Dear Family,
This week has flown by, and I have loved every minute of it. Even though there have been moments when I have felt guilty for making mistakes, the Lord has picked me up and told me that it is okay. There is repentance through the power of His son. He loves us so much, and wants us to move forward and be better each day. I have come to learn that a perfect mission does not mean being an excellent teacher right off the bat. It means to make a lot of mistakes, and to learn, to grow, to trust the Lord and to pray a lot. This is why our hard experiences become so beautiful to us. We grow so much in the process!
This week we have had a few priceless experiences that have strengthened our companionship soo much! For example, a broken water heater and a flat bike tire. These are two things which could very easily cause us to get frustrated and whiny, but once again, my optimistic companion has turned these situations sunny side up. We have been trying to get a hold of the man in our ward who is responsible for helping us with repairs, but in the meantime, we take turns heating large pots of water on the stove to do the dishes and take showers.
A few days ago, while leaving the apartment to go to church we discovered that my companion's front bike tire was flat. There was no way that we could be to church on time if we walked so we concluded that our only option was to share my bike. She sat behind me, tightly wrapped her arms around my torso and said, "I have full trust in you! Let's go, we can do it!"
We headed off, and I will never forget it. This is one of the highlights of my mission thus far. If I end up counseling with couples as a profession after my mission, I might consider having them do this exercise! There is no way that you can be contentious when riding a bike together, especially when there is only one seat. We laughed the whole way there and received many smiles. The moment that people saw us, they could not help but crack a smile. I am sure we must have looked like quite a spectacle, with our helmets and skirts, passing by them, one mile an hour up the hill. Success!!
My companion yelled words of encouragement when I was getting sore and tired. "You are so strong! Keep going, keep it up." She trusted me, and even though it was a little bit frightening when we went over the bumps, we were balancing together. I loved it! This is a simple example of how the "flat tires" in our life can turn out to really strengthen the unity of our relationships as we try our best to work through them. We can turn hard experiences into great adventures that we will cherish afterwards. We made it to church on time and had a wonderful Sunday.
This past week, I had a day that really strengthened my testimony of the power of prayer and fasting. The night before, as I looked over our scheduled lessons for the next day, I felt a little overwhelmed. Each one of our investigators seemed to have some huge obstacle that kept them from progressing. I decided to fast the next morning and to take more time to pray earnestly for help. Wow, the Lord blessed us with miracle after miracle that day. First lesson... it is usually really hard to have the Spirit present, let alone to have a conversation with this investigator because her two little boys are very wild. The lesson prior to that, they had been running around without any clothes on, and I was not really looking forward to trying to teach them again. This day was our first time coming in the morning. To our surprise, her boys were very calm. They colored quietly while we taught their mom. The spirit was peaceful and it was a beautiful meeting. It dawned on me- why haven't we been teaching her in the mornings? It makes so much sense, rather than coming at the end of the day when her kids are tired and wound up from being inside all day. We set our return appointments for this time, and felt relieved that one obstacle had been removed.
Lesson/tender mercy number two: one of our young, golden investigators wants to be baptized, but her mother is not interested in meeting with us. We are worried about upsetting her by setting a baptismal date or teaching her daughter if she is not okay with it. We made some brownies and prayed that this mom's heart would be softened and that we would get to meet her. After our lesson with the girl, in the presence of a family in our ward, they invited her over and we were able to talk with her. I think that the brownies made a big difference and she was very open to talking with us and wants to come to church another time. She was very happy to meet us and we knew that the Lord had helped her to soften her heart.
We taught two other miraculous lessons, and our investigators really progressed. I know that when I humble myself and admit to the Lord that I do not know what to do, it is okay. He is there to make up for the rest, if I kneel in prayer and dedicate myself to do His will. My desire and work are important, but above all, He is in control, and this is His work.
Love,
Sorella Quincy Oakes
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