Soft in the Maker's Hand

On the mission, each week is full of its ups and downs, as is life. This week in particular we seemed to be in the refiners fire for quite a while. I have been humbled through my experiences and brought closer to the Lord as I have sought Him through prayer.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week we had appointments set for every hour all day. After finishing our studies, we left our house fueled with the Spirit and excitement to execute our plans in each lesson. With each appointment we had confirmed the day before, and with a few-the day of, just to make sure they would be there.

Heavenly Father had different plans because every single one of our appointments cancelled....again. This same experience happened last week. We would either be on the way to the appointment and they would call us to tell us they had to leave, or we would show up and they wouldn't be there. This happened for 3 days straight. By 4 o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesday I was running low on faith.

The Sister Training Leaders had called us to see if they could come stop by and get to know us a little bit. They recently had a new sister transferred to their area and they said they just wanted to get to know everyone. They showed up just as our last appointment had cancelled on us.

It was such a relief to see Hermana Weinstock again. She got out of the car, ran up to me and gave me a big hug. It was exactly what I needed. While the other sister was talking to my companion, she sincerely asked me, "Sister Childs, how are you?" The truth? I was worn down and felt like I had absolutely nothing left to give. I was trying my best in all aspects, but I wasn't seeing any "results". (I don't like that word...I feel like I'm on a football team or something) I felt like in my heart, I had been on my knees all day, begging for the help of Heavenly Father. I was tired. I looked at her and said, "I'm hanging on." She gave me another hug. I wanted to cry. She ran back to the car to grab something. When she returned she had a package of Gluten Free cookies in her hands. My heart was so full of gratitude. Heavenly Father had answered my prayers. She hugged me again. Through her I could feel Heavenly Father's love.

The Sister Training Leaders left and I couldn't help but cry as I walked down the street -cookies in hand. I just kept shaking my head at how blessed I am.

The next appointment we had was a dinner appointment with some members.  We showed up exhausted from all of the walking. They had prepared a wonderful dinner, and had remembered that I was gluten free and had cooked everything accordingly. Another miracle. The conversation during dinner lead perfectly into a lesson about the Atonement (not what we had originally planned to teach). Hermana Carter and I both bore strong testimony of the Atonement and of the Savior's love. The spirit was so strong, everyone was crying.

The lesson came to a close and we were preparing to leave. We thanked them for the dinner and for the spirit that we felt in their home. But before we left the door, they ran into the kitchen to grab a "gift they had for us". They had filled 4 grocery bags full of food for us. Orange juice, bread, fruit, treats, deli meat, all from the organic food store so that I could eat it. With 4 hands full of bags and a kiss on the cheek from Hermana Martinez we were on our way home....once again tears rolling down our eyes. 

I stand all amazed at the love I have felt from my Heavenly Father.

Many similar experiences have brought me to my knees many times during the day to ask for help, or to give gratitude. Through these experiences I have seen God's light. I have become soft in the Maker's hands. 

Hermana Childs

Hermana Carter

My heart has been humbled this week. 

I have been blessed with the most amazing companion. 

Hermana Carter. Wow. She is a blessing. 

She has taught me so much. She is incredible. I just can't say enough good things about her. She is kind, obedient, honest, open, loving, and dedicated. She works so hard to learn the language, and I KNOW that our investigators can feel her love. One of her strengths is working hard and working with heart. I admire that so much about her. 

She is from Provo Utah, she went to BYU for a year, has studied Spanish for 4 years, was in the advanced program in the MTC in Provo, and LOVES the work. SHE is the example to ME! 

My new companion, Hermana Carter

Already I have been changed because of her. I am really looking forward to the next 11 weeks with her. 

Together we are taking on Jersey City little by little. This last week we had some really hard experiences together. Saturday we had a FULL day. A set appointment for every hour of the day. We had confirmed the day before, we had them all planned and were really excited to share these spiritual messages with each investigator, but I guess Heavenly Father had something else in mind. We went to our first appointment and they weren't home, so we tried our back ups, not home either. We went to our next appointment, not home, and on our way to our next appointment they cancelled on us. That happened ALL day. Every single appointment fell through. We had tried all of our backups and we had no idea what we were going to do after that. After talking about it for a minute we decided to pray. We prayed that we would know what to do and to follow the spirit to where we needed to be. 2 minutes later, as we were walking down the street, we contacted a man who was putting fliers on cars and fences. We told him that we were the missionaries, and he said he knew who we were. He was a member but had been less active for a few years. He was baptized, but then shortly went inactive because of his job. Turns out he was baptized in our ward 3 years ago. We got his information and told him we'd get a hold of him later. We looked in the records later and he wasn't in our ward list. I know Heavenly Father needed us to talk to him. He had lost his Book of Mormon, so we gave him a new one. The Lord is with us. He knows exactly what we need and where we need to be. For the rest of the day we we saw miracles like that. 

We contacted a former and she was about to kick us off her porch, I could feel it, and before she did, I prayed that Heavenly Father would put the words into my mouth so that she would let us come in. As she was closing the door and getting ready to say goodbye I opened my mouth without knowing what would come out of it and just asked for a drink of water. We must have looked really hot because her heart softened and she let us in. She let us sit down while she got the water and we started making bracelets with her little girls. The girls LOVED having us over to play with them. Well, our quick little water break turned into a lesson, and a return appointment. 

It is so amazing how the Lord works. I know it is because of Faith. Faith is the tool that Heavenly Father uses to perform miracles. Without faith, it's impossible. 

Now fueled with faith, Hermana Carter and I are ready to be the tools that the Lord needs us to be. 

We are helping Jorge, our investigator from Cuba, prepare for baptism within the next month. He just needs to stop smoking. He has been taught everything and is ready to pass his interview, but he smoked again this last week. I know with combined faith, he'll be able to tackle his addiction. 

I love my mission. I love my companion. I love my Savior. I wouldn't trade any of this for the world. 

Hermana Childs

Hermana Carter after allowing me to cut her hair.

A Call From President Taggart

My companion is going home this week. Tomorrow in fact. She has become one of my dearest friends over the past 6 weeks. It was a short companionship that will result in a lasting friendship. From Hermana Jane I have learned how to be bold in my teaching and loving in my companionship. It's through small experiences of fervent prayer for investigators and hot sauce covered popcorn on planning days that we have become true friends.

She has brought out the very best in me. I couldn't have asked for a better companion. 

Since the beginning of the transfer we have known that she would be leaving after it was over. So we made the decision to give these 6 weeks our everything. We did. We gave it so much that we both have been slightly sick for the past 2 days. Transfer planning came and went with only thoughts on how much more we could give to the area. 

On Friday, just after exercising in the morning we received a call from President. Everyone's heart stops when they see President's name on the caller ID. Hermana Jane answered the phone, but it was for me. 

"Hello, this is Sister Childs."

"Good Morning, Sister Childs. This is President Taggart." 

My heart rate inclined just slightly. 

"I am calling" he said, "to extend a calling to you to be a trainer for a new missionary that will be coming in on Monday. The Lord has called you and knows that you will help this young new sister. Will you accept this calling?" 

Of course! I would love to help another Sister Missionary! I still feel new in the mission and in the language, but I know Heavenly Father will help me to know what to do and say to help her. 

After we hung up, I knew I wasn't perfect at the language, I knew that I didn't know the area perfectly, and I hadn't met all of the members yet, but it didn't matter. One thing I did know was that this calling was from Heavenly Father, and my Father in Heaven has never let me down, despite my faults. 

Since Friday morning, I have prayed to know how to teach this sister; I have woken up during the night, just to have some piece of advice from Heavenly Father be given to me; and I have began to love someone that I haven't even met yet. 

I am so excited to train! 

I can't wait to meet my new companion tomorrow and to help her love missionary work as much as I do! 

Hermana Childs