I feel like my mission has gotten progressively harder. But I know I need to be here. One thing that my Mission President is really big on is "Emmaus Experiences". In Luke 24 we read:
13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.14. And they talked together of all these things which had had happened.15. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.16. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
President Hanks encouraged us, in our very first interview with him, to recognize the times in our lives when were being led by Christ, without knowing it. These moments are often the little tender mercies, when we feel very alone, and then look and see that he was there all along.
28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
There have been many experiences on my mission when I have felt that, and recognized the times when my heart truly did "burn within" me. As of lately, I've been having an Emmaus experience that has lasted for 9+ weeks
There is an apartment complex here called "Edgcrest" that has several buildings going up a very large hill. One of our Less Actives lives in the very bottom building. My first transfer here, I felt impressed to knock on the upstairs neighbor's door. When Sister Pickett got here, we started teaching them. We had a lot of hope for them at first, but they weren't progressing, and we stopped seeing them. When we were in the area though, we started knocking more doors there. We have knocked every door in that apartment complex. We slowly built our way up the hill, teaching and trying to find the people that wanted to act on our message. It was hard! At one point, we literally got dropped by two investigators within four minutes of each other; that stung a bit, but we kept pushing! We were climbing up the hill, and at the very top apartment, we met a gal named Katrina,and started teaching her. Then while we were stopping by an appointment with her the other day, we met her family the Gonzalez family.
Golden. Hispanic, 3 kids and they seemed genuinely interested in our message! We have prayed so much for this family. We kept trying to teach them the Restoration, but for one reason or another, our appointments with them kept getting pushed off. Then Sunday, we finally taught the Restoration, the lesson we had been dying to teach. And, it was...horrible...possibly the worst lesson I have ever taught. They rejected everything we represented. I cried a lot in my prayer that night, not because they rejected me, but because they rejected our Heavenly Father's message, and I felt that. Then Sister Pickett and I cried together.
I just ached for our Heavenly Father feels. These are his children! At one point in time, they made the decision to follow him, why can't they remember? It breaks my heart. These past weeks we have been finding and finding and doing everything within our power, and I kept wondering why I felt so prompted to knock that door, when none of the people it led us to have progressed!
Yesterday, of course, just when it seemed hopeless, Heavenly Father showed us just how powerful and merciful He is. Last week, on our way bouncing between different apartments, we met Susan and her husband Daniel. We helped them carry their groceries in, and explained who we were and our purpose. They expressed many of their beliefs, which are exactly what we believe. Yesterday, we went to their house--only a stone's throw away from the Gonzalez family--and to teach the the restoration. I'll admit, I really wasn't looking forward to it (I was scared to teach again). When we arrived, Susan was waiting at the door. The lesson flowed so easily, and she really understood. At the end, we all knelt to pray, and the spirit was so strong. We invited her to be baptized, and she fully accepted. She is preparing for June 22.
In the moments I have felt so alone, Christ has always been there to strengthen me. The more and more I am on my mission, the more I realize just how unworthy I am. I am not worthy to teach this message, and bear the name of Christ...at least not on my own. I am so weak without him. He paid that price for me though. He knows how to strengthen me. And no words will ever be able to express my grattitude for that.
I only hope that I can show it through my actions, and give the Lord all I've got these final 6 months. I want to run through the finish-line, and then keep running. Many of Heavenly Father's children are out there who don't know their Father in Heaven. It is my prayer that I can bring them closer to Him.
This really is his work
I love you all! I'm sorry for the longer e-mail, but really these experience really meant a lot to me.
Love,
Hermana McClune
No comments:
Post a Comment