Packed full of lots to do so we were plenty busy and it flew by!
On Monday we met with the part member family we have been teaching. We have never been able to catch the husband there. This week we stopped by and the wife said that he was sleeping. But a couple minutes later he came out and joined us for the lesson! We were so pumped. We taught about the Armor of God and then invited them to try and pray as a family that week. We both bore our testimony on family prayer and the spirit was really strong. We could tell both him and his wife were listening really intently. He was baptized when he was really young and his family fell inactive not too soon after so he doesn't really remember anything about the church. But we are so excited that we could finally meet them and start teaching them as a family. Can't wait to see what happens(:
Tuesday was the single best teaching day I have ever had. We started out in the morning teaching Sara and had a really good lesson with her. We are still trying to get her to talk more and open up, but she has been keeping all her commitments to read and pray, so we know she is interested. Then for the rest of the day, every single person we tried to visit was there. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE! We taught 7 lessons and all of them were super powerful! It was incredible! We taught a lesson to a less active family (I am not sure if I have told you about them before), but their 2 year old daughter has cancer and a couple weeks ago they were all driving in the car somewhere and were hit by a drunk driver. It was a really bad accident. Their car was totaled and they all had to go to the hospital for injuries. No on was very seriously injured thank goodness, but they are still all really sore and bruised up. We shared the Mormon message about the woman named Stephanie who was burned in the air plane accident. If you haven't seen it you should go watch it. Such an awesome video. But after we watched it, she shared a story about her daughter. A couple months ago they had to go to a children's cancer clinic. When they walked into the front room, she said it felt like death in there. Everyone was very somber, all the parents looked exhausted, the children were all sitting not playing with any toys and it was just very sad. She said there was one little boy in a wheelchair who was just sitting looking down and he also had a twitch. She said her daughter walked right over to that boy and grabbed his hands and started singing a song to him. The little boy started smiling and all of the sudden his mother started freaking out. She said she was worried because she thought the mother was mad, but the mother ran and grabbed doctors and nurses and showed them. Apparently the little boy had not changed his facial expression for almost a year. He just always sat in that wheelchair looking down. The woman hugged her and cried and thanked her so much for her daughter and told her she has an angel. The importance of this story was that she had always been asking "why her? Why does she have cancer, why cant it be me." But that experience made her realize why her daughter. Her daughter is the one that can touch certain peoples lives and understand what they are going through. In the Stephanie video she talks about how no matter what our trials we need to stay strong and continue because we have a purpose. It was a very spiritual experience and shockingly enough, even though it was all in Spanish, I understood all of her story! The spirit can work miracles!
So that night Hermana Hardy and I were doing exchanges with Hermana Johnson and Hermana Hale (the sister trainer leaders) and I got to go with Hermana Hale! We met at a family dollar and exchanged and then Hermana Johnson and Hardy drove away. Hermana Hale and I tried to leave but our car wouldn't start! We tried calling one of the elders in our district who is really good with cars but he couldn't help us. So we said a prayer and then kept trying to figure it out. Not 3 minutes later a car pulled up next to us and they asked if we needed help. The guy was named Mario and he had just gotten off work at a car shop and was stopping by with his Mom (Lili) and brother to get some dog food. They saw that we were struggling and felt like they should help us. So they came over and jumped out car for us! He was so nice. We talked to them a little more and got their address and phone number and they told us that we could come visit them anytime! Lili actually told us they have been looking for a church because they have been feeling like they need to go back. It was an awesome experience! Everything happens for a reason! We just happened to be in that parking lot when our car died, and they just happened to be there at that same time getting dog food. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways haha.
The rest of our week was really awesome as well. We have been able to visit Sara everyday and re-set a baptismal date with her for march 8th! We also had a Branch Valentines Day party and she came and brought her friend. She has slowly been opening up more and more and we are so excited for the progress she is making.
So not this Sunday but the next, we get to watch a broadcast of the gilbert temple dedication! They are going to play it three different times with different speakers each time so it will be an awesome spiritual Sunday! We all had to get special recommends because at that time, the church is going to be considered an extension of the temple. I am so stoked! Hermana Hardy and I are going to get white handkerchiefs and embroider our initials on the corner for the hosanna! It will be a really great experience.
Well I love you all so much! I wasn't able to quite finish the Book of Mormon this week, but I only have Ether and Moroni left. I am starting to get a little sad that it is ending. Its like a really awesome book that you are reading and then it starts ending and you feel sorta empty... just means I will start it right after I finish it haha.
Hope this week was good for everyone! Stay safe in that crazy Washington weather!
Love,
Hermana Lundquist