Hello Family!
I love you very very much! I don't even know where
to begin this week because we have just been incredibly blessed to see
miracles and find some very prepared people. We've been teaching a lot!
Last week was a lot of less-active work but this week we're just finding
new investigators like crazy and they are amazingly prepared! We had
three at church that are really preparing for baptism and hopefully will
be able to before I leave, which would be amazing!
J****** J**** is young and very nice and is interested in the church
because he's friends with some LDS girls (and pretty much dating one it
sounds like). He just amazes me! In our first lesson over there he
quoted two different conference talks... "so I was reading in the ensign
the other day..." I'm sorry?! the what?! "the Ensign." AWESOME!!! haha
that certainly doesn't happen every day (or ever!) and so we LOVED that.
haha. He has just learned so much and I can just see him being an
awesome priesthood holder, father, ward-member, bishop even someday! I
love when you can see the potential in the people you are teaching.
C****** I think I've told ya'll about before. She's great and so
sincere and although she still struggles with a lot of her inner
struggles and her difficult situation, the Spirit has really taught us
how to help her overcome through the atonement. It's been amazing to see
her be a little more happy, more belonging, more understanding, more
faithful. The atonement is slowly penetrating and healing her heart.
There's nothing more precious than that!
T**** is new as well and just wants to change his life around. He's
so innocent and sweet like a child and is so willing to act. He came to
church and as soon as we told him about the Word of Wisdom he was
telling us how he could give up those things before we even asked him
to! People have such incredible faith. He is a special spirit and I'm
just blessed to know him.
We were able to go to the Baton Rouge Temple this week. It was our
recent convert M*****'s S**** first time attending to do baptisms, as
well as some others that the Elders have taught (namely M* R******, Bro
J*******, D** A******). The Temple is just such a special place and it
was a blessing to see M***** glow as he experienced that for the first
time. Next time he'll probably do the work for his parents and what a
special day that'll be because his father was reading the Book of Mormon
when he passed away. I think that's amazing. Heavenly Fathers plan for
our Salvation is so beautiful and perfect!
I was also able to travel up to Baton Rouge to attend ZLC (zone
leader council) and I learned so much! I love refreshing my commitment
and love for this work and deciding to put my whole heart into it and
push myself that little bit further to have the faith to see miracles. I
was able to see my lovely Sister Matautia again. That was awesome to
hear how she's been enjoying it down here and of course she's doing
amazing! She's in a rougher place by the sounds of it (which she's so
prepared to handle after working in prison and all that. It's perfect!)
and there's many prepared souls there. They had 3 baptisms in their
little branch last week. The Lord is in this work and miracles truly
happen! Seeing her also kind of made me realize that at some point I'll
actually have to leave Louisiana and my dear Sister Price- ugh and go
back to Utah! It hurts my heart because I love it here so much!!! But I
love Temple Square so much too!!! It's a weird feeling loving two things
so much and being torn, (kind of like your family and the mission...
love them both!) but I guess the key to happiness is just loving where
the Lord has placed you for the amount of time he's placed you there!!
And I truly do! I'm finding joy in the journey and I'm striving to savor
every moment and diligently work so I do not regret one moment, for
unfortunately the moments are numbered!! Happiness comes in enjoying and
living each moment to the fullest as it happens. Treasuring precious
past experiences, creating meaningful current experiences, and planning
for successful future experiences. "Men are that they might have joy!" -
2 Nephi 2:25. I hope you all are slowing down so you can enjoy your
"here's and now's" too.
Well before I close, I just also want to bear testimony of the
Priesthood. I know it is real and our District has been seeing some
incredible miracles this past week or so. A young girl T**** who is not a
member of our church asked for a blessing to help some ear troubles
she's been having. She received the blessing before church yesterday and
we got a text last night saying that her ear was no longer bothering
her. Another man D***** was essentially dead, but revived last week and
was put on life support. Before they were going to pull the plug, his
twin D***** who is a member of the Church requested a priesthood
blessing. Needless to say, Saturday I met D***** and he spoke to us. He
is doing incredibly well and was even able to fly home to California
yesterday. Miracles do happen! D***** shared her incredible testimony
with us and enabled me to build my own testimony and faith in the
Priesthood. The last one I'll share was with M***** and B****
B*********. They were down here for a while and we'd visit them in the
hospital. B**** passed away a week ago today and my prayers are truly
towards their family. He was less-active before he had his heart
troubles, but there was a tremendous change in B**** with the priesthood
blessings he received. We were able to teach him, share scriptures and lds.org and mormon.org
things with him. He was repentant when he passed away and his mother
M***** called to tell the Elders how much peace she felt with him
passing and where his heart was. The atonement is real. In cases like
this, I feel just blessed to be present. I really do not do anything,
but the Lord wants me to witness these things to strengthen my own
testimony of his power and the reality of the Priesthood. Miracles do
happen today. I have witnessed so many of them and I myself have been
healed and comforted through blessings. My favorite story of the
priesthood perhaps is your story Mom about overcoming your arthritis. I
know it's through the Lord according to his will and our faith and the
priesthood truly is truly on the earth again today.
I love you all so much. I know our Heavenly Father knows and loves
us and as we strengthen one another (in and out of the church) we are
doing his work (Moses 1:39).
Love,
Sister Mullen
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