we were going to be seeing them that night!
After no direction on what we should share, we finally decided to share a story
from the Book of Mormon. I was not feeling very confident about it. But we went
forward with faith. As we drove Sister OKano to the bus station, we were
listening to conference from October 2011. The first talk to come up was Elder
Callister's talk "A Book of Mormon: A Book from God". I felt like Joseph Smith
when he had read James 1:5 while searching for the truth. The Spirit overwhlemed
me, and I immediately knew that we needed to share this talk with Glen and Barb.
This is why the Lord gave us the stupor of thought. He wanted us to go forward
with faith, knowing that He would not fail us. He never has before, and He never
will. He provided us with exactly what we needed to teach them. I poured my
heart out in such gratitude for the wonderful miracle He blessed us with.
Although the appointment fell through because some of their family was sick, I
am still so very excited to go back and show them that talk. I challenge each of
you to watch it as well. It confirms my testimony of the Book of Mormon so
strongly!! How excited I am for them to hear it!
Something else incredible happened during PEC meeting
this Sunday. President Fields said he was looking through his office and found a
binder that he had never seen before, so he started looking through it. It was
from 2003, when there was a senior couple serving in Oliver and Osoyoos. They
had typed up a written report of every single person they had met or were
teaching the lessons to. It had addresses, phone numbers, and everything they
knew about them. President Fields made a copy and gave it to us. My eyes filled
with tears, once again. The Lord did not have President Fields find this 10
years later on accident. He knows what He is doing. We will be going through
this list very prayerfully and visiting each of these people. It was like
gaining a brand new area book with so much detail. I read over some of the names
and I felt the Spirit testify to me that somebody on there is ready to receive
the Gospel. I am so excited to begin making our way through it! After 10 years,
the Lord has prepared somebody for us! I just know it!
This past Friday we attended a funeral that we were
asked to sing at in our church building. I did not know the man, but his son was
a member and wanted to make sure that the missionaries were there because there
would be quite a bit of nonmembers there. We sang "O My Father". I felt the
Spirit so strongly. As I looked people in the eyes and bore testimony through
song, I could feel my love for them increasing rapidly. We had the opportunity
to talk to quite a few people afterward. I was able to exchange information with
a man named Randy, who I feel REALLY good about. The Lord does not place us in
these situations on accident. He expects us to use them to share the Gospel.
What a great experience that was.
We had transfers this past week, where I became
companions with Sister Haight. It was so incredible. Every time I hear President
Tilleman speak, I feel the Spirit overwhlem me with comfort and peace. I know I
was called to this mission partly because of the Tillemans! And I am so excited
that they will be going home to Tempe after their mission, because I want
nothing more than to stay in close contact with them. President Tilleman bore a
10 minute testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have never heard somebody bear
testimony like this. He is so incredibly passionate about this amazing
scripture. He agreed to come out to Oliver sometime to teach some lessons with
us. I cannot wait for that to happen! He talked to me for a moment and promised
me that if I were to continue working as hard as I am, that I would be blessed
with many baptisms in my mission. I know success is not measured by numbers, but
rather by our committment to bring others to Christ. But what a promise I was
excited to receive from my mission President. I hope to be able to live up to it
and show the Lord how hard I am willing to work for Him. This is His work. He is
the head of it. The next 14 months are not mine, they are His. And I will be as
humble as I can be to become the missionary He is trying to mold me
into.
I guess what I am trying to get across in this email, is
that I am involved in the greatest work in the world. I love this Gospel. The
Lord blesses His missionaries, often more than they deserve. I know that is
often the case with me. I know that He is blessing us with miracles constantly
as long as we put our faith in Him. I know that some of the stories I shared may
not seem so incredible to you. But just know that they will forever hold a
special place in my heart. The Lord is watching over Sister Biggs here in
Oliver, and allowing me to see incredible miracles. How blessed I am. What a
humbling experience it is to serve a mission. For those of you who knew me well
before, you know that pride has always been something I have struggled with. But
I am humbled to see how much the Lord works with His missionaries. I feel myself
closer to the Savior each day. What a blessing.
For this week's challenge, I challenge each of you to
watch Elder Callister's talk about the Book Of Mormon from October 2011. It will
inspire you to share your testimony about the Book of Mormon with others. I
cannot believe how blessed we are to have this. I love you all so much. This
work is true. I bear testimony that my Savior lives, and is SO very aware of me
in my life. I love Him. I bear solemn testimony that this Church is true. The
Book of Mormon is true. It brings us closer to our Heavenly Father than any
other Book in the world. I love this Gospel, and I love all of you! Thank you
for your constant support!!
Love,
Sister Biggs
No comments:
Post a Comment