Companions: Best Friends for Life

This week was a really special week for me. One of my previous companions, and trainer, Hermana Weinstock, is preparing to end her mission. She leaves tomorrow in fact. Needless to say, I'm a little heartbroken. She has become my very best friend. I look up to her in many things and love her so much.

Hermana Weinstock and I had an exchange last week and we thought that would be it. Maybe we'd see each other at transfer conference, but we didn't know for sure. Heavenly Father sure loves us because circumstances worked out just right that we got to go on another last minute exchange. Her companion was going with a few other missionaries to 6 Flags Resort with some members and Hermana Weinstock didn't want to go. She wanted to live up her short time as a missionary preaching the gospel, so she came with us for the day.Every time I'm with her I feel the spirit. I feel inspired and I feel like she raises the bar for me. She is such a powerful missionary. She loves powerfully and she teaches powerfully. I, in return, love her SO much. There really aren't words.....(I'm tearing up).I'm going to miss my best friend. That's for sure. 

Hermana Weinstock, Carter, and myself

As transfers are tomorrow, we were anxiously waiting the transfer text on Sunday night to see who in our zone would be leaving. It's always a surprise. We had just laid down to sleep when we got the transfer text...and.....I'M STAYING IN JERSEY CITY....WITH HERMANA CARTER!  We couldn't believe it. We are so excited!! I'm positive that it's because God knows that we need to teach Nicolas. We were almost positive that I would be leaving the area, so I had already said my goodbyes to the members.

The Lord surprised us all. 

Nicolas continues to progress. He probably won't be baptized for another 2 weeks. It's incredible though, slowly but surely he is realizing how wonderful The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is. His testimony of Joseph Smith is growing and what's even better is that he is recognizing it. We took him to a baptism yesterday so that he could see and feel how special it is. He really enjoyed it and the spirit was definitely felt. I'm really happy to be able to continue to see him progress in the gospel. I love him a lot.

I love you all and want you to know that I pray for you individually each night.

I love this work. I love forgetting myself and focusing on others. I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's kingdom restored on the earth again. I love being a missionary.

Big hugs,

Hermana Childs

Our ward Relief Society President made us the BEST Pasole!

Great Week

Wednesday

When I was with Hermana Jane, I contacted a lady, named Dawn, who seemed interested at first about what we had to say. I began to talk to her as Hermana Jane talked to her friend. While introducing The Book of Mormon to her she began to yell at me, telling me that it wasn't the bible. As I explained what it was and that they went hand in hand, I kept my calm and gave her a copy for her to find out for herself. I told her that I would return in a few days and follow up on her reading.

I kept my promise. A few days later I followed up. During this discussion she was a little less aggressive. She said it wasn't horrible, but it still wasn't the bible. I told her to keep reading and we'd follow up soon.

We hadn't seen her in quite a while, but this Wednesday presented another opportunity to talk to her about The Book of Mormon again. I was slightly nervous to approach her this time, but as I did Heavenly Father set the mood and allowed the Spirit to be there.

As I started the conversation with a genuine, "Hello, Dawn!" the first words out of her mouth were, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for that day that I yelled at you." I told her not to worry about it, it was in the past, and that all was forgiven. She denied my forgiveness and kept saying that it was "such a horrible thing to do" and "it's not ok". 

It began raining, and luckily I had my umbrella. I pulled it out to share with her as we stood on the sidewalk. She said she had read "the book" and that she liked it. She loves to learn about God and how people can be better. She has seen a lot of bad things in the world, but that she was glad that "there are people like us."

I could tell she wanted to continue our discussion, but we were going to be late for an appointment, so I invited her to walk with us. On the way, her attitude had completely changed. She treated me with such respect and reverence...just like a queen. 

When we got to our appointment, we stopped in front of a nursing home. She asked us why we were here. We had planned to visit an elderly member who couldn't come to church anymore. The fact that we spent our time serving touched her. She sheepishly asked if she could come with us. She said it's what she really loves to do and that the man that she is living with doesn't let her because she's not home all the time. She seemed determined to make it one of her goals. We accepted! She eagerly gave us her number and made us call her right then to make sure she had ours. She asked us to save the number for her because she didn't know how, but that she could call us when needed.

As we said goodbye, she again apologized for being so rude to me the first time. For me, everything was forgiven. I gently grabbed her arm, looked her straight in the eyes and told her that I had forgiven her, God had forgiven her and now she needed to forgive herself. Tears welled up in her eyes. I gave her a hug and told her that I loved her.

It was amazing. I felt the love of the Savior right then and it stayed with me for the rest of the day as we spent our hours serving those around us. It was truly incredible. We'll be calling her later this week to have her come with us.

Thursday

One of the greatest days on my mission. I was on an exchange with my best friend, Hermana Weinstock again. I love her so much. Heavenly Father blessed us both and made it possible for us to be together for her last exchange.

It was very special experience to be together again, but we also had special experiences in every lesson. I could feel God's power working through both of us. And just like old times, we worked HARD.

We came home both spiritually exhausted and physically exhausted from the events of the day but SO happy. Sleeping didn't come easy.....of course ;) We're best friends, who sleeps when two best friends are together? ;)

As we were talking she expressed her concerns about going home this transfer. She began to cry. It has been really hard for her to express her feelings openly with her companion. She said that she thinks "this exchange was more for her so that she could talk with her best friend about her feelings". I am so grateful for that day. I love her so much. Really there aren't words for how much I love her. She is my BEST friend. Heavenly Father knew that we needed each other in Princeton, and also that we would need each other here in the Jersey City Heights. My heart was so filled with gratitude and love the whole time we were together. I can't wait to see her again after the mission!

Me and Hermana Weistock

Friday

Friday Morning. We were DEAD tired, but still so happy that we were together.

Saturday

Saturday morning we were on our way to the temple! We had reactivated one of the members in our ward and had helped him prepare to get his endowments. We boarded the bus with a few of the members and travelled all the way to Manhattan, New York (only about a 40 minute bus ride from where we live). Even though I had felt God's love for me all week long, I had prayed to be able to feel God's love again as I went into the temple. As I walked into the dressing room to get ready, I felt it. I felt it so powerfully that I began to cry. I know God loves me. It is undeniable.

Sister Duke, Me, Enrique Chavez at the Manhattan Temple

 

Later on in the day, we had a bit of a struggle. It was the day before Nicolas' baptism. The night of his interview. 20 minutes before the lesson....he texts us. "Hey Sisters, I don't think I want to be baptized tomorrow." My heart was broken. We had watched him come so far. We had a lesson with him instead of his interview. He says that he can't feel God's love. He is genuinely afraid of God.  We believe he has felt God's love, but has a hard time recognizing it. We are still trying to help him get baptized, and have set him on date again for this next Sunday.

I know this gospel blesses families. I know that it blesses lives. I know this not only because I have seen it in every single one of the lives I have taught, but in my own life as well. I know that the closer we come to God, the happier we are.

I love you all and will talk to you next week!

Hermana Childs

Celebrating 9 Months

I have had the most incredible week! 

Tuesday and Wednesday we had Leadership Training Meeting in Morristown from 8:00 am- 4:00 pm. Leadership Training is for all of the missionaries in training and their trainers where we go over the fundamentals of teaching as a missionary and then we practice teaching all them. It can be kind of long, but it is SUPER fun! Since we were going to be out of our area for such a large portion of the week, the minute we got home, we went straight back to work. And did we ever work hard!  Because of this hard work we were able to see miracles happen! 

Tuesday afternoon during Leadership Training, we had a training on recognizing and following the promptings of the spirit. When we got back to our area that night we were able to put that in practice! We had gone to our appointment's house, but they weren't home so we started on our way to the house of our back up. We walked right past the house of one of our less actives. My sweet companion received the prompting to turn around and go back, but didn't say anything. This less active is never home and/or never answers the door when we knock. For this reason, Hermanita Carter decided that she wasn't going to say anything about turning back unless I did. I didn't receive this prompting. Instead, I found myself walking straight back to her house. It was as if my body had thrown itself around and was being drawn to the house like a magnet. I laughed and told Hermana Carter that "I guess we are going to visit Jenny".  We knocked on the door. Waited a moment, and then heard, "Who is it?" We answered, "Las Misioneras!" We were excited to even hear a voice! She yelled back, "Come in!" We opened the door and she ran up to us telling us that her mom had just finished a seizure and had stopped breathing about 2 minutes ago. She asked us to pray. Hermana Carter and I prayed aloud as Jenny went back to her mom's side and tried to wake her up. After the prayer, Jenny asked us if we knew CPR. I turned to her and told her that I did. Her mom had been lying on a mattress (being used for a sofa). I climbed up on it, called her mom by her name, checked the pulse, and started to perform CPR. We did CPR for about 2 minutes before she started breathing again. She would breathe for a couple of breaths and then would stop breathing again. The paramedics had been called and when speaking with Jenny on the phone, they just told her that the only thing that they could do was CPR, so they never came. We did CPR for about 10 minutes before Jenny's mom was stable. Afterwards, we all sat at her kitchen table monitoring how her mother was doing. Jenny offered to make us homemade tortillas. She said she didn't have much because she doesn't have a job, and her food stamps didn't come in that week, but she wanted to give us what she could. She wouldn't let us say no, so she taught us how to make them with our hands. I'm sad to say that I'm not very good at it....but with practice one day I will be. 

It was a very humbling experience to me to be there with Jenny. Even though she abuses drugs, has an abusive boyfriend, and has constantly turned away from Heavenly Father's loving hand, I could feel how much He loves her. I felt it so strong that it was all that I could talk about with her as we patted tortilla dough with our hands. 

I know God loves her so much that He worked through both Hermana Carter and I to help her in her time of need. I am so grateful for the training that we received earlier that day on how to recognize and follow spiritual promptings. I know God wanted and needed us there at that time. 

Wednesday was just as incredible. After Leadership Training, we were given permission to watch the new church film "Meet the Mormons". President Taggart had organized it so that all of the missionaries could see it. We walked into the chapel of the Morristown church building where all of the other missionaries were already seated.  As the movie began I wasn't sure what to expect. It talked about some misconceptions about Mormons, but with each story told by members of all different backgrounds the presence of the spirit became stronger and stronger, until the last person gave her story. She was a convert to the church and had gone through the guillotine of obstacles: being a single mother, being homeless with her child, losing her second child, getting remarried and now, letting go of her son and watching him serve a mission. Needless to say, all of the eyes in the room were wet. That movie is inspired. Even though it's not your typical approach at preaching the gospel, I know that it will soften the hearts of all of those who would typically shut the door in our faces. I can see many miracles as the result of this movie. 

After a full week of crazy meetings, this week started off again with a large meeting, SISTER Training Meeting. Otherwise known as "Sister Missionary Activity". We arrived at the same Morristown Chapel for a typical 'girl's day': yoga, light salads and tuna sandwiches for lunch, parfaits for dessert, with facials, tips on how to dress and do make up, and then of course a wonderful devotional given by our mission nurse and Sister Taggart. I was asked to teach the station about dressing well as a missionary. haha 

Last week was wonderful and it was a great preparation for the things coming in this week. We had a lesson with Nicolas on Sunday, in which we talked about the Word of Wisdom. Heavenly Father gave us a miracle. Nicolas's father sat in on the lesson. When we told him about what Nicolas was preparing to do, he told us that we had his full support and permission to keep teaching Nicolas. He also told Nicolas that if he wanted to be baptized it was his pleasure to allow him to do so. Right after his dad said that, Nicolas turned to us and asked, "Is it still ok if I'm baptized on the 19th?" We were so happy we could have cried. We told him what would need to be done and he grinned so big I thought tears were going to come out of his eyes. 

Not only will we be having Nicolas' baptism this Sunday, but we'll be going to the Manhattan Temple on Saturday afternoon with a less active in our ward that we reactivated! Hermana Carter and I have been working very hard with Enrique Chavez to prepare him to get his endowments. The rule in the mission is that if you played a major role in the conversion or reactivation of a member, and if they invite you, you are able to go to the temple with them as they receive their endowments. 

We are so excited for both of our friends! 

Jorge is still doing well. He loves coming to church and reading his new Book of Mormon and Bible that we got him for his baptism. He's so great! :)

There is no better way to celebrate my 9 month mark in the mission than with these people. 

I love being a missionary! I love being a member! 

Love you all, 

Hermana Childs