Zeal with the Zwicks, Four New Families, & Celestial Connect-The-Dots
March 23, 2015
Hey y'all!
Hey y'all!
How is 72 degrees, sun, a slight breeze, and blue skies in March? Splendid. In case you were wondering. :)
Angela is doing great in preparing for baptism! She's been working hard to find alternatives to her coffee and tea. She shows us each box of herbal tea she buys to make sure it's okay. :) Since we fasted last week, she's been praying to find a good new home for her dog, Gusty, since he can't come when she moves. At church, a member who's been praying for a dog offered to take him! Despite poor health, she was also at church again. That was a great blessing.
We had the privilege of having Elder Zwick, from the First Quorum of the Seventy (that means he works closely with the prophet and apostles), and his wife Jan Zwick teach our mission this week. I attended a leadership council with them all day Wednesday, and Thursday we had about twelve hours of meetings with them, including a member fireside. We learned the importance of working effectively with ward councils to find-- via member referrals-- families to teach. He essentially said that it is imperative that we change the culture of this mission. Okay! Off to the next adventure! Our mission will also be receiving iPads-- one per missionary-- in May. I won't be here for that, but I'm excited for the great changes that will come with the new tools in technology. Elder and Sister Zwick brought the Spirit powerfully during their stay. I'll always remember some of the experiences I had with them. It's been a great learning week!
Remember how last weekend, after setting goals to find and teach families, we found two families? Since then, we have found and started teaching FOUR more couples! Three of them have small children. All of them were miracle finds!
#1 David & Mandy -- Teach when you Find, Find when you Teach
David was a referral from other sisters. When we taught him, we invited his fiance, Mandy, to join us for the closing prayer and for the next lesson. She agreed. She's now participating just as much as David is in the lessons.
#2 Destry & fiance -- Find the Reason You're Here
We'd received a referral with no working phone number, just a name and address. Earlier in the week, we had tried that address with no success and just left. Elder Zwick talked about using every opportunity to find new investigators-- for example, knocking nearby doors when a referral or less active isn't home.
Sister Rowley and I took it to heart and tried it. We went back to contact this same referral, but this time, we prayerfully looked around for other doors or people we could approach. We felt drawn to a bright blue door across the street. We knocked it, and had a front-porch lesson with Destry, a young father in his twenties. He stopped going to church after his church didn't reach out to his family during some severe family issues. We shared the Book of Mormon with him, and asked if he would be baptized if he knew it was true. "You know...I..I honestly think..I would," he said. We have a return appointment with him this weekend.
Sister Rowley and I took it to heart and tried it. We went back to contact this same referral, but this time, we prayerfully looked around for other doors or people we could approach. We felt drawn to a bright blue door across the street. We knocked it, and had a front-porch lesson with Destry, a young father in his twenties. He stopped going to church after his church didn't reach out to his family during some severe family issues. We shared the Book of Mormon with him, and asked if he would be baptized if he knew it was true. "You know...I..I honestly think..I would," he said. We have a return appointment with him this weekend.
#3 Nancy & Douglas --Talk to Everyone
A few weeks ago on P-day, Sister Rowley and I were walking through our complex when we saw Nancy and stopped to talk to her. She's a young mom, and wants to be more religiously involved for her young son. We'd set up a couple return appointments, but they had both fallen through.
On Saturday morning, as we were getting into our car to leave the apartment, we saw a man about ten cars away walking towards his car. We decided to get out and talk to him. As we scurried over, we saw Nancy sitting in the passenger seat! She got out and said that she's been reading the Book of Mormon, and wants us to come over. We ended up having a fantastic lesson with her last night. She asked questions like, "Is God really there? Does He know me? What happens after we die?" We taught her to pray, and she said one out loud for the first time. Her fiance Douglas joined the end of the lesson. It was a beautiful experience. Had we not decided to talk to that man, we wouldn't have run into Nancy again and had a lesson.
#4 Cathy & Ron -- No Effort is Wasted
During weekly planning Sunday afternoon, we received a phone call from an unknown number. A woman introduced herself as Cathy, the housekeeper at an extended-stay motel we visit sometimes. The Spirit had led us to talk to her a couple times, but we hadn't gotten her information or anything. What she said next surprised us.
"Could we meet up in the next...hour?" Of course!
"And I'm picking up my husband from work....is it alright if he comes, too?" Of course!
"We don't have anyplace we could meet you...do you have a place we could go?" Of course!
"I really felt like I should call y'all. I know y'all came into my life for a reason."
We called up a member and arranged to meet in their home. An hour and a half later, we were all together in a member family's home. They confided that they are currently homeless, living in their car, and they need help. We gave them the bishop's number and taught the first lesson, and Cathy was very interested. She's planning to come to the Women's Conference Broadcast and Relief Society dinner this weekend. Miracles happen!
Another blessing of talking to everyone resulted in some celestial connecting-the-dots this weekend! While trying to contact the same aforementioned referral, we met Brittany while she was carrying in groceries and set up a time to come back the next day. When we came back, Brittany was not home. But on our way up to the doorstep, the other door of her duplex opened and we talked to the girl heading to a car full of friends waiting in the driveway. She said her mom would be interested. Sister Rowley asked what her mom's name was, and she said the name of our referral! We FOUND our referral by contacting two other people on her street! We'd been given the wrong address, but we found her because we talked to everyone in our path. The timing was flawless. God can connect the dots really well! :)
Have a blessed day!
Sister Taylor
1) Easter candy... only in the South
2) I, the Zwicks, and some other sisters
3) My companion Sister Rowley, me, Sister Holden