Remember the old cliche' referring to a small town: "If you blink you'll miss it!!" Well, that is how I am feeling about time right now. If you blink, the day is gone....if you blink the week is gone, etc. Time flies by so fast, but we are enjoying our Mission here in Independence, Missouri, and we value every day we have here Because we know it will pass us by before we know it!!! I'm excited to share some "Tender Mercies" we have had, and some of our fellow missionaries are having.
Sister Peterson, a young sister missionary, served in our ward here in Independence, until a few weeks ago when she was transferred. We LOVE Sister Peterson!!! She shared a few miracles that she and her companion Sister Prior had this past week. They have been teaching the gospel to a young adult girl, who is still young enough she needs her parents permission to get baptized. They were nearing the end of teaching her the lessons. Their main concern was getting her father's approval. They spoke to this young woman's mother, and she told the Sister missionaries that her husband said, if they taught his daughter all the lessons....then she could be baptized! They were thrilled to say the least!!!
The 2nd miracle of many they have had is they were sitting on a bench in public discussing who they should see next when a young African male walked by them. They have a goal to talk to everyone that crosses their path. But they both had the feeling not to talk to him. After dinner they went to an apartment building to visit a lady in their ward who is less active. They saw the same African walk into the apartment next door. Her companion said, "we need to go talk to him." So they went into the apartment building and their were about 20 doors to knock on. Not knowing which one he was in, they were drawn to an apartment where some music was heard. They knocked and no answer, and then they knocked the 2nd time. To their surprise, the young African man answered the door. He told them his name was Lucky and he was visiting his sister there in Liberty, Missouri, and that he was getting ready to go to England for school.. The sisters explained their purpose and asked if they could come back tomorrow and teach him. He said, "Can we have a lesson right now?" So they went outside and sat on the grass and taught him the 1st discussion. He invited them back on Wednesday. They went over the first lesson with him and taught him briefly the 2nd and 3rd discussions. They introduced him to the Book of Mormon. He told them he always felt that there was more to the Bible. It made sense to him that God would reach out to us to give us more direction. He was amazed when they gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He left last Friday for England, but they have a way to stay in contact and even skype with him. They are also going to give his contact information to the missionaries serving where he is living in England. We see miracles happening like this all the time in the mission.
Sister Peterson on the left, Lucky in the middle, and Sister Prior on the right.
Two perfect examples of missionaries who love the Lord and who trust in Him as they serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!! Miracles happen when you are obedient and trust in the Lord!!! With Him, ANYTHING is possible!!
Sister Tefteller in the car ready to go make visits. I should have taken a picture of the back seat.....it was loaded with cookies. (Next time I will!!)
We are finding that when we go out during the week, we most of the time don't find people home. We know it's because most of them work. We have tried evening visits...but worry about interrupting dinner. This past week, we decided to go on Saturday. We had the best day with the most visits we have had in a very long time!!! Last week we knocked on 15 doors and after 14 homes with noone home, or not answering the door, we went to visit an active member. It was nice, because they smiled and were excited to invite us in!!!!! But last Saturday, we were able to talk to a lot of people. Some, we could tell were uncomfortable, but it was the most friendly group we've had in awhile. We even gave out cookies all day! All seemed to enjoy that! We visit a young single adult male who has serious health problems....so Elder Tefteller offered to mow his yard and he accepted. We went by this morning, but he wasn't home and didn't leave the lawn mower out. But we'll call him and set up a time!
The highlight of my day last Saturday is when we were driving to visit someone, and we drove by a sisters house who we have been trying to visit since we started serving March 25. We have left cookies....a note telling her who we were. Most of the time she was home but wouldn't answer the door. Sister Peterson told us that she and her last companion knocked on her door and she answered, but she yelled at them and told them never to come back and slammed the door in their face. As we drove by her home on Saturday, I noticed she was in the yard. So I pulled over and left Elder Tefteller and the Elders in the car. I grabbed a bag of cookies and walked back to her house. I found her in her backyard sitting in a lawn chair talking to her friend. She wasn't to friendly at first when I told her who I was. She introduced me to her friend,who also happens to be her partner of 15 years. I started asking questions about them, about how they met, their work, etc. Then I asked her if I could come back and visit. She hesitated, and I finally said, if I come back,, I won't talk about the Church, she look up and me and said, "You won't? I said no. She told me I could come back. I gave them both a hug before I left. My feet were not touching the ground all the way to the car. I think I've mentioned her before and said she and I were going to be friends before we left our mission. "Tender Mercies!!!" Oh....and did I mention that she is a returned missionary?
I know that Heavenly Father loves ALL his children regardless of the circumstances they are in! I am so grateful to be a part of helping further His Kingdom here on earth. Sometimes it seems that what we are doing is so small and insignificant. But anything any of us do to help find His "Lost Sheep" is big and very significant to Him!!! I wear my missionary name tag proudly, and have dedicated our entire mission to go out everyday and help to try to find Heavenly Father's other children here in Missouri.
We are serving in a place where some very big things took place, and where many more big things will take place, all of which are a part of Heavenly Father's Plan! What a privilege it is to be serving here!!!
I am doing more and more baking and cooking. Some of our missionary friends either work in the Mission Office all day to 5 or are on the road traveling the mission. So we are going to have dinner here on Sunday. Wednesday nights and Friday. They are going to buy me a gift card to Costco to help pay for the food. I thought that was very nice of them!! We also have been inviting young newly married couples in our ward, and who live here in our apartment complex over for dinner.
Elder Tefteller is still not super busy with his AMA calling, but we have plenty of other things to do to stay busy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church on the earth today. How we love it. How grateful we are to Heavenly Father for blessing us with relatively good health so we can serve a mission. It has blessed our lives and the lives of our children!!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME: READ YOUR SCRIPTURES!!
MUCH LOVE,
ELDER AND SISTER TEFTELLER
