Dear Family,
What an incredible week. Time and time again we see how the Lord blesses us with miracles right after we push through great obstacles. It is truly a pattern! I will tell you about a few of the many people we are working with, a little about my companion, and a little about Cuneo and Italian culture.
1 There's an inactive man who attends our English class on Fridays. He's very kind, very educated. He just recently overcame cancer and lives alone with his tiny, adorable dog, a chihuahua, named Olivia. She is his constant companion, and he takes her everywhere. She is so small, still and quiet that you would hardly even noticed that she exists. Hahaha, it sounds like I was describing the Holy Ghost. Comunque, anyways, this dear man knows that the church is true and that he needs to keep his baptismal covenants by continuing to read the scriptures and by coming to church. But, he refuses to come because he cannot bring sweet, innocent little Olivia. He gets defensive, sometimes angry when we tell him that he needs to come to church. He says that everyone judges him and that he cannot leave her alone. He cannot leave her in the car for a few hours, trust anyone enough to babysit her, etc. Finally, we felt the Spirit prompt us to say to him, "You know, we think that Heavenly Father cares more about you being in church and partaking of His blessings than you staying home just because of this problem. It would be fine for you to come for a few weeks and bring Olivia with you on your lap. Let us come together, and we can talk to our Branch President in church." He came up with more excuses. The point is this...all of us have little things in our lives that we hold on to, and we do not want to let go of them. Tiny things that maybe are not necessarily bad, but distract us, or keep us from doing the things that we should. We deny ourselves the blessings that Heavenly Father is anxiously awaiting to give us. They seem huge to us, but in reality, they are insignificant and are holding us back from progressing. Little things do make a great difference! What is the "Olivia" in our personal lives? Is it a cellphone, Facebook, or maybe choosing to hold a grudge against someone who offended us. Heavenly Father does not justify in commiting a little sin. As Prophet Monson powerfully stated "The commandments are not suggestions, they are commandments." I have been trying my best to let go of the little things that I do each day that hold me back from being exactly obedient to my covenants or promises with God, and I know that He has poured out his blessings on me, my companionship with Sorella Ryan, and in the success in the work!
Yesterday was probably the best day of the mission thus far!!! The day before was hard. We did all we could. We prayed, followed the Spirit, opened our mouths and poured out our souls to invite people to receive the Savior into their lives, but they would not listen. This happens every day, and it is incredible how we move on, and continue to trust in the Lord and rejoice in his work. While it is devastating to see unhappy people not accepting the joy and hope of the Savior, we realize that many do not recognize us as His servants right off the bat, so they do not realize what they are missing out on. Sometimes it is pretty funny to see the looks people will give us. I am sure we seem very different and strange, approaching them with skirts, helmets and a huge grin, "Hi!!! How are you?". A few nights ago, we had a lesson that did not go very well with a woman who has been an investigator off and on with missionary for eight years. It is complicated. Everyone has a story...anyway, after a day of cancellations, rejections and this lesson, we were pretty discouraged. But we trusted the Lord will lead us to prepared people if we press forward and do not mumbled.
And then the morning came! Wow, what a day. We were completely obedient, and had our hearts set on doing the will of the Lord. In the morning we stopped a beautiful Nigerian woman on the street with her two young children. She was incredibly humble and kind. She gladly accepted our testimonies about the plan of Salvation and Jesus, said she would read the Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment. It was as smooth as molasses. The most golden contact thus far! I am so excited to teach her family. Her husband, her and three children. It has been a personal dream/goal of mine to baptize at least one family on my mission. We find many Africans who are willing to meet with us, and are very devoted to Jesus, but she was especially interested and...I cannot describe the feeling. The Spirit was sweet and we knew that we had found someone. In fact, we found out last night at the church that one of our best friends, a new Ghanan convert, knows her. Coincidence? I think not. We continued our work throughout the rest of the day. It really dragged. Not very fruitful at all, until the evening came! We found a young man who was very humble and willing to talk to with us and said that he is good friends with a young couple in our church. Again, we knew it was a tender mercy that the Lord had placed this guy in our path. There are hardly any members in our area, so it is extremely rare for someone to even know what our church is. So many people do not want to talk to us because they think we are Jehovah Witness. We set up an appointment at these members' house. He studied religion a few years ago, and wanted to be a priest...long story short, he did not become one. We can see how the Lord has been preparing people to receive the word.
Then, two minutes later, we bumped into an incredible family. An Italian family in fact! Most Italians are a little harder to crack, but they asked us who we were, what do we believe? They listened to our words so intently, their countenances were so eager as if they were drinking water for the first time in years. I do not have time to tell how incredible our experience was. But I love them so much and am so excited to teach them. Two families in one day! Truly, we have tried to convince people to learn more about the gospel, people who drag their feet and do not want to change. Yesterday I witnessed the miracles that if we do what the Lord wants us to do, He will prepare a way. To paraphrase, If ye being wicked know how to give good gifts unto your children, then how much more will your Father in heaven give to them that ask.
The Lord blessed us with people who are ready to accept the word with full heart. It was relatively easy to talk with them, and they understood the Spirit.
My companion loves to sing! Sorella Ryan studied voice at BYU-Idaho. She is from Canada. We sing all the time together and it has been so effective in touching and opening hearts to receive the word. We were placed together for a reason and we are so grateful for each other. We laugh while we work, and rejoice in the Lord!!! He is all knowing, and loves us so much! He listens to our prayers, and counts all the little things we do each day. He sees when we smile at someone in hopes to brighten their day. He is grateful when we look out for each other.
Cuneo- probably more like down town Los Angeles, but apparently it is considered a small town in Italy. We are surrounded by tons of beautiful green mountains. We are super close to the French border. We talk with a large varitety of people each day. People who speak French, Romanian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic. There are a lot of Muslims and Catholics and very few Evangelists. We have Books of Mormon in all sorts of languages. I will try to get pics, this computer will not accept mine....sad.
Sorella Oakes (O-ah-kes)
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