Week 18! "Mother's Day Skype"

From 5/12/14

 

Hola Family and Friends!!

SKYPING WAS SUCH A BLESSING!!!!! I AM GOING TO WRITE THIS IN CAPS LOCK BECAUSE I CAN AND BECAUSE I AM SO HAPPY!! You all look so great!! I needed to hear your voices and see you all, so I am grateful for that. And I wasn't expecting to hear from Matthew or to see Tiffany either, so that was a huge surprise and blessing also. I completely agree with what dad wrote in his letter. Just seeing and hearing from you helped me and I felt of your love. We didn't even talk about anything in particular or anything too important, but the fact that I could hear from you all was HUGE. :D

Moving on to this week: by the way...I wrote President Kusch about Investigator "B" this week. HE SPEAKS PERFECT ENGLISH. We have a gift of locating the only English speakers in our area. We are actually teaching him in English. BLESSINGS. 

"One special experience we had last week was on Monday night. We met a young man named 'B'. He is 22 years old and has been looking for help in his life. He told us that the days and weeks prior to meeting us, he had gone through really difficult trials. He asked us what he could do to be at peace and to be happy. He said he wanted friends with standards. He wanted to be a part of something and feel valued and appreciated. He said that when he walked in the streets at night he had faith that nothing bad would happen to him, and that God would protect him. He wants to know where everything fits into place and how he's a part of that.

 

We met with him again on Friday at our stake center. We gave him a tour of the church and he even met a few ward members there. He felt really comfortable right away with the members and commented to us how welcomed he felt. We taught the message of the Restoration and he accepted the invitation to baptism! He told us that he worked on Sundays at 11 am but that he would commit to come to church for the first two hours each week. Sunday afternoon, we picked up an investigator and got to church just as it was starting. We didn't see B anywhere.

 

After sacrament meeting, we walked out of the chapel and saw B standing by the door with a bandage over his bruised face and eye. He said he arrived a few minutes late for the meeting because he didn't know what time it was, then he felt bad to walk into the meeting late. Friday night after our appointment with him, he was assaulted in the street. He was beaten and everything he had with him was taken. He didn't have his phone with him, so he couldn't call us Sunday morning, he didn't have his keys so he couldn't get to church right away. He didn't have a way of knowing what time it was either, but he still came!!!

 

We had a hard time accepting what happened to him. He told us over and over how he had faith that he would be protected as he walked in the streets, but then the night he accepted baptism, he was assaulted. We realized how much the adversary was trying to discourage him from making these changes in his life. But through it all, B had the greatest attitude. He said that after he was attacked he remembered what we told him about the healing power of the Atonement. To him, Friday night was a big deal, that it was the last time that someone or something would do damage to him. And from the next day on he would find the healing he was looking for. HOW AMAZING IS THAT. I was so so happy to see how he handled his circumstances and that he made the decision to come to church through it all! 

My testimony has been so strengthened this week of the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I remembered what happened in my own life before serving a mission and really feeling what repentance was. It was the first time in my life that I truly felt the power of the Atonement--of forgiveness, hope, healing, and happiness. I saw my 'past self' in many investigators this week. I felt so much love for them and I wished with all my heart that they could feel the hope that they really could get through their trials through Jesus Christ.

 

We visited 'E', a single mom of three who has felt guilty and burdened all her life for her past mistakes. 'P' and 'J', who are both struggling with powerful addictions. 'B' who has been hurt and wants to find something more. It is for each one of us, that the only perfect, sinless man to ever walk on the earth gave His life for us that we might be cleansed and made whole.

I am so grateful for my Brother, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for His loving sacrifice. I am grateful for repentance. I know that it is a message of hope and the way to find happiness in this life. I am so grateful that I am permitted to witness and be a part of helping people apply the Atonement in their lives and change.

This week was really special for me!! I am grateful for the gospel, to serve a mission, to be in this area, and to have been companions with Hermana P and now with Hermana C. I have learned so much from them, and I know that Heavenly Father has blessed us so much!! "

I LOVE YOU ALL. TAKE CARE THIS WEEK!  Go for a walk, eat a little better, less sugar, more greens, sleep early, laugh more. Love you.

Con Amor,
 

Hermana Fernelius