This week has been a good one in Vineland! It was a little bit slower
teaching wise but we were able to make some great contact with people
who we haven't been able to see much lately. That didn't produce many
stories, but it was so good to be able to see everyone. :)
We also had such a miracle with the Christmas initiative! Maybe
miracle is the wrong word, but I think it was pretty neat. I'm sure
most of you have heard about or seen the Christmas video/ website, but
if not, check out Christmas.mormon.org. There are a few videos and
some fun features that help make Christmas more about the Savior and
it makes it so easy to share the website with friends!
Anyway, We had talked to our ward mission leader about the Christmas
initiative and showed him the videos in our correlation meeting and he
loved it. During our ward council meeting he brought it up to the
other members, showed them the card, and asked if we could come and
share it and explain the website in all of the auxiliaries! So on
Sunday we were able to take a fair amount of time going from class to
class talking about the initiative and going through the websites with
the ENTIRE Ward! Everyone was so excited and so many, especially the
primary kids, were so excited about getting their own card to hand out
to a friend. I love this Christmas initiative and I just KNOW that
it's what our Heavenly Father wants his children to know right now. I
have loved sharing this with those around me. It's so incredible to
think about how this video and this website took months of prayer and
preparation to make. I know that the leaders of the church made sure
to follow the message that Heavenly Father picked.
I also had one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission. There's an
investigator here who's an older man, his parents joined the church
when he was a young adult, and he's been investigating for a long long
time, but he's never accepted a baptismal date or anything like that.
He's even on his third time reading the Book of Mormon and he comes to
church every week! As we were there this week he was talking about how
he always prays to be led to the truth. Now, I've always disliked that
particular prayer just because they say that and the missionaries do
come, but it's not recognized very often that that's the answer to the
prayer. Before this lesson I had committed myself to being bold and to
the point with him. So I asked him if he's prayed and asked
specifically if this church is true. He told us he had, so then I
asked what he felt his answer was. He said "I feel strongly that it
is." And I asked the same thing about the Book of Mormon and he gave
the same answer. In that moment I just felt the spirit so strongly and
I could tell that my companion and a I both knew that this was a VERY
important moment. As my companion bore testimony of her beliefs and
the things he's been learning I turned to Mosiah 18. We read 8-9,
commenting on how these are the desires of his hearts. He then noticed
that he had previously highlighted verse 10 where it says that baptism
is his next step, and I told him that he was giving himself his
answer. And he agreed with me!! My companion then invited him to be
baptized and while he originally told us that he wouldn't agree to a
date, I promised that if he set a date as his goal then he would be
ready by then and we set the date of January 3rd! I'm so grateful for
the spirit and how when we listen to that spirit we can know EXACTLY
what these people need to hear.
I can't explain how much I love being a missionary. :) I am so
eternally grateful for this gospel and for a Heavenly Father who
trusts me enough to let me share with his children. I know that this
is Christ's work that I'm apart of and I know that it's through him
and because of him that we can find peace and happiness.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of the thoughts and
prayers. :) I love you all!
---------------------------------
Sister Rachel Petrick
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