We received word that Hermana Millward has
received a new assignment this week as a Sister Training Leader and will
be transferring today. Because the transfer conference is today and
she e-mailed yesterday, we don't know where she is going....
Sure
glad I sent a bag of Christmas cheer with our sweet friend visiting
from NYC to save $ on postage! Just in time for Sister Millward to drag
it along with her suitcases for her move... HAHAHAHA!!
-Ann (Elise's Mom)
Okay
okay I am so excited to tell you all this story! Promise me you will
read the whole thing? It has a good ending, I promise!!!
We
have been teaching a 17 year old Dominican girl whose mother is SUPER
catholic, meaning there is no way that she was going to let her baby
girl get baptized into a different church, no matter what.
Well,
if there is a God, then there must be an absolute truth, right? I
believe in a God of peace and organization, not confusion or contention.
So, I figure that it doesn't matter how much tradition is involved, if
someone really wants to follow God, then they will do what He tells them
to do, even if it means dropping everything and changing. If God says
it, you do it. All you have to do is have an open heart, pray about it,
and then act on what He says.
Anyways, I entered the area this transfer and we got to visit with this mom, Bienvenida, a couple of times.
1: She looks just like Queen Latifah! Not joking, in my first lesson I thought I was talking to the queen herself!
2:
She would not open up to us. She was very kind, but never expressed any
concerns, and so we never really knew what it was that bugged her about
us, or if she felt anything while we were teaching.
We
taught her the restoration, about the great apostasy and the loss of
authority. She smiled and told us it was nice. Then we taught it to her
again a few weeks later. She continued to be kind but tell us she would
never change. We asked her if she wanted to follow the example of Jesus
Christ. She said yes, but that she would not change. We came back again,
our third time. All we taught was the great apostasy, about when all of
the apostles were killed and without that organization and the
authority from God the entire church fell away, and no one was
designated on the earth to perform ordinances anymore. We asked her why
she thought we were teaching her this- she said because we wanted her to
feel the same way we do. I told her that we wanted her to know the
truth, and that she had to ask God if what we were teaching was true,
because if it was, then it would change her life. That night, we watched
it click. Right when it all made sense to her, what we were saying, and
how important the Great Apostasy is, and what that means for the rest
of Christianity, she became very defensive and asked us to leave, but
promised she would be at church on Sunday.
Sunday,
they showed up for the last 10 minutes of sacrament meeting. She stayed
for gospel principles, and after that hour, her daughter, the one who
wants to be baptized, came running up to us and brought one of our 18
year old members, Natzuki, with her, saying, "This girl gave me a For
The Strength of Youth pamphlet in 6th grade! That was the whole reason
why I accepted the Elders into my home the day they contacted me on the
street!" Miracle. We went to third hour, to Relief Society with all of
the other sisters. The sisters were very welcoming, and the lesson was
on tithing. I prayed and prayed that someone would testify on the
restoration, for her to hear. No one did, but there was one point in the
lesson where I felt the spirit strongly that this message was exactly
what she needed to hear, about being obedient even when it's hard.
After
Relief Society, I crossed the room to where she and my companion were
sitting. She was bawling silently. She began to apologize to us for not
listening, telling us that she had felt so strongly that she needed to
come to church today and stay for all three hours. She told us that she
had been denying that she knew that this was the true church, with all
of the authority and fulness to bless her family. She bawled as my
companion asked the question that always gets my blood pumping, "Will
you follow the example of Jesus Christ, and be baptized by someone
holding the Priesthood Authority of God?" She nodded her head, and told
us she would pray about a date between now and Tuesday.
When
something is true, it doesn't matter about tradition or culture or
boundaries or language barriers. When a human being, a child of God,
really truly wants to do what is right and true, and they ask God what
that is, He will let them know. We are all different; we all grow up in
different situations and circumstances. But God knows us all,
individually and deeply, and He wants us all to have the blessings of
the restored gospel, of the fulness of modern revelation and the
knowledge that He speaks today through a prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I
know this is true; I have seen it happen time and time again. Bienvenida
now knows that that is true.
Do you? Do you believe that God would answer you?
Love
Hermana Millward
James
1:5-6 "And if any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to
all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering..."
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