HI!!
So this week was Stake Conference and we had an apostle come, Elder Nelson. It was a great experience and we had three investigators come who got to see the apostle speak. After the meeting everyone went up to shake his hand. When I went up to talk to him, he gave my nametag a weird look and asked what it was. I told him it was in Mongolian. He told me that country is a great place (we went there last year to dedicate their first stake). It was so cool!
Anyway, you know that family we were teaching and how they wouldn't get married. President told us to drop them at interviews if they still wouldn't get married. Well, that night after interviews, we went over to their house with the resolve to do as he asked. But Satan sure puts up a good fight. First, they had bought pizza for us and then they got each of us a necklace, that says "Jesus is Love". Satan was not going to make this easy for us. We've come to love them and see how they've gained a testimony of the church. So we sat there eating pizza, and shoving our face with food because we were stressed out. They had gotten all these things for us and we were going to have to say we couldn't come over anymore. After they were done eating we pulled out a calender for the month of January and laid it on the table. We then told them to pick a date for baptism and for marriage. Ron said that he wouldn't do it so we started to resolve concerns one more time. We made it very clear to him that sex outside of marriage was a sin. We told him that God had answered his prayers to get married. He told us that he knows that. We told him that the best way to break free from his past bad experiences was to marry the woman who had been with him for four years and who loved him. He told us that over the past few days, he had been praying for help and he has realized that, that wall (fear and pain from experiences) was gone. He told us that the thing holding him back is that he wanted to do it his way by fufilling his dream (perfect wedding, proposal, etc). Then one of my favorite scriptures came to mind (Mosiah 2:20-23) which lists a portion of what God does for and has done for us and that all he asks from us is to keep his commandments and then he promises to give us more. So I poured my heart and soul out to him and told him that God has given him EVERYTHING and that He even sent his perfect son to die for his sins! This was the first time that I truly spake from the heart and bore my sincere testimony in a lesson. I said, with tears in my eyes (of course-I always cry), that all God asks from us is to keep his commandments and that can't even scratch the surface of what he has done for us. I pleaded with him to try, try to pick a date. When I spoke to him, I could feel the overwhelming love that Heavenly Father had for him and I hadn't really experienced it in this way before. So I laid my heart out on the table and told him to pick a date. The Spirit was so strong! We probably waited a good minute while he looked at the calender and he was soooo close, so close to picking a date. I could see the fight going on in his head. But then he decided to slap his Savior in the face and told us that he couldn't do it. He didn't want to give up his dream. I felt like my heart broke. I haven't had that feeling very many times. He loved his Savior and he knew that this was the true church and he really wanted to get baptized and to be with his family forever. But he was giving all that up for a dream to have a perfect wedding on his timetable.
So then Sis. Ellison told him and his girlfriend that we couldn't meet with them (I was just trying to keep it together with bursting into tears). We would stop by every so often but we couldn't come over every night to teach them. It was probably the hardest thing i have ever done or experienced. I didn't feel sorrow for myself and how I was missing out on two baptisms (which would have been my first) but how they were missing out on the blessings and how they were disappointing God. As we left, I could barely hold it together and when we got back to the car, I broke into tears. While we were driving back to our next appointment, Sis. Ellison just comforted me in the backseat. I know that I sound pathetic but they were so close! If they had been married they would have been baptized by now, that's how close they were.
The thing I learned from that experience was that I realized what potential I have as a missionary to teach and to love.
Satan is not making my mission easy for me. But I know that the blessings will come for enduring it well. My mission has been one trial of my faith after another and it will just get harder. But I can see how God is putting me through the refiner's fire and turning me into my greatest potential, into a diamond.
Love you all! The church is true so keep the faith because that is all the God asks of you!
Love, Sister Sumsion
Tuesday, January 19
Monday, January 11
Wow, this has been the craziest week of my mission!!
Hi!!!
This has been the craziest week of my mission! So in the last week's email I mentioned a guy, who accepted a date to be baptized. Well, we went back two days later to teach his wife the first lesson. She accepted a date too! We also found out that the oldest child is eight years old. We went back again this week and taught them the plan of salvation with a cute married couple who are members. We focused a lot on eternal families and by their body language it seemed to be something that they really wanted. We asked the member couple to bear their testimony about being an eternal family and it brought the spirit so strong. They've been reading the BofM and the husband (they're the Franklins) has been talking to church members at his work about the BofM. The struggle with them (and their always seems to be something that hinders an investigator and could keep them from getting baptized) is they both have crazy work schedules and the usually work on Sundays. For someone to get baptized they have to come to church at least twice. So we are praying really hard that when they get their schedules on Thursday that they will have sunday off because this weekend is Stake Conference and Elder Nelson, an apostle, is coming.
We are also teaching another family, the Dikemans. We started teaching this family awhile back but only the boyfriend was interested in learning more and the girlfriend wasn't interested but liked us coming over. Neither were too excited about baptism when we asked if they wanted to be baptized the first time we taught them. Since the first time we taught them, which was over a month ago, we've only met with them 2-3 times. We decided to do a "do or die" lesson with them on Monday night. Which means that if they won't commit to setting a goal to be baptized that we won't meet with them again and use that time to look for more solid investigators.
That night, we asked the boyfriend during the lesson if he believes that this is Christ church. He told us that he does and that he knows it's true. (That's music to a missionaries ears!!) The girlfriend, Angela, seemed more interested during this lesson so we committed her to find out for herself it was true. We set a baptismal goal with them for the 17th (the same for the Franklins too.) An important thing with teaching people, is to have daily contact with them so that they can continually feel the spirit and will know that being baptized should be a big focus. A couple of days later we did a church tour with them so that we could get them in the church building and that they could feel the spirit there. This time the roles switched. The girlfriend seemed super excited about church and the boyfriend seemed nervous. (He has social anxiety so large groups are a problem for him.) The next day at our next lesson, the girlfriend told us that she had a dream the night before the church tour. That night she had been praying about the church and in that dream she was getting baptized. She said that when we opened up the font at the church tour, it was just like in her dream. When she said that, I almost cried! I could see that joy on her face and her strong desire to want to get baptized. Now she is so solid and is doing everything we ask of her so that she can get baptized!
However, during that lesson, they broke out into a small fight about how they've been together four years and with two kids and how they still aren't married. Our eyes were so huge! We thought that they had been married the whole time. We didn't want to tell them that they would have to get married if they wanted to be baptized. Because they were soooo excited about baptism and we thought that we were safe for the 17th. So that night we prayed so hard that God would give us the strength and courage to be bold with them when we taught the law of Chastity and told them that they had to get married since they are living together under common law. The problem is with the boyfriend. He's had bad experiences with past girlfriends that keep him from wanting to get married because he doesn't want history to repeat itself. The girlfriend is all for it and would do it tomorrow if he said yes. We were able to tell him that he needed to get married. He wants to but not yet. But they both came to church on Sunday which was a first for me. All I can tell you is that it is super stressful having investigators at church because you are worried about someone saying something about deep doctrine. We are praying really hard for both families to help them overcome their road blocks and can reach their baptismal date of Jan 17th.
But it has been wonderful to have someone to teach but, man, having investigators is so stressful. I always think to myself, "I prayed for this!?"
Remember the church is true so keep the faith!
Love Sister Sumsion
This has been the craziest week of my mission! So in the last week's email I mentioned a guy, who accepted a date to be baptized. Well, we went back two days later to teach his wife the first lesson. She accepted a date too! We also found out that the oldest child is eight years old. We went back again this week and taught them the plan of salvation with a cute married couple who are members. We focused a lot on eternal families and by their body language it seemed to be something that they really wanted. We asked the member couple to bear their testimony about being an eternal family and it brought the spirit so strong. They've been reading the BofM and the husband (they're the Franklins) has been talking to church members at his work about the BofM. The struggle with them (and their always seems to be something that hinders an investigator and could keep them from getting baptized) is they both have crazy work schedules and the usually work on Sundays. For someone to get baptized they have to come to church at least twice. So we are praying really hard that when they get their schedules on Thursday that they will have sunday off because this weekend is Stake Conference and Elder Nelson, an apostle, is coming.
We are also teaching another family, the Dikemans. We started teaching this family awhile back but only the boyfriend was interested in learning more and the girlfriend wasn't interested but liked us coming over. Neither were too excited about baptism when we asked if they wanted to be baptized the first time we taught them. Since the first time we taught them, which was over a month ago, we've only met with them 2-3 times. We decided to do a "do or die" lesson with them on Monday night. Which means that if they won't commit to setting a goal to be baptized that we won't meet with them again and use that time to look for more solid investigators.
That night, we asked the boyfriend during the lesson if he believes that this is Christ church. He told us that he does and that he knows it's true. (That's music to a missionaries ears!!) The girlfriend, Angela, seemed more interested during this lesson so we committed her to find out for herself it was true. We set a baptismal goal with them for the 17th (the same for the Franklins too.) An important thing with teaching people, is to have daily contact with them so that they can continually feel the spirit and will know that being baptized should be a big focus. A couple of days later we did a church tour with them so that we could get them in the church building and that they could feel the spirit there. This time the roles switched. The girlfriend seemed super excited about church and the boyfriend seemed nervous. (He has social anxiety so large groups are a problem for him.) The next day at our next lesson, the girlfriend told us that she had a dream the night before the church tour. That night she had been praying about the church and in that dream she was getting baptized. She said that when we opened up the font at the church tour, it was just like in her dream. When she said that, I almost cried! I could see that joy on her face and her strong desire to want to get baptized. Now she is so solid and is doing everything we ask of her so that she can get baptized!
However, during that lesson, they broke out into a small fight about how they've been together four years and with two kids and how they still aren't married. Our eyes were so huge! We thought that they had been married the whole time. We didn't want to tell them that they would have to get married if they wanted to be baptized. Because they were soooo excited about baptism and we thought that we were safe for the 17th. So that night we prayed so hard that God would give us the strength and courage to be bold with them when we taught the law of Chastity and told them that they had to get married since they are living together under common law. The problem is with the boyfriend. He's had bad experiences with past girlfriends that keep him from wanting to get married because he doesn't want history to repeat itself. The girlfriend is all for it and would do it tomorrow if he said yes. We were able to tell him that he needed to get married. He wants to but not yet. But they both came to church on Sunday which was a first for me. All I can tell you is that it is super stressful having investigators at church because you are worried about someone saying something about deep doctrine. We are praying really hard for both families to help them overcome their road blocks and can reach their baptismal date of Jan 17th.
But it has been wonderful to have someone to teach but, man, having investigators is so stressful. I always think to myself, "I prayed for this!?"
Remember the church is true so keep the faith!
Love Sister Sumsion
Monday, January 4
"After the trials, come the blessings"
Hi!
I forgot to mention transfers from last week. Sis. Soldinger was transferred to Colorado Springs and me, Sis. Yancey and Ellison were put into a threesome. Being in a threesome is a difficult challenge. Teaching together seems to be the hardest because everyone wants to say something but you don't want the lesson to drag on forever. But we've been practicing to polish our teaching.
Anyway, after three months of struggling to find people, our teaching pool seems to be growing at a fast rate. I mentioned a less-active mother and her son last week. That fell through because we tried several times to get a hold of her and we were unsuccessful. We left our number with the uninterested, nonmember husband and told them to give us a call if she wanted us to come over.
But here come the miracles, last night we were tracting right before a dinner and we knocked on this guy's door. We told him about the BofM and asked if we could teach him more. He said that he was busy now but to come back later. So we came back after our dinner and he was shocked to see us. (I guess they think we won't come back) He let us in and we taught him a first lesson. (He is in his early 30s and has two kids-hopefully one is over the age of eight) When we extended the baptismal commitment after the 1st vision he accepted and accepted Jan 17th to be baptized. (We always extended baptism and a date on the 1st lesson, helps us see who is really ready and commited. We give them a date to work towards to, like a goal.) The spirit was there and we could tell by his reactions and body language that he was feeling the spirit. When we asked him about the 1st vision and how he felt when we told it, he said that he didn't really doubt that it wasn't true. Those are great words to hear. So we are going back on tomorrow and we set it up so we could teach his wife too. We also have recent converts to teach (from other missionaries) and some other potential investigators that we found a few days ago. I actually feel like a real missionary now.
I keep trying to work on my faith especially in my faith to find the people who have been prepared to hear the gospel, because God has promised us that the field is white and that there are people ready. We just need to find them which he helps us do. Isn't that amazing, how God helps us accomplish his work. It seems a little backwards but that's how he works.
The church is true so keep the faith!
Love Sister Sumsion
I forgot to mention transfers from last week. Sis. Soldinger was transferred to Colorado Springs and me, Sis. Yancey and Ellison were put into a threesome. Being in a threesome is a difficult challenge. Teaching together seems to be the hardest because everyone wants to say something but you don't want the lesson to drag on forever. But we've been practicing to polish our teaching.
Anyway, after three months of struggling to find people, our teaching pool seems to be growing at a fast rate. I mentioned a less-active mother and her son last week. That fell through because we tried several times to get a hold of her and we were unsuccessful. We left our number with the uninterested, nonmember husband and told them to give us a call if she wanted us to come over.
But here come the miracles, last night we were tracting right before a dinner and we knocked on this guy's door. We told him about the BofM and asked if we could teach him more. He said that he was busy now but to come back later. So we came back after our dinner and he was shocked to see us. (I guess they think we won't come back) He let us in and we taught him a first lesson. (He is in his early 30s and has two kids-hopefully one is over the age of eight) When we extended the baptismal commitment after the 1st vision he accepted and accepted Jan 17th to be baptized. (We always extended baptism and a date on the 1st lesson, helps us see who is really ready and commited. We give them a date to work towards to, like a goal.) The spirit was there and we could tell by his reactions and body language that he was feeling the spirit. When we asked him about the 1st vision and how he felt when we told it, he said that he didn't really doubt that it wasn't true. Those are great words to hear. So we are going back on tomorrow and we set it up so we could teach his wife too. We also have recent converts to teach (from other missionaries) and some other potential investigators that we found a few days ago. I actually feel like a real missionary now.
I keep trying to work on my faith especially in my faith to find the people who have been prepared to hear the gospel, because God has promised us that the field is white and that there are people ready. We just need to find them which he helps us do. Isn't that amazing, how God helps us accomplish his work. It seems a little backwards but that's how he works.
The church is true so keep the faith!
Love Sister Sumsion
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