Hey all!
This week has been incredible! I say every week has been the best week ever, but legitimately this week has actually been the nest week of my mission so far by a long shot. So much has happened this week, so get ready for a really long, spiritual email.
So, Tuesday! We had exchanges with the zone leaders, but they didn't start until noon. We went to stop by a potential we'd heard might be around because that's just when we felt like we should stop by and we picked her up as an investigator (that was the Spirit.) Then we started exchanges. Elder McCauley and I went to contact a referral, she wasn't super interested, but we still tried. Then we decided to walk to the next appointment (it was hot. Must have been the Spirit though.) We talked to a couple of guys from Honduras in their garage and taught them the restoration. When my companion asked if they would believe a fourteen year old if he said he had a vision like that, they said absolutely. Which was pretty neat! They loved the message and asked about where and when church was! Then we kept going to where we were headed (that appointment fell through.)
But wait! There's more! We walk back to the car and right before we get in, I see a little old Latino dude. This man only speaks Spanish and I can tell, but I thought to say hi anyway. That was also the Spirit. Elder McCauley goes to talk to him, and while he isn't interested, he says his neighbor might be (who happens to pull up just as we finish talking to him.) So we talk to the neighbor, and she's actually a less active member who was baptized in Guatemala like ten years ago! Wow! She was really happy to see missionaries and get back in touch with the church. Even after being away for so long, she still remembered the elder that baptized her.
It's not the end of the Lord's work for us that day though! We hurry to the next area to try to contact someone before an appointment, but right after we parked, we see a gal carrying a bunch of ramen into her house. So we talk to her too. She spoke English, so I could help with this one! We taught her about the restoration and the wonderful blessings of purpose and peace that we have in our lives because of the Savior. My companion asked her if she'd ever wondered what her purpose was. She told us she'd just been thinking about it that very morning. She was a little down on her luck- she'd had to drop out of college and was three months pregnant, and the guy didn't want anything to do with the baby. She really needed a message to give her hope. And there we were! The Spirit. All day, we'd been in just the right places at just the right times, because we were just trying to do the right thing and be where the Lord wanted us to be.
And that's just one day of the week!
So on Wednesday morning, Elder McCauley says a prayer. A unique one. Because of a story I told him about a past companion (shout out to Elder Simpson and his incredible faith), Elder McCauley prays that someone will contact them out of the blue that day. I don't have that kind of faith, but he does. So fifteen minutes later, a lady from San Antonio senda him a message on Facebook, saying she wants to be a missionary. Whaaaaat. So they talked some and had a video call lesson with her, before sending her info off to the elders there. It actually happened!
Lest y'all think that only the Spanish elders get miracles, let me tell you about our Wednesday night. We have had a rough time in this own called Arvin- most of the time when we go there, everything falls through. Everything. And we don't have the miles to go out there all the time, either. So we sat down and prayed last Thursday about what day we should go. Wednesday night. So Wednesday night rolls around, and we head out there. In a period of two hours, we found four people. Holy cow. We taught a referral from the Hermanas in town and met a young man named Jose who really liked the restoration and wanted to read the Book of Mormon. Now our finding goal was two, but I said hey, let's keep trying to contact more of these people.
THAT was the Spirit. Because we go to talk to this referral that asked for a Bible, just to stop by and see if we could come next week, and Martha (that's her name) invites us into her home! We chat for a bit, then she says "before you teach anything, let me go grab my boyfriend- he needs this too." So she did. She told us how her mom has been meeting with missionaries and how much joy the Gospel has brought to her, and told us how she wanted to come back to church, but had lots of questions about stuff. Like where do we go after we die. Funny enough, we can answer that! I think that was one of the best lessons I've ever taught. They loved it and said it made a lot of sense. They committed to come to church, too!
In only the first two days of the week, I've relearned an important truth about the Spirit. The Holy Ghost speaks quietly, but if we're in tune with it, trying to do the right thing and work diligently, we might not even notice that it's the Spirit at all. God will guide us and use us without having to coerce or push. We become tools in His hands as we not only surrender our will to His, but try to let our will become His. Then the Lord can do His work through us like actual tools- we do what the Master asks.
Cool stuff happened the rest of the week, too! I've already said a lot so maybe I'll just include one or two things. On Thursday night the Tehachapi sisters called us up to tell us a cool thing that happened to them at like 8:15,and Elder McEntire told them a story about when he and another elder found two people at like 8:30 at night after a terrible day, and the sisters were like "let's go do that right now!" We get a text fifteen minutes later confirming that they did indeed find someone that late. Super cool!
And the last bomb thing of the week: we set Martha and Jose (who we found on Wednesday) with a date for the 21st of July! I'm super excited to be able to work towards that goal with them, and they're really happy to know how to draw closer to the Savior.
Thanks for all your support. And the birthday wishes!!!
Elder Adams
As for pics this week, I haven't taken any. Have some old ones I just saw for the first time:
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