Well another week has
past and I find myself once again frantically typing during the short period of
time I have.
A lot has happened
this week. Jessy has expressed his desire to be baptized! We gave him a week
where I promised I wouldn't bug him about it, so he could prayerfully consider
a date. We want it to be July 27th. It'll be a week after his 18th birthday,
but he's not sure if that's too soon. He needs to talk to his parents. At
church yesterday he showed up in a
white shirt, tie and vest. Sister Toliver (a ward missionary and one of his
fellow-shippers) got him a shirt to wear because he really wanted to dress up
and wear what he was supposed to. After the meetings he even jumped in to help take down chairs!!!
Another teenage boy,
Eddy, came to church. He said he wouldn't be able to because he works till 3pm.
He actually CALLED work and said he couldn't come in because he needed to go to church :) After Sunday school
he went up to the teacher, thanked her, and gave her a hug.
Sophie and Andrew came
to church!!! Sophie was the woman who didn't come last week and she missed our
appointment. I had given up on her, but Thursday we went by her house.
She was crying and glad we came. She said how all she had was canned food
and that she can't get to work because she has no car and no one to watch her
son. She desperately doesn't want to go back to Oxnard where her mom lives
because Moorpark is a better place for her son to grow up. Life was just
dealing her the worst hand. This young mother with such a cute and sweet young
son was at the end of her rope. We went and got them some fast food because we
didn't have much time. She told us how reading the Book of Mormon had
comforted her the other day. I called the Bishop to let him know of her
circumstances, and he was able to approve a $100 gift card to Target. I was
very humbled, and almost ashamed of the excess I have lived with. Work has
twice given me a $100 gift card to Target, and I spent it on unnecessary items
and pretty much blew it all. And here for Sophie the gift card is a lifeboat.
She texted us back a very sweet message after the Relief Society President
called her to tell her we wanted to help. She came to church and was very
happy. People welcomed her and she sat with a family who has twin boys her
son's age.
I was astounded at how
well all the talks related to the 3 different investigators we had there. The
spirit really and TRULY guides us to edify and benefit others. After sacrament
meeting she talked about how much she loved the honesty of the bishop in his talk. In Sunday school we all introduced
ourselves and there were about 5 ward members who have moved from Oxnard to
Moorpark. She felt right at home. Andrew went to Primary and was so proud of his
drawing he did and showed it to us after church. It's amazing to think how much
Sister Hiatt and I have changed in her
life. Of course it is all God's work, but it amazes me of how much would go
undone if we didn't work as hard as we possibly can.
We go to 2 wards and
one ward council- so 7 hours of church while fasting is veeeerrry hard. But
it's nice to see the difference in the
members from the beginning of the transfer. They seem much more willing to help
and comment on how busy we seem. And it's true, we are busy!!! I hope they
bring in another companionship for
Moorpark because with the 2 wards there is so much more work that right now is
going undone because we are trying to simply keep up! But that's a good thing,
so no complaints here.
The spirit really is
with you in greater
abundance. As we drove home from church we got a text. Our appointment fell
through. "What should we do?" asked Sister Hiatt. "Let's go see
Brother Mason," I said. "That's what I was thinking," Sister
Hiatt replied. Brother Mason is a less active man who is an alcoholic and has
been using it to cope with his wife's death. We try to go over and read with
him, but we hadn't seen him for a while. As we were sitting with him on lawn
chairs in his garage, I had
the feeling to read Alma 7 with him. I know I had been reading from it before.
I couldn't remember the contents of the chapter, just that it was good. When
Sister Hiatt suggested that we read she said to me, "I was thinking Alma
7...?" "That's what I was thinking," I said. There are little
things like that throughout the day where the Lord's hand is constantly made
manifest. It is an honor to witness and be part of those miracles; however
big or small.
This church is true.
And it is SOOOOOOO very true that God prepares the people we teach before we
arrive. It is up to us to follow the spirit and find them. Another example is
Christy and Larry. We were walking by their apartment and they walked out on
the patio. We said hi and started talking. I bore testimony that we have
a modern day prophet. I told how there were videos online you could watch, one
with Thomas S Monson called, "Dare to Stand Alone." She kept asking
what his name was so she could look it up. She and her nephew Larry had been
talking this whole past week of getting into a church and she's felt like she's
had to stand alone and has just recently cut out the bad influences in her life. We gave them each a Book of
Mormon, set up a time to come back, and it was all pretty great. We missed
lunch because of it, but that's ok :) "The past two weeks have led up to
you two walking past our apartment." That's what Christy said to us.
One of my favorite
highlights of the week was when we showed the Dare to Stand Alone video to
Jessy when teaching about following the prophet. It ended and I asked,
"What did you feel?" He smiled and said, "Joy."
The labor is hard but
the field is ready and the fruit truly is joy. The Lord of the Vineyard is
Christ and he will work alongside us. (DC72)
Love,
Sister Snow
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