Weekly Letter 80
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27)
My dear brothers and sisters living in the United States, or wherever you are reading this letter,
I am so thankful and honored for the privilege I have to serve the Lord with all of my heart, might, mind and strength. There have been so many miracles we have been seeing, and my heart is full, because of how much the Lord has blessed His children by way of the things we do. I will just talk about the experiences we have been sharing with two families in particular.
First, with Kensy, this little 9-year-old girl, has been a very good little girl. Every Sunday her uncle and aunt take her to church and she behaves herself the best she can. She has a bright and shining smile. She also has a wonderful amount of support from her neighbors who are also members. Her parents, however, have not been able to create the environment she has each week in Sunday in their own home, and because of this there is a cycle that is going on. Her parents, her mom being Catholic and her father an inactive member of the Church, don't show agreement in their religion, and the father comes home annoyed after spending time with grumpy people from work, and her cousins and family around her don't give a perfect example either, and they come back and see her not behave as well as she should, and even though she prays in Church, she doesn't feel like doing it around her parents. And it is a sad situation. We are going to see what happens this week. She's ready to be baptized, her parents just aren't ready to appreciate it. We'll see how we handle the family in the process.
And second, with Jennifer, this 16-year-old who just experienced a great change of heart. With the help of the wonderful Pazos family (Daniel and Damaris Pazos) we simply shared with her what we do as missionaries, and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. We helped her to understand that everything that we do, and everything the book does, is help others to understand who God is and how we can feel His love. She accepted it, and accepted the invitation to pray. She was however too nervous to do it on her own. We offered to pray for her so that she can repeat our words. Upon repeating the words, "Thank you for the support of my family" she began to weep. We continued and helped her to end her prayer with the following, "Father in Heaven, is it true what the missionaries are sharing with me? In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." We found out that she felt God's love right then and there and wanted to feel it more, but said her mother wouldn't allow her to go to Church.
The following day we returned and found Daniel and Damaris talking with Jennifer's mom, Marli, who is an inactive member of the Church, and who was mourning, because her daughter was pregnant with a baby who would be born a month premature, and has been getting sick with certain side effects of the medications she had been taking. We shared with her a few "words of consolation and instruction," affirming to her that whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and nonetheless He always loves us, and waits for us to repent, and forgive. There were certain things we said which we didn't understand in the moment why we shared them, but she was weeping. And after giving her the instructions, we asked her to pray. It was the first time in a long time, and it was the most heartfelt.
I wish I can give account of everything. But there was a death in the family... the father of Jennifer. We will see what happens. But the Lord is taking control now, and we are pleased with what He is doing. I hope I can be the best instrument in His hands so that I can help Him do His wonderful miracles. I know that this Gospel is true. He is the Savior, and the Head of this Church. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Your friend and servant,
Elder Dredge
No comments:
Post a Comment