Hello to all my wonderful friends and family! I Hear
things are cooling down in AZ...perhaps under 100 now? Good to hear. I can't
wait to get home to that. When I get home (in the middle of July!) I am going to
plop myself down on the asphalt and grab a blanket and sleep there for a week.
Maybe by then my body will warm up. Until then, I am freezing :) Actually,
things have certainly not been as cold as I thought they would be. We don't even
need jackets most days in the summer. But winter is on its way here. So let the
rain come down! Transfers are next week so I guess we will see where I will be
for the majority of the winter! Let's cross our fingers for here. I hear aside
from the rain, at least its not freezing.
What a blessed week this has been over here on the island! I can hardly contain my excitement for this weekend, when Frazer, the 10 year old boy we are working with will be baptized. He committed last week and his mom is on board all the way. I know that as Nenette watches him get baptized, she will feel of his Spirit and desperately desire the same decision for herself. I cannot wait to watch this family progress in the Gospel. Frazer is so excited. When asked what his favorite part about church was, he said "All of it!". I don't even remember saying that when I was 10 years old. He is going to be great. The baptism is next Sunday the 29th. What a blessing!
A tender mercy took place last night that I just wanted to share. Sister Christensen and I have been low on money because we kind of had to restock our food starting from scratch. Plus, there are 5 Mondays in September, so that was a big concern. However, last night, the Broadwood's (the members we live with) came down stairs and yelled, "we have something for you!". It was like Christmas morning. We ran to the door, and there they had a $50 gift certificate to Country Grocer. They had no idea we had been struggling. No, they just do things because they want to help. I don't think they will ever understand what that did for us. Of course, we wouldn't have starved, we would have been just fine and had plenty of food. But it was just a tender mercy that helped us know the Lord and the members love us dearly. What a blessing!
This week it was pouring rain, and we were out tracting one night. We happened to be on a member's street, and I guess they must have seen us out of their window because they came chasing us down the street in the rain. When she arrived to us finally, she said "Sisters! We thought that was you. Look, it's pouring rain, and the traffic is all backed up, you won't be able to find anybody out here anyway so why don't you come in and eat with us? We have dinner just made fresh!" We looked at each other, with rain pouring down our faces. Against all temptation, we said "Sister Gauthier, I am sorry. But there are hundreds of people starving spiritually out there that we are never going to find if we sit inside your house and eat. The Lord wants to try our faith and see if we will give up in the rain, or if we will endure to the end, as our baptismal covenant tells us we need to." We humbly declined her VERY gracious offer. Satan desperately did not want us to find somebody that night. So we knew the Lord had somebody prepared! Well, we prayed fervently about where we needed to go, knowing the Lord had somewhere in mind. Wonderfully enough, we felt drawn to the same street and the same potentials. We dropped by Gary, who we had only met once before. He seemed somewhat interested before, but when we went back that night, he had a very large smile on his face and said, "You're back!". He promptly invited us in (which we had to decline because we were alone). But we had a wonderful conversation with him and will be meeting with him again tomorrow morning. He is very excited for us to come back. Then, one of his neighbors is the Arnott's, a family where the husband is fully active and the wife has not been active in about 2 years. So we dropped by. What followed was an incredible spiritual discussion about faith and about how to be an example to those around us. Although she did not commit to come to church the next Sunday, the Spirit was felt. She even offered herself to come to lessons with us, if need be. I know without a doubt that these miracles were waiting for us when Sister Gauthier offered is to come into her home and have dinner with them. Although it was a VERY generous offer and difficult to turn down, I couldn't live with myself knowing that there were so many people out there who don't have a ward family to eat dinner with ever! So we hit the pavement, and miracles happened.
Sister Christensen was talking to me the other night, and said "Sister Biggs, I prayed for you since the day I got my mission call." Somewhat confused at the remark I waited for her to continue. She said, "I begged Heavenly Father to give me a trainer that would help me to become the missionary I needed to become. And that is what you are doing. Thank you." I must say that I have never been more humbled in my life. Well, maybe I have, but this was certainly a highlight. We can be the answer to somebody's prayers! She said that since she got her call she had been SO nervous to get a trainer that would be disobedient, or not know the way to reach our full potential. But that as soon as she met me and began working with me, she was at ease. I must say, I was at ease when I saw the wonderful Sister I had been called to train. If anything, I am learning more from her than she is from me. What a blessing companions are. I know that they are chosen directly by God. That is something that has been witnessed to me over and over again.
What a blessed week this has been over here on the island! I can hardly contain my excitement for this weekend, when Frazer, the 10 year old boy we are working with will be baptized. He committed last week and his mom is on board all the way. I know that as Nenette watches him get baptized, she will feel of his Spirit and desperately desire the same decision for herself. I cannot wait to watch this family progress in the Gospel. Frazer is so excited. When asked what his favorite part about church was, he said "All of it!". I don't even remember saying that when I was 10 years old. He is going to be great. The baptism is next Sunday the 29th. What a blessing!
A tender mercy took place last night that I just wanted to share. Sister Christensen and I have been low on money because we kind of had to restock our food starting from scratch. Plus, there are 5 Mondays in September, so that was a big concern. However, last night, the Broadwood's (the members we live with) came down stairs and yelled, "we have something for you!". It was like Christmas morning. We ran to the door, and there they had a $50 gift certificate to Country Grocer. They had no idea we had been struggling. No, they just do things because they want to help. I don't think they will ever understand what that did for us. Of course, we wouldn't have starved, we would have been just fine and had plenty of food. But it was just a tender mercy that helped us know the Lord and the members love us dearly. What a blessing!
This week it was pouring rain, and we were out tracting one night. We happened to be on a member's street, and I guess they must have seen us out of their window because they came chasing us down the street in the rain. When she arrived to us finally, she said "Sisters! We thought that was you. Look, it's pouring rain, and the traffic is all backed up, you won't be able to find anybody out here anyway so why don't you come in and eat with us? We have dinner just made fresh!" We looked at each other, with rain pouring down our faces. Against all temptation, we said "Sister Gauthier, I am sorry. But there are hundreds of people starving spiritually out there that we are never going to find if we sit inside your house and eat. The Lord wants to try our faith and see if we will give up in the rain, or if we will endure to the end, as our baptismal covenant tells us we need to." We humbly declined her VERY gracious offer. Satan desperately did not want us to find somebody that night. So we knew the Lord had somebody prepared! Well, we prayed fervently about where we needed to go, knowing the Lord had somewhere in mind. Wonderfully enough, we felt drawn to the same street and the same potentials. We dropped by Gary, who we had only met once before. He seemed somewhat interested before, but when we went back that night, he had a very large smile on his face and said, "You're back!". He promptly invited us in (which we had to decline because we were alone). But we had a wonderful conversation with him and will be meeting with him again tomorrow morning. He is very excited for us to come back. Then, one of his neighbors is the Arnott's, a family where the husband is fully active and the wife has not been active in about 2 years. So we dropped by. What followed was an incredible spiritual discussion about faith and about how to be an example to those around us. Although she did not commit to come to church the next Sunday, the Spirit was felt. She even offered herself to come to lessons with us, if need be. I know without a doubt that these miracles were waiting for us when Sister Gauthier offered is to come into her home and have dinner with them. Although it was a VERY generous offer and difficult to turn down, I couldn't live with myself knowing that there were so many people out there who don't have a ward family to eat dinner with ever! So we hit the pavement, and miracles happened.
Sister Christensen was talking to me the other night, and said "Sister Biggs, I prayed for you since the day I got my mission call." Somewhat confused at the remark I waited for her to continue. She said, "I begged Heavenly Father to give me a trainer that would help me to become the missionary I needed to become. And that is what you are doing. Thank you." I must say that I have never been more humbled in my life. Well, maybe I have, but this was certainly a highlight. We can be the answer to somebody's prayers! She said that since she got her call she had been SO nervous to get a trainer that would be disobedient, or not know the way to reach our full potential. But that as soon as she met me and began working with me, she was at ease. I must say, I was at ease when I saw the wonderful Sister I had been called to train. If anything, I am learning more from her than she is from me. What a blessing companions are. I know that they are chosen directly by God. That is something that has been witnessed to me over and over again.
This week's challenge is to read from the scriptures
each and every day! I would say read from the Book of Mormon everyday, because I
know what a blessing that is. But even if you only have the Bible, that's fine
too. Read all about Jesus Christ's life in Jerusalem! Just read every day for at
least 15 minutes! And if your excuse is you don't have time....email me
directly. I will give you some quotes from the Lord :) I promise you that this
will bless you! That is a promise the Lord gives us multiple times throughout
the scriptures.
I love you all so much and I hope and pray that all is
well! This week I came across a scripture Acts 5:40-42. The Apostles were just
arrested for preaching the Gospel. This was their response. I stand with them in
stating what an honor it is "to be counted worthy to suffer shame for His name".
May we each stand worthy of that honor! I love you and have a wonderful
week!
(PS, some people have asked about how the US mission
post office box works. If you send it there this week sometime, or anytime
before next Wednesday, I will be in Richmond on Thursday and will get any
letters that were sent there. So you don't have to send them to Canada if you
don't want to. Thank you to everybody who wrote this week! Your support is
appreciated!)
Sister Biggs
