Missionary Miracles

We have had so many wonderful experiences over the past week. I thought I'd share two missionary experiences we've had.

We went with the Spanish missionaries to teach Sandra. Sandra is Ruth's daughter and she wanted to take the lessons after we talked during the baptism. (See Ruth's Smilebox below.) Sandra's niece Amy was also there. They were standing outside and finally I told the missionaries that maybe I should go out and see if they wanted me to come and get them. After about 20 minutes of answering questions, Amy asked if she could come in and listen too. I told her sure. It was a very spiritual lesson on the Restoration of the Gospel.

We did have another very spiritual experience with Sandra on Sunday afternoon. On Friday, after we taught her and Amy they went down to her mother's old house to clean and she was assaulted. Needless to say, both she and Amy were very traumatized and called Elder Shepherd and told him. Bless her sweet heart, she even came to church for a little while. I'm very impressed with how well she handled it and how strong she has become.

Anyways, we went over and her husband Edgar, her mother, Ruth (recently baptized), her god-mother Mercedes were all there. She immediately asked if she could talk to me privately. This is the third time this private woman-to-woman conversation has occurred. We went outside with Amy and they told me the story. Afterwards, she asked if I would tell her mother what had happened. I explained to her that I couldn't, that our purpose and why we were here was to teach the Gospel and teach of Jesus Christ, to give comfort and assist in teaching. I kept telling them that I would need to talk to my husband. That he was really good with this kind of stuff. I did tell her that we could help her tell her mom, but it was her place to tell her. I suggested that we start with an opening prayer and then Don could facilitate her telling her mom, then he could give them a blessing. They liked that idea and went back into the house, Don came out and I explained the situation to him. He agreed and we conferred with Elder Shepherd. He told us it was more than he could handle and told Don to handle it.

The meeting proceeded, opening with prayer and Don explained to Ruth that something bad had happened to Sandra and she wanted to tell her about it. Normally Sandra doesn't handle talking in front of people very well. This time, she spoke clearly, halting at different times before continuing. But she did it, all by herself. Her husband, Edgar, was crying and very distraught. He felt totally responsible for not being there to protect her. He was home watching their two year old. Don gave Sandra a beautiful blessing. Then Don gave her husband a blessing. Then Amy wanted a blessing. Then Ruth wanted a blessing. Then the God-mother, Mercedes wanted a blessing. We had a closing prayer and there were a lot of hugs.

Some of the miracles I saw: The spirit touched each person in the room. Each person received a unique and beautiful blessing. Like our Family Blessings at home. (The first child gets one, then everyone wants one.) We asked her husband for permission to teach his wife the gospel. He readily agreed. We asked if he would like to learn with her. He said he'd think about it.

I'm very impressed with how well Sandra handled it and how strong she has become.

So today this happened:
Since we don't have any grandchildren here, we temporarily adopt the kids (in the ward, the store, the restaurant). Our waitress helped us today, by taking an ice cream over to a little girl that was in another booth with her mom and grandma. Then the waitress came back and asked us if we had any pamphlets or stuff that she could read. We said sure. Then she informed us that she's received a Bible and DVDs in the past from the Church TV commercials. Don went out to the car to get some pamphlets, (she wasn't impressed with the pass-along card). While he was gone, she confessed to having a Book of Mormon and told me that she's been reading it a lot lately. So we gave her some pamphlets and a couple of DVDs. Then another server comes over and says he wants some too. (This guy has been our server a few times and we've always been kind, but not too pushy.) So we gave him a Book of Mormon and a couple of DVDs. Yes, we got both of their addresses and told them we would send the missionaries to visit them. One of the cool things, the waitress is a single mom and lives in another town that has sister missionaries serving there.

Life is great, being on a mission is great, and having my sweetheart as my eternal companion is great. What more could we ask for?