Hello family and friends!
I honestly feel as if I am starting to come into my own as a
missionary now! At least by way of the progression of the work and the
cool experiences we are being blessed with. I am by no means anywhere
close to a standout missionary, but I do feel very blessed this week.
On Tuesday we were really excited for a lesson because they couple
was super nice and seemed excited for us to come over. When we got there
we chatted for a bit and then asked them what there expectations were
for meeting with us. The wife began to talk about how they had been
having some issues as a family and so they have started to pray more.
They had prayed to God that He would send them something so that they
could better their lives and know the way that He wanted them to go. The
next day we knocked on their door. At first she said she didn't
recognize that as an answer, but the whole week leading up to the
appointment she and her husband had been talking and waiting for us. The
Spirit was so strong as she told the story and it was all I could do
not to start crying. We testified that we were their answer and that we
are led by the Spirit to find our Brothers and Sisters who are ready for
our message. We had a great lesson with them and they understood most
things really well. The reason that experience impacted me so much is
because, first of all it is so cool to hear something like that. But
also, I don't always feel as if I am a good missionary because I don't
have any revelatory experiences while tracting telling me where to go or
anything like that, but now I know a little bit better how this huge
plan works out. It is daunting to know that when a great family kneels
together and asks Heavenly Father to help them, that sometimes he might
send us out to help them. I have never doubted the divine intricacies of
the work that we do, but after that visit I felt as if we had been
blessed with a tender mercy to show us that we are vindicated in what we
do.
Also, on thursday we went on exchanges with the bike Elders in New
Albany. We cover their area as well, but its always different on a bike.
I was with Elder Potter for the day, he went into the MTC the same day
as me, so its always fun to work with him. Last exchanges went pretty
sweet, so I was excited for this one. After the last exchange, I felt
like I had learned so much, and it was no different with this one. We
went to go follow up with a potential investigator that Elder Baker and I
had found one day in a park. Way nice guy, recognizes us as servants of
the Lord, so he always likes to see us. We handed him off to the
English Elders and they hadn't been able to see him. So we biked over to
his apartment and he was there and let us in. He is seriously such a
nice, cool guy. He had basically memorized the Restoration pamphlet
Elder Baker and I previously gave him, and he was talking about how much
he loved Joseph Smith for being the prophet of the Restoration - you
don't hear people saying that in the first sit down lesson - I had yet
to hear that from any investigator. So, we were pretty stoked. We had an
AWESOME lesson, the word lesson doesn't fit, it was just a couple of
guys talking. He was like a kid in a candy store, he wanted everything.
He was so happy when we gave him a Book of Mormon, he said he had been
searching for something like that his whole life. We continued to talk
and then commited him to be baptized next month, he tearfully said yes.
It was such a cool experience. He told us how much he loved us as we
walked out and we stopped to offer a prayer of thanks before we headed
out. First time committing someone to baptism for real, not that it is a
huge deal, but it was so cool. I don't think I will ever be in a
situation like that again where the investigator already has such a
strong testimony of the importance of what you are saying. The rest of
the exchange went pretty well, we ended up getting in the middle of a
fight at the skate park, but it wasn't really anything. Some kid was mad
because people were talking about him on FB. We looked a little out of
place, four missionaries hanging around 30 high school kids watching a
fight. But we actually has some good interaction with them before the
cops got there.
The next day was super great too. We have been teaching a family
and commited them to be baptized as well. They are so cool, they aren't
super golden or anything, but they accepted the invitation to be
baptized and we will continue to work with them until the date to make
sure they are ready.
We had another Spanish fireside last night, it wasn't as amazing as
the last one, but it was still way good. Always fun to see all the
other missionaries.
This work is definitely inspired. I am so blessed to be here. It
hasn't been that long and I can already see how far I have come. The
Lord truly does watch after his missionaries and Heavenly Father
definitely answers prayers. There is nothing I would rather be doing.
Thank you all for your prayers and your letters,
I love you all,
Elder St. Martin
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