November 23, 2015- Service Softens Hearts

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

This week has been so busy and so full of miracles! Haha sometimes some of our plans were a bust, but that's okay.

 On Wednesday we had this idea where we would go out in our jeans with rakes and offer to rake people's lawns. We had a few potential investigators in mind to offer to help, but one of them was about to leave for someplace, and the other's lawn was immaculate. So we went around looking for random people's lawns to rake and everyone had already raked. Man!

But that afternoon we went to Smithfield main street and taught Dee! Dee is the one we helped put decorations out with. We taught her in her quaint little shop next to the reindeer display and open shop door about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. We invited her to be baptized if she knew it was true, and she said, "I will need to pray about it." Wow! We're going to see her again this Wednesday!

We had dinner at Sister D's, and at the end of our little spiritual thought we asked if there was anything we could do for her. She said, kind of jokingly, "yeah, wash my windows for me." We laughed and we were like, "of course, what day?" And she was like, " are you serious?" and we were like "yeah!" So we set up a time to come over and wash them!

Thursday was so great, we had all these plan for the afternoon but ended up doing something completely different. We met a woman named Ragini waiting at the bus stop for her child to get home from school. We offered to share our brief message and she said yes. So we said a prayer right there and shared part of the Restoration in about 3 minutes. We asked her about her faith in God, and also invited her to be baptized if she knew it were true. She said, "Well yes, but I'd want to know more first..." So we set up another appointment with her! "Well, I'm always at the bus stop on weekdays," she said. Sadly, she wasn't there on Friday. :( But we're going to see her again! She said she'd even bring her friend, next time, too!

We're still working with Ethan, and helping him prepare to be baptized on the 19th. He is SO CUTE. We were talking to him about the Sacrament on Thursday night, and wordlessly, he went to his stash of  church books and found a picture of the Sacrament and showed it to us. He is so so cute. We're so excited for him!

Oh, that day we also saw Sarah again! She wasn't there when we went back for our appointment. She was walking in the neighborhood with her kids and we said hi. It was neat, we were actually planning on walking to her house to see her and then suddenly there she was. The promptings of the Spirit are a real thing ;) So we asked her if she read the pamphlet and she was like "yeah" and we said "well do you have any questions" and she said, "Well the only thing I'd have questions or doubts about would be Joseph Smith" and we were like "Well, what are your questions?' and she was like "isn't there a scripture about no more prophets after Jesus Christ?" and we said "Well, we don't know we'll look it up. :) But we do know that we have prayed and asked and we know for ourselves that Joseph Smith was called of God to be a prophet. We know that the Book of Mormon is true, and we know that this is the church of Jesus Christ established on the earth today." At the beginning of our conversation, she was like "well, I'm in and out so there's not really any good time to catch me" and at the end she was like "actually, I'm home most of the time". It was so amazing to see that change in her. We know she felt the Spirit as we talked.

Friday we washed Sister D's windows and it was so fun. :) That afternoon we went to see Krystal! So Krystal is the lady who we miraculously met last week. So it seems like that inbetween the last time we saw her somebody has been telling her negative things about the church. We shared the Restoration and she brought up a few concerns she had about church history and Joseph Smith. But just like with Sarah we said, " All we can do is invite. Will you pray and ask if this is true? It is either true, or it is not." She said she would. Then we said, "We know that it is true. We know Jesus Christ changes lives. We know you can find out for yourself that this is His truth and what He wants you to do."

After the closing prayer, we noticed a hamper of clean clothes. We asked, "hey, can we help you fold your laundry?" She was hesitant at first but we insisted. :) Then she was like," Hey, if you really want to help me I actually need some help back here"  So we followed her to her pantry and helped her reorganize it. She was really thankful. I know that service softens hearts! No matter what things she might have heard about us, we believe in Christ and we are doing our best to be like Him. I know that this is His church and I know that this gospel is true. As I've read the Book of Mormon I've come to know and love my Savior. It has prompted me to want to read the Bible and to learn more about His life. I love Jesus Christ. :)

This is His work!

There were a lot more things that happened this week, but I'm running out of email time for today! Just know that I love ya'll and I am so glad I know each and every one of you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Sister Megan Moore