This week I truly felt like an instrument in the Lords hands in a way I have never felt before. I have never had our investigators so heavenly press my mind and heart than this week, and for such incredible reasons! I truly sent to sleep and woke up thinking about our investigators and their baptisms and how much joy the gospel has been brought into their lives. I truly found this week that when we really have Alma 26:15 in our hearts "Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work."
Then Alma 26:16 comes to pass; "Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever.Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."
This week so many incredible miracles happened and we are so excited to see where it will all take us! I shared with you last week about Richardo, Tiffany and Alejandro. We had been trying to get in contact with them all week and no answer or response, I called and Richardo's wife Irene picked up, I was so scared! Because he had told me she was a devout Catholic and strong in her faith and I was scared she would stop him from learning more. We got talking and I introduced myself as "Sister Ryan from Temple Square" and she says "Richardo had the most amazing experience there at Temple Square! Here let me give you his cell phone number to call him, he is at work, he would just love to hear from you!" and so I was thinking, wow, she is so nice! I tried to call him and no response, my heart broke a little but the Spirit kept pressing my heart and mind to call her back but I kept thinking "I can't that would be weird, I just got off the phone to her 5 minutes ago" but of course, the Spirit won and she picked up again. I expressed my desire to get to know her a little more and we talked and she shared how Richardo came home and couldn't wait to share with her the Joseph Smith Pamphlet we gave him and how he takes the Book of Mormon with him everywhere he goes and she wants to read it but hasn't had the chance to read it because he never lets it out of his sight and about how he is a different man because of the experience he had here on Temple Square. I said "this is something you can have too" and she couldn't be more excited to know she could have this also! So now we are teaching nearly the whole family and it is so exciting! They even changed their work schedule so that they wouldn't miss the missionaries when they came over to meet with them. They are going strong and just love everything we have to teach them and it's so exciting! They are such a beautiful family and It is so amazing to be a part of all of this.
After this miracle with Irene, Sister Pipe comes in the TC (as we were on exchanges that day) and says that she has a phone number to call Lyle! We had lost contact with him since not being able to come back to the Square for another lesson and so we called him together and he is doing so well! We got talking and he said he called Guest Services and told them our names and asked if they could relay the message so we could get in touch with him! So, we made a time to call him the next day. That night we planned and as we looked at dates we prayed and felt so strongly about the 18th October for a date that he can prepare to be baptized on and we knew it was right. We called him the next day and talked about everything that the missionaries had taught him and where he was at. It was is our companionship goal to invite at least 1 person a day to be baptized and my personal goal was to do it boldly, I boldly invited and he said YES! Then we extended the date and he said "Yeah, the missionaries that came over yesterday put me on that date too". I was almost in tears and we are both just so over the moon excited! We then realized that Heavenly Father wasn't telling us the date to put him on, but telling us the date he already had. We know it is inspired and that the 18th October is the day that Lyle will enter into the waters of baptism and receive those blessings from doing so. He has such great faith and just knows all of this to be true, he has read the first 4 chapters of the Book of Mormon and already had that confirmation by the Spirit that he has been looking for and knows that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God.
And more miracles came as we used our time wisely and had our investigators in our hearts and minds, I called John while Sister Pipe was taking an Inbound call and I got talking with him about everything that is going on, something that has really been on my mind is to ask him, if he knows that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and if Joseph Smith was called as a prophet to restore the church of Jesus Christ on the earth again today. I haven't had the chance to ask him but this time I did and he said "Of course I know it does! I just know it, it works completely with the Bible and it just makes sense for it to be the word of God" and then I asked about Joseph Smith and he continues to say "those testimonies go hand in hand, to believe one you have to believe the other and so I also know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God" At this point my jaw has just dropped and my heart is so full of joy! and then I ask "Then what's stopping you from being baptized?" and he replied "I plan to do so at the end of this month, start of next"... He explained how this is all so sacred to him and how he wants to be fully into it and make sure he really takes this all seriously, but he has that goal! And now he is working towards 1st November to be baptized! I have been in contact with John since my second transfer and he disappeared for a while there, but now he is back and progressing and just doing so amazingly.
And more miracles came as we used our time wisely and had our investigators in our hearts and minds, I called John while Sister Pipe was taking an Inbound call and I got talking with him about everything that is going on, something that has really been on my mind is to ask him, if he knows that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and if Joseph Smith was called as a prophet to restore the church of Jesus Christ on the earth again today. I haven't had the chance to ask him but this time I did and he said "Of course I know it does! I just know it, it works completely with the Bible and it just makes sense for it to be the word of God" and then I asked about Joseph Smith and he continues to say "those testimonies go hand in hand, to believe one you have to believe the other and so I also know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God" At this point my jaw has just dropped and my heart is so full of joy! and then I ask "Then what's stopping you from being baptized?" and he replied "I plan to do so at the end of this month, start of next"... He explained how this is all so sacred to him and how he wants to be fully into it and make sure he really takes this all seriously, but he has that goal! And now he is working towards 1st November to be baptized! I have been in contact with John since my second transfer and he disappeared for a while there, but now he is back and progressing and just doing so amazingly.
Last week we found a new Aussie investigator Holly, who we are just emailing at this moment which is working for the both of us, but she didn't respond for a while and it broke out hearts, we don't know what happened, but all of a sudden we got an email from her! And it has been so amazing! We have been sharing with her the Restoration little by little and she is just loving it! Everything just makes so much sense to her, we have been inviting her to read the Book of Mormon and to also watch General Conference and here is some of what she has said "I'll definitely watch the General Conference, it makes so much sense to me that the church is led and guided by a Prophet and 12 Apostles. I'm really enjoying The Book of Mormon and I feel joy every time I start to read it I would say that I don't know what it is but I feel like it's God's presence over me as I read. It's something I can't describe. ...If I see missionaries there can I just go up and talk to them?" She is so amazing, we invited her to be baptized today (yes, over email) and so we are eagerly awaiting her reply this coming weekend!
Talking about this weekend... IT'S GENERAL CONFERENCE! and you can not even imagine how excited I am! This is like Christmas for missionaries, so many people to contact and uplift and also being able to be a part of it all here on Temple Square, these are our busiest days of the year and it's so exciting! Everyone is getting pumped up and ready and thinking about those question they want to have in their hearts as they attend/watch General Conference. I feel like it is something that I have never really had engraved upon my heart, and last Conference being my 3rd day on the mission field, I couldn't possibly take it all in and I was exhausted by the time Sunday Afternoon Session had come around. This time, I am so pumped! I have been preparing with quotes to use and role-playing how to help members as they go into or come out of Conference. I have a new mindset to take into General Conference and have a greater desire to really have the messages from the leaders of the church in my heart and apply the things we are invited to do. It all changed when I read this amazing Message given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and it said:
“Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence.
The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?”
At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk.
His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?”
The brother felt humbled by this exchange. He vowed that he would do better to remember the words spoken by the Lord’s servants in general conference.
We all know how hard it is to remember every message of general conference, and I’m confident that we need not be embarrassed if we don’t remember everything. Nevertheless, there are messages in each general conference given as a gift and a blessing from heaven specifically for our personal life situations.
In preparation for general conference, let me suggest three basic concepts that may help us to better receive, remember, and apply the words spoken by the Lord’s servants."
I realized that I was one of these members... That a prophet called of God was speaking to us inspired revelations that come from Him, and I just didn't have these things in my heart or remembers what had been talked about the previous conference. Being here on Temple Square is such a blessing and I want to make the most and be converted to the most I can be that my mission involves, and that involves many things but at this time I'm focusing on General Conference. This year and forever more I'm making my vow to do better in remembering the words spoken by the Lord's servants in General Conference, to have them more fully in my heart, so that I can turn to them and remember the counsel given to us by a loving Heavenly Father.
So my invitation to you is, will you go to General Conference with a prayer in your heart and a question you need answered and after Conference have the messages given to us more fully in your heart?
I know as you do that you will feel enriched with love and knowledge and that you will be able to feel the spirit more abundantly in your every day life as you remember the word's of the Lord's servants on the earth today.
And.... you don't want to have an experience like Sister Pipe and I had when we met Elder Ronald A. Rasband (who gave the talk "The Joyful Blessing of Discipleship" last April Conference) at Deseret Book and then again at the crossing lights today and asked us if we remembered what he spoke about last Conference and neither of us could remember... Until he said 'Tornado' and I said "oh! in Oklahoma! I read your talk the other day!" (which is funny because I actually did). ANYWAY!...
Love you all! Hope you all have an amazing week! Enjoy Conference, even though back home in Australia I will email again before it is shown in chapels, but enjoy it as you watch it online and prepare to watch it at the chapel next weekend!
Love, Sister Ryan xx
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