Durango Week Ten
Hello, friends!!
HUGE MIRACLE THIS WEEK!! We had THE most incredible lesson of my whole mission. We met this man named Louie last Saturday and at first he wasn't super friendly. We knocked on his door looking for his ex-girlfriend, Laura, who we had records of the missionaries teaching a year or so ago. SO this bald, 40-something year old man opens the door and we ask for Laura and he goes, "She's not here anymore. She decided to make some bad choices." He seemed grumpy and maybe a little hostile, but we started talking to him and he softened up and we got to share the Because of Him Easter video with him and he LOVED it and we set up a return appointment to teach him more about Christ's restored gospel for the following Thursday!! Fast-forward to Thursday, about 4:12 PM and we drive up to his house and he's already waiting at his picnic table for us: first good sign. He wanted to know what made our church different so we taught him the Restoration. Before we started he was talking about how God sometimes sends him "head flicks" or "God shocks" to help direct him and he was basically describing how the Holy Spirit speaks to him. So we taught the Restoration and he was really engaged. He was amazed by the story of Joseph Smith because it wasn't what he had heard about the church before and it felt like it could be true. After we talked about the First Vision, the Spirit was SO strong. We bore our testimonies and he asked about how we knew it was true and while Sister Whipple was telling her story, she talked about the feeling she had when the Spirit testified to her of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and he said, "I imagine you felt a lot like I feel now." and I just !!!!!!!!!!! HE FELT IT!!!!! And he was SO excited about it!!!! It was one of those stories missionaries tell at their homecomings. It was SUCH a blessing to be a part of such a special and incredible experience for someone else and it was a great reminder that people can and WILL feel the Spirit speak to them as we teach them the message of the Restoration. I left that lesson with the biggest grin because I know the church is true and I know Louie's close to knowing it's true too. God is good. AND Louie came to church this Sunday. Miracles.
AND I got to go to Bloomfield again this week and work with Sister Withers!!! My lovely trainer, Sister Withers!!! It was SO fun to be with her again. And it was great to see more of my people. We visited one of our investigators, Kaylee, who's going through a super rough time right now. She was telling us about how she felt abandoned and forgotten by God ever since she was 9 years old and we got to testify to her that she is not forgotten. NO ONE is forgotten. I love the picture of Christ coming out of the tomb with his hand stretched out towards us and we showed it to her and talked about how Christ is reaching out to HER. We told her how we ended up knocking on her door in the first place 6 months ago (another miracle I'll have to tell you about some day) and I testified to her that it was her Heavenly Father that sent us. He lead us to her and He knows the message we share is one she needs. I know that He has a plan for each of His children. He's got one for you and He's got one for me and it's infinitely better than anything we could come up with on our own. He is SO good.
Another highlight of being back in Bloomfield: We had dinner with the Maloys and they didn't know I was gonna be there but as soon as Sister Maloy opened the door she gasped and gave me the BIGGEST hug. It was SO great. And then Brother Maloy saw me and said, "So they finally wised up and sent you back?" ha nope but it was nice to feel appreciated! I love those people.
One more highlight for the week: we had a big relief society (the women's organization of the church) activity on Thursday and it was INCREDIBLE. It was all about family history and temple work and there was a little program where 4 ladies spoke in front of us as if they were one of their ancestors and they told us their stories. At the beginning of the night we had all been given a name of someone who had already passed so after each lady told her story she said, "Does anyone have my name?" and then the sister that had her name stood up and went to sit by her. I guess for this to make more sense I should explain better. For members of the church, we have the beautiful opportunity of bringing names to the temple to perform saving ordinances (like baptism and confirmation and family sealings) on behalf of those who weren't able to do those things while they lived on earth. Since they no longer have a body themselves, they need someone to do it for them so that they can fully follow Jesus Christ and return to live with Him. The spirits we perform the saving ordinances for can then choose to accept of reject that ordinance, but by us helping them, every single one of Heavenly Father's children can have a fair chance to return to Him, even if they weren't able to accept Jesus Christ while they were on the earth. SO in the program, after a couple women had told their stories, a mom and her 2 daughters told their story together. They had lived hundreds of years ago and both of her daughters had died at young ages. Their family was waiting to be sealed so that they could be together for all eternity even though they weren't able to be together during their earth lives for very long. The mom and older sister asked if anyone had their name and two ladies did so they walked up to them and then the young sister (probably 9) said, "Does anyone have my name?" and NO ONE HAD IT. So she sat back down by herself. A woman that was conducting the program went up and said, "Do you see why it's important to research your family history? We can't let anyone get lost." There was not a single dry eye in the whole chapel. I don't know if I explained that all very well though so I'm sad I couldn't do it justice because it really was a great lesson. Even though it was all pretend, the point got across to everyone. As we do temple work we get to help Heavenly Father's children return home in their families and that's why it's so important that we research our family history and don't just take family names to the temple--we have to make sure we're finding everyone!! I was never great at family history, but Thursday night was just another reminder to me that it is Heavenly Father's work. Family history and temple work IS the work of salvation just as much as missionary work is. What a blessing that we can all be apart of uniting God's whole family!!
And if I didn't explain temples good enough, you can find out more about them here:
It's been a GREAT week here in Durango! I hope you are all doing well back home!!
Lots and lots of love,
Sister Bohman
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