From: Nicole Schmidt [mailto:nicole.schmidt@myldsmail.net]
Sent: 03/23/2015 9:36 AM
Subject: Speechless.
Hola a todos!!
Can I just start by saying that God is real. And God is
good.
And that's how I want to start, because I have first hand
witnessed the hand of our Heavenly Father in my life this week, and I will be
eternally grateful.
But as always, I like to start off with either spiritual
news or funny things that happened. Today I think i'll start with the funny,
and save the best for last.
So this isn't exactly funny, it's awesome, but my trainer
came and visited the mission this week!!! It was great seeing Hna. Fletcher
(now Erika) and catching up over the past 6 weeks she's been home! She looks
great and is doing great! And you'll read on that this was perfect timing for
her to come visit.
Okay on a really funny note, we have an investigator named
Juanito who is 70+ years old and normally not wearing a shirt, and normally
doesn't understand us or is a little bipolar. He keeps us very entertained in
our lessons, just to put it that way! He's the neighbor of a recent convert in
our ward, Antonio (the one who yelled out in church 'what hymn!?' from the
email last week), so they are both a hoot. Well we get to Juanito's lesson, and
Antonio was helping us out, and the first thing Juanito says is "I am
ALWAYS here for this lessons because you girls decide my life. You are my
government." ... He's crazy. And awesome. And getting baptized in April.
However, we were laughing and continued the lesson. Antonio brings up the second
coming and says "No one knows when it will be!!" And I said,
"Yeah, it could even happen tomorrow!!"(as a joke) and Juanito
literally almost has a heart attack. It takes him a good 20 min. to realize it
was a joke and calm down. Poor guy. Almost killed off an investigator. However,
then I almost killed off Antonio as well when I told him (as a joke!!) I have 5
boyfriends at home, and he said, "The lord does not permit that!! You need
to repent!!" dead serious. I can't joke with old men in this country.
So that's the funny to update, because... the spiritual
updates are just WAY TOO GOOD this week.
So we had a lesson with Sonia and Mario, and older couple
and the mom of Edgar/Miguelina (who are praying to know if they should get
married!! sweet!!) and her boyfriend. Well, we've been praying to know how to
help them and we both felt we needed to help them with their testimonies of
Joseph Smith before we dive into the word of wisdom, which is where they have a
lot of difficulties. So we decided to watch the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the
Restoration movie with them, and the whole movie they were making comments
about how amazing it was, or how great the sacrifices where.. and all that good
stuff. And right after the movie, the spirit was so strong, and seriously
without hesitation, Sonia says:
"I now KNOW that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and this
church is true."
Soon after Mario said,
"That man was telling the truth. Joseph Smith saw
everything he said he saw! I know it! I can feel it!"
Ah. My heart. Dead.
My testimony of Joseph Smith was once again renewed and
strengthened. I share my testimony with the testimonies of Mario and Sonia, He
WAS a prophet, and this church is true!!
But, that's still not the best part. You ready? Let's see if
I can share this story without rambling from pure joy and excitement.
So you all remember the story of Smith's miracle lesson
right? If not, I believe I wrote about it last week. So all week we were trying
to set up an appointment with his Dad, and nothing was working out!! Our phone
didn't have minutes, and neither did Smith's. But the minutes came Saturday
morning, and for me that was a miracle.
That morning had been just a tad hard for me, because one of
my best friends Leda, who I had the opportunity to share the gospel with, was
getting sealed in the temple for time and all eternity to Jason, and it was
hard not being there. I am so proud of Leda, so when you read this don't get me
wrong. But there is a reason I am here, and not there. As much as I would've
loved to be there, Saturday just showed me that I KNOW this is where I am
supposed to be.
so the minutes came, and we were able to call his dad!!! He
answered and we set up an appointment to meet with him Saturday night. Side
note, we have been non-stop praying for Smith's dad to come around and give him
permission to be baptized, because Smith's grandma convinced him that the
church was bad and all of these lies about the church. So, the fact he even
agreed to an appointment was a miracle in and of itself!! Prayers are answered
my friends!! So after that, we went to the church for English class at 3:30 and
then we were going to wait for his dad to come at 5:30. Well Smith showed up at
5 for mutual, as well as Elder Smith for baptismal interviews. Well Smith
doesn't need permission to have the interview, so we took the opportunity and a
leap of faith and told him he should get his done, and he did, and obviously
passed with flying colors! And afterwards he said, "Now I feel really
excited to talk to my dad, and ready!" So that was a cool tender mercy of
the day. Later his dad had work, and kept pushing the appointment back, until
it was almost too late to have it!! Hermana Greenstreet and I decided to go and
say a prayer in the bathroom, for him to come, for his heart to be softened,
for Smith to have faith and courage, and for us to have the gift of tongues. We
both felt invigorated with the power of the Holy Ghost, and knew that it was
all in God's hands, and we felt we would be able to see a miracle.
And we did.
His dad CAME! And he came just in time to have the
appointment. Well, we started talking about the changes with Smith and the good
things the church can give him. And then Smith fearlessly shared his baptismal
desires and his testimony, and how great the church is. A 14 year old boy.
Infused with power and faith. It was a david and goliath moment everyone. And
it worked. The power of God was made manifest, and his dad softened his heart
and signed his baptismal paper!!! Smith will be baptized this Saturday, and
Kevin will baptize him!!!!
Now, I hope you all allow me to take a little liberty here
and ramble about my thoughts and my own personal feelings. These aren't
doctrine, just personal feelings.
We talk a lot about miracles in the scriptures, for example:
the red sea, david and goliath, seeing angels and such. And these are
incredible stories, that really do show that God is all-power and loving.
However, I believe we are able to see miracles everyday, and miracles aren't
normally like those. Miracles can be simple manifestations of God's power and
love in our ordinary lives. Now don't get me wrong, this wasn't my miracle.
This was a miracle for Smith, I was just a simple instrument. However, I am so
grateful I could witness it. A miracle can be as simple as a heart being
softened enough to sign a paper. A miracle can be as simple as a 14 year old
boy having the courage to share his beliefs with his hardened, distant
father.
To be honest, I don't know if seeing the red sea part would
have changed my testimony all that much. Yes, it would have been incredible and
I could never forget it, but physical miracles don't last. But this miracle,
seeing this miracle in the life of Smith, will be something I will treasure forever.
Because it was a spiritual and simple miracle when I could not deny the
existence of our Heavenly Father. He is real. And He is Good.
Hurrah for Israel!!!
-Hna. Schmidt :)
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| Hermana Schmidt and Greenstreet |
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| Another of Hermana Schmidt and Greenstreet |
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| With Edgar, Miguelina and Sonia |
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| Another with Edgar, Miguelina and Sonia |
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| Kevin and Smith and Hermana Schmidt |
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| Kevin and Smith |
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| Hermana Schmidt and Greenstreet |
