Durango Week Eight

Hello, friends!! This week has been LONG! I'm positive that I've never been more tired in my LIFE, but it's been SO good!!

Highlights...

-Tuesday we had an INCREDIBLE lesson with a man named Terry. We met him a LONG time ago and have had the hardest time finding a time that worked for both of us and Tuesday finally worked out. We met at the church and he brought his Bible with him and the whole time he was looking up scriptures that went right along with what we were saying. Like we were talking about the Great Apostasy and he flips to a scripture and says, "So then do you think that's what this verse is talking about?" and it was just so neat. And he thought it was really special how the church today has that structure just like Christ's church, with a prophet and 12 apostles. And the whole time we were completely in awe at how amazingly prepared this man is.

-Wednesday we had another great lesson with a returning member named Lisa. She's been trying to get back to church for a couple years now and we've finally started really making headway with her. AND GUESS WHAT? She came to church on Sunday AND has been reading from the Book of Mormon AND has been praying every morning. Sincerely doing those 3 things is practically a perfect recipe for staying connected with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We are so excited for her!

-Thursday we met the most question-filled man I've ever seen. We were talking to him on his porch and he had SO MANY QUESTIONS, which is definitely not a bad thing but he would ask a question and then ask ANOTHER one while we were in the middle of answering the previous one and it was a tad bit overwhelming but we finally got him settled down a bit so we could get some decent words in and he seemed really interested in what we believe so that was neat. And I had been feeling pretty tired before that encounter, but he definitely woke me up!

-Friday we met a neat lady named Barbara and we got to help set up for a big regional pinewood derby that one of our investigators was in charge of. It was super fun because we had this little assembly line for making these lanyard name tag things and it brought me back to my early assembly-line days from my childhood (who am I kidding, I'm still a child) when we would help Mom with Etta's Book Club packages and PTO stuff and putting together Girl Scout cookie orders. Basically, it was just lots of fun. And thanks Mom for showing me the beauty of assembly lines from a young age! 

-Saturday was INSANE! I did the counting in my head and we talked to 43 people (only 8 of them were people we'd already met). That's a LOT of people. I was really tired, but it was definitely a great day. We met lots of people with lots of potential!! 

-Sunday's big miracle came from the topics chosen for the talks during sacrament meeting. Every single one was about enduring to the end. The last talk was especially what I needed after this long and tiring week: he was talking about this huge car race he did one time and how their car kept breaking down, but all they wanted to do was finish the race before the deadline. A couple time him and his teammates got discouraged and wanted to quit, but he said, "No matter how many times you break down, no matter how many bumps in the road you hit, it's ALWAYS worth it to finish the race." It was almost like I could hear my Heavenly Father telling me, "You're tired and feel a little broken down and it's hard to imagine going any farther, but it IS worth it to finish this race." And I needed that.

Another significant moment this week that I've thought a lot about was earlier in the week we were talking to this man and we asked him if we could pray with him and he goes, "What gives you the authority to talk to God?" and it caught me off guard for a second. I wasn't sure if he was serious at first, but he was. I've thought about that moment a lot the past few days. I know I am a very imperfect being and I know I really am not worthy of communicating with God, since He is completely Perfect. But we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, and I know that although we are imperfect, He is our Advocate with the Father. He bridges the gap between us when we come unto Him. But besides that, I know that God really is our Heavenly Father. I know that He WANTS and LOVES to hear from His children. I am so grateful to know that He is always just a prayer away and that He really does hear me. And I know He hears each and every one of you. He loves us more than we can comprehend!

I hope you've all had a wonderful week! Thanks for all the prayers!! :)

Lots and lots of love,

Sister Bohman

Some nice things to read...

-"Has the Day of Miracles Ceased?" from October 2017 General Conference

-Helaman 5

-Doctrine and Covenants Section 122

-President Russel M. Nelson's talk from April 2017 conference (here's one of my favorite parts: "Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to do things we otherwise would not do. Faith that motivates us to action gives us more access to His power.")