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| Willie |
Okay you guys, Heavenly Father has been B-L-E-S-S-I-N-G us this week! We
have experienced some of the most sacred, powerful moments in the
world. This gospel is beyond amazing. AH! I'm so excited to share them
with you!!!!!
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| Derek Terry baptized Willie |
--MONDAY--
We taught a guy named Cedric the Restoration. This was our first
lesson with him, and as a zone, mission and most importantly a
companionship, we have set a goal to invite people to be baptized on the
first or second lesson. As we are going through the lesson, we invite
him to be baptized, and he responds with, "YES! I have been wanting to
get baptized!" WHAT.
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| Derek with his recommend |
We then teach Richard, who by the way is extremely prepared. So,
last week we taught the Plan of Salvation and invited him to be
baptized. He told us that he had been baptized three times already and
didn't want or need to. We were super bummed but kept our faith high. We
decided to teach him the doctrine of Family History and temples. Come
to find out, his brother died when Richard was little and it's been
really hard for him and his family. We talk about baptisms for the dead
and explain it, then invite him to prepare to enter the temple to do the
work for his brother. Starting to get emotional, he accepts then asks
"Wait, would that mean that I would need to be baptized?" We answered
with the affirmative, and now extremely emotional, he says, 'Yes. Yes I
will do this." We committed him to be baptized on April 16th :) The
spirit of Elijah was SO strong. Plus, if you remember from last week's
email my experience with Grandma Dixie, when he got emotional, I too got
emotional because I know his brother and Grandma Dixie were right there with us.
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| First temple names! |
--TUESDAY--
Wesley in our ward took us out to lunch as a last minute surprise
to a place called Midtown Caboose. It's a super fun restaurant that has a
TON of crazy hamburgers! I got a PB&J burger... Yep. It had peanut
butter and strawberry jam on it, and it was delicious!
We then taught Hunter at a beautiful Park with a lake, and he
bought us italian soda's which was also divine, and he is just so
prepared. Gah. We are so excited for his baptism! It's still a go for
April 9th!
After we got done teaching Hunter, we were walking to the car where
we met a homeless man named Frank. He was really...interesting. He hit
on us hard core with his toothless grin and kissed our hands. He then
told us that we stole his car. We got out of there real fast. haha
THEN, we had the wonderful privilege of going to dinner with
President and Sister Smith! Nothing makes my heart happier than being
with these two perfect people. They have forever changed my life. We had
such a fun time :) I felt so spoiled.
--WEDNESDAY--
We had Zone Conference!! We had the wonderful opportunity of
training on the new Easter initiative #Hallelujah. You guys. That video
is SO powerful. It comes out tomorrow, so WATCH IT!!!
--THURSDAY--
We taught a guy named Daishon for the first time. We had contacted
him on campus LAST summer, and called him again and he was very anxious
to meet with us. It was one of the most powerful lessons. His dad passed
away a few years ago, and he is now the man of the house with all
sisters and has needed something/someone to look up to. He was deeply
touched with the gospel and is so ready to have it in his life.
Now, for Willie's baptism.... What an event that was! We get the
font filled, the chairs set up, programs placed on the chairs, and I get
the strong feeling to call Willie to make sure he is okay. When we got
our phone, we had a text that says, "I can't make it tonight... I'm in
the hospital." Panic.. We call him to find out that he was sweeping his
roof and FELL OFF. What the heck, Satan! We ask what injuries he had,
and luckily he only had bruised ribs. He told us he would try to make
it, but didn't have a ride to the church because his grandma wouldn't
take him. He lives 45 minutes away, and his baptism was scheduled to
start in 45 minutes. So we frantically begin looking for a ride and had
zero luck. Since it's been spring break everyone was gone! The Zone
Leaders got permission to go pick him up, which was a huge relief. He
got there late, but eventually got there. The program was beautiful, and
DEREK TERRY BAPTIZED HIM! I couldn't have been more proud. At the end,
Willie got up and bore his testimony, which was the sweetest testimony I
have ever heard. He was so grateful, and the spirit was extremely
powerful.
While waiting for Willie to get to his baptism, a guy in our ward
told Derek that he was going to the temple the next day and offered to
take him there too. Derek was supposed to go on a trip with his family,
but after lots of prayer decided to sacrifice the trip to go to the
temple. So after the baptism, Derek got an interview for his first ever
temple recommend! He was SO excited! WE decided that we HAD to find at
least one family name for him to take to the temple. So, we went into
the family history center, said a prayer, and opened up his family
search account. We have worked on his family history before, but had hit
lots of dead ends and hadn't gotten very far. Determined to find names,
we begin searching, and low and behold we found a record! That record
led us to find SIX names for him to take to the temple! I can't even
describe the spirit that was in the room. Derek was so excited and we
all could feel his ancestors there with us. He had an incredible
experience at the temple, and is speaking in Sacrament on Sunday!!! To
make this story even better, there is a statistic in the church that if a
Recent Convert goes to the temple with their own family names within
the first 90 days of their baptism they have a 90% chance of staying
active in the church. While laying in bed, ALMOST asleep, Sister Evans
excitedly said my name and said, "Sister Holmes... tomorrow (Friday, the
day Derek was going to the temple) is his 90th day!!!!" What a
miracle!!!
--FRIDAY--
We taught Melvin from India! We taught the Plan of Salvation which
was so good, and he seemed to really enjoy it. We were on exchanges and
he asked Sister Nielsen how she KNEW the gospel was true, because he
hasn't been able recognize the spirit, so she gave a beautiful answer
and THEN, we get a text a few hours later saying that he finally felt
the spirit at work! We were all so excited! We are SO sad that he is
going back to India in a few weeks, but we will be friends forever!
I am emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausted, but man.
When Heavenly Father said "And if it so be that you should labor all
your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be
one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of
my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you
have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be
your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" he really meant it! My
joy has NEVER been so full. That scripture has meant more and more to
me as I have done my best to labor diligently and seen the fruits of a
repentant soul.
I am SO grateful to be a full time missionary. Nothing brings me
more happiness, and I know that these experiences that I've been blessed
with with fill my heart for the rest of my eternity. What a beautiful
life we live, and what a beautiful gospel we are a part of.
I love you all!! I hope YOU experience a miracle this week!
Thanks for all the love and support!
Sister Holmes
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| Only Alexa would climb a tree in a skirt! |
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| Good luck getting down... |
Happy Easter Weekend!
