What everyone told you about mission prep was right. Handling rejection is a big thing to know how to manage. Missionary work can get depressing sometimes because we expect things to always go our way just because we are missionaries. In fact there is a video called "Missionary Work and the Atonement" it's about 9 min long. I invite you to watch it. It's way good and talks about why missionary work isn't easy, and how the Atonement can help carry us through. Teaching from the Book of Mormon is another great topic because contains the fulness of the gospel within its pages. It's proof that Joseph Smith is a prophet. It's proof that we have the fully restored gospel. It is the keystone of our religion. The Book of Mormon also contains the answers to the questions of the soul. If we truly ponder and read, our sincerest questions will be answered. It says in PMG chapter 5 that questions can be resolved through the BOM. That's why we have this wonderful book brought forth in these latter days -- to provide light and understanding to the world!
Well this week has been fantastic!!! Here is how it went!
Monday- We had a lesson with a referral we received months ago and he finally texted us back! Miracle #1, so we taught him about our beliefs and he was intrigued because he has been studying multiple religions lately. He is also Muslim and he agrees with most of our beliefs. We were supposed to have a lesson tomorrow but we had to re schedule :/ But it was awesome that we got a new investigator!!! So after that we just did office work then headed to FHE that night.
Tuesday- This day was just full of miracles. Before Elder Redmond and I went proselyting we discussed that we needed more faith. So we prayed for faith and went out with vigor and faith to see miracles. And boy did we see miracles!!! We talked to EVERYONE and picked up 2 new investigators. Of course we also got rejected alot and we were walking around for hours!! We decided to sit down for a second when we received a phone call from President. He told us he received a referral for a Nigerian guy who was in his 20's and needed missionaries to come by. We asked why and he said he didn't know why, he just needed us to contact him. We called the referral and it was a guy named E. E told us that he wanted us to help him get closer to God, I just looked at Redmond and smiled. We set up a time to meet and we got his address. Right after that miracle we looked up and a member named Nina (she is awesome!) saw us and came over to give us some food!! That was a tender mercy from God. Then right as we were about to get up and start contacting again, one of Nina's friends came over. We starting talking to Nina's friend. She knew a lot about the Bible and she was genuinly interested. She had a lot of questions. After a 2 hr discussion, we set up a time for the next day to have a lesson! Yet another miracle we witnessed. God pretty much handed us people to teach that day. We knew God had blessed us that day and we thanked him after each and every lesson. For when God blesses you, thank Him immediately. I've come to learn that as I show gratitude for the blessings God gives me, he provides more. The more humble we are, the more we recognize God's hand in the things we do, and the more we see God's hand! It was such a great day.
Wednesday- We had a lesson with E. Oh my goodness, God truly prepared this man. He has never met missionaries before and the reason why he called us was because he was searching on the internet "How to get closer to God."
No joke. He googled how to grow closer to God and our website popped up. So when we taught him he was open and willing to learn how to get closer to God. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it gives us direction and how the gospel is the way for us to come closer to God. He understood and he was willing to keep praying and to keep asking God if this was the way for him. After leaving E's we felt like we needed to stop by H (another referral from a member). We stopped by her house with no lesson plan. We just decided to trust the spirit. When we knocked she greeted us warmly. It was great to see her because she hasn't been answering our texts or calls so we were so happy when she answered her door haha! We talked with her and we felt prompted not to teach her... Weird right? Well after our conversation she asked us, "Well, do you want to have a lesson tomorrow at the church?"
We were astonished. She pretty much set up a lesson for herself. We set up a time and then left again just thanking God for the miracle He provided. But right after seeing her we had a lesson with Nina's friend. The lesson was rough. She had a lot of questions which were all anti or rumors she had heard. But it was funny because the last question she asked the day before was "How can I tell if Joseph Smith is a prophet?"
And when we were trying to answer all of her questions that one question kept popping into my and Redmond's minds. Then we remembered the Book of Mormon we brought for her. Again, this was the key to all of her questions. We gave her the Book of Mormon and told her flat out that all these questions and rumors could be answered by reading the Book of Mormon -- proof of whether or not Joseph Smith was a prohet. We told her to read and pray because that's how she's going to find her answer. We can't force people to believe, but they certainly can choose to believe. She stopped asking questions and accepted the Book of Mormon. She hasn't texted us back yet but it was a miracle again that we were able to meet with her and that we were able to resolve the whole situation through the Book of Mormon.
After that lesson we went Personal contacting and saw more miracles. We were walking out of the lesson with Nina's friend when a girl yelled out, "ELDERS!!!" We looked and saw a girl with neon green hair. We both looked at each other and thought, "Do you know her?" Haha she came over and told us she was a convert but hadn't been to church in a while. We talked with her and told her we would love to meet up with her the next day. What a miracle!! After talking with her a bit more we went to PC. At one point we were walking when Redmond was walking behind me and I could hear him mumble something. I kept asking him what he was saying when he finally yelled "Right there!!!" Immediately I swung around and stuck my hand out and shook the hand of a random person who I didn't even see haha! We talked. She was interested in how we have modern day prophets and wanted to learn more. So we got her number and then set up another time to meet. Miracle again. And it didn't stop there. As we were going to a lesson with another Less Active on campus we needed to talk to one more person. Some girl was walking by and she had a bunch of sour patches. I just said the first thing that popped in my head "Hey can I have some?" BAHAHA!!! She looked at me then said "Sure!" Needless to say Redmond and I got sour patches and a new investigator. She was really nice and her story was amazing. She has been searching for a church to join because she grew up agnostic and she was wondering where to go. We told her we could help her along her path to establishing a relationship with God and find a church she knew was right. We got her information but we weren't able to set up a time to meet :( But it was a miracle nonetheless. We went to the lesson with the less active then found another Less Active convert, who yelled at us earlier and came up to us with one of her friends. Her friend was "Catholic" but she was interested in our message. So again we got her information and now we are going to try to work with her as well. SO MANY MIRACLES!!!! At the end of the day we were just so grateful for what God did for us. We went home exhausted too, haha!
Thursday- We were supposed to have a lesson with H but she got in an accident so now we have just been working on setting up another time to meet. But when she cancelled we knew that meant God just needed us to be somewhere else. So we went contacting again and found 2 new investigators out of 100 people we talked to that day haha! However we were getting a little tired and discouraged because 7 hrs of contacting is a lot on campus. We decided to take a break and then decide what to do next. Well remember the sour patch girl we met? We randomly texted her to see if she would like to meet up again. And she did! We had a restoration lesson with her and gave her a soft invitation to baptism. She said if she prayed and found that it was true, she would be baptized. That was all we could ask! It's amazing how many miracles you can experience if you have faith. That really lifted our spirits. After contacting all day we headed to Terre Haute for an exchange with the zone leaders.
Friday- We went on exchanges to Indiana State University with the Zone Leaders there. I went with an Elder G Wright who played for Logan and was friends with Elder Freeman (man I miss that guy). It was a great exchange and we saw more miracles again! We also went to a ward Halloween party down there where I met yet another "Are you related to THE Lakei Heimuli?" fan haha! He talked to me for 2 hrs about how great dad was!!!! It's always a tender mercy for me to hear my dad's name out here. It's like a little comfort from home!
Saturday- It was the mission temple day where all the recent converts go and do baptisms. Because President Carlson has been gone to a mission presidents seminar the whole week, Elder Redmond and I had to keep the mission from falling apart before President got back ;) Jk Nah the missionaries are great so it was easy! After the temple event we had a lesson with E. We brought a recent convert who was also from Nigeria to the lesson. The spirit was so strong and the lesson went great!! In fact E is on date for November 19th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday- We had church and meetings. But the miracles came when we were planning for the week. One potential investigator told us she wanted to meet this week and we were all for it! Then the one girl that Redmond yelled at me to talk to, answered our call. Now campus is interesting. If someone answers your call AND remembers the time the lesson is scheduled for, they are solid. And she did both!!!! So this week we have a lot of good investigators to work with. Please keep praying for us mom! Thank you for all your prayers and thank the family for all their prayers as well. God is definitely providing for us and we can feel His love and guidance every day!
So that was our week. Miracle packed and busy. But I am so grateful to be on this journey and to be of service to our God. Give my love to all the family!!!
Ofa Lahi Atu
Elder Heimuli
Pics!
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