I received the sweetest
miracle of my whole mission this
week.
Last month, we were teaching a golden investigator named Eli
who went to church every week by himself and had read up to Alma in the first
week, who came to the lessons with good questions and was happy with our
answers. I loved him a lot.
And then, one day, he disappeared. Wouldn't answer the
phone, wasn't at home, nothing, nothing, nothing. We called him two or three
times a week for several weeks, but nothing. Our other investigators hadn't
worked out and it seemed like my dream of having one more baptism before I
finished my mission was not likely to happen.
Then, on
Friday, me and Hermana Chamorro had an extra hour after a meeting
with the bishop and the name of a future investigator comes into my head. We
started walking there and for some reason we turned on Eli's street and when we
passed his house, it still looked empty, but the lights are on. Hermana Chamorro said, "We
should knock on his door." So we did. And lo and behold, ELI
answered the door, now without his mustache.
I won't go into detail for his confidentiality, but he had
been warned by the police to not answer any telephone calls for the past two
weeks, and had left for Chiapas.
He had just come home and was still waiting for important results from the
police. He was a nervous wreck.
We showed him the "Gracias a Que El Vive" video and
read Alma 31 (which happened to be
the next chapter he was about to read) and we asked the Hermano that was with us to
call one of the high priests to give him a priesthood blessing. He still didn't
feel very good and didn't want to come to General Conference because the Police
were supposed to come the next day. But Hermana Chammoro said. "This is how you can
show your faith to Heavenly Father," and he said, "Tiene razon." (You're right.)
The next day we fasted for him. Guess who came to all 5
sessions of General Conference?! Sunday
morning, he called to tell us that the police had resolved everything and
confirmed that the crisis was over and everything was okay. He was so
happy. We set a baptismal date over the phone.
I just couldn't help feeling that Heavenly Father was not only blessing Eli, but that he would also do
something so sweet for me. I would have been okay if there weren't any more
baptisms before I went home, but when He answered my secret, silent prayers and fasts in
such a miraculous way, I felt His love for me in a sweeter way than I ever had
before.
If you could all pray that he can be baptized this Saturday,
that would be great.
I feel like now, almost at the end of my mission, I'm
finally living what Elder Holland was talking about with the phrase, "living in the realm of
miracles." Hermana Chamorro helped me to live it. I have learned from her to pray for
everything-- and Heavenly Father gives us everything! We work from one
minute-miracle to the next, our success completely dependent upon Him answering
our prayers. We pray to know where to go. We pray that the other person will
know what to say. We pray that the person we're talking to will understand,
that they'll feel it's true, that they'll change in heart, that they'll think
of a reference (someone else who would like to hear our message), that the Spirit will be stronger. And it happens.
I have also realized that the mission should be a
harvest, that the field should already be white-- the majority of the
planting and nurturing should be done by the MEMBERS so that the missionaries,
who don't have time to sit and grow people like the members do, can come and
CHOP CHOP CHOP--teach and baptize, teach and baptize. Members should be the
primary finders, and the primary preparers. THEY are the angels talked about in Alma
13:24
that are preparing the hearts of the people to receive the message.
It's going to take a big culture change for members to
realize that they need to be constantly meeting new people, constantly
assessing needs and teaching their neighbors and friends, preparing the
hard-hearted people to be soft enough to hear the missionaries.
You guys, I want to be the best member missionary ever.
Last realization-- I was hoping at the beginning of my
mission that the mission would be hard enough that it would push me to the
break point and I would have a big Atonement-using experience and feel like I
could finally say I had felt the Atonement in my life. In my mission, I have
felt a couple of those moments, but more than anything, the Atonement is what I
use in little bitty ways, all the time, in little experiences all day. It is
much more of a day-to-day tool than a crisis tool.
I was hoping to make a list of Yucatecan-isms, but I'll have
to do it in my next letter.
I love you all muchisimo.
Amor,
Hermana Ludlam
