October 15, 2013

Dear family,

Another transfer has passed and I am still here in Lake Wilderness Ward with Sister Margaritis. That will make 4 transfers together as companions and Sister Margaritis will have been here for half her mission! That's not the norm, I don't think. We are so very grateful to stay. I feel so strongly that there is more I need to do here. I feel more inspired and motivated to work hard and diligently to find those who are being prepared to here the message of the Restoration.

It's been a great week. Have I told you about Lachelle? She is a lady that President Eaton met at the laundromat a few months ago. He called us and asked us to go visit her, because the laundromat is in our area. The first night we met her, we weren't really sure what to do or say, so we ended up just offering to come help her close the laundromat some nights and she happily agreed. Lachelle is great. She has such a fun loving personality. We have now gone a few times and helped her, but never really had the opportunity to share a message. On our last visit, her two sons were there helping her close, but we just joined in and started sweeping. At one point Lachelle went outside to smoke and we followed her out, because we were talking with her. After a few moments of just talking, she began asking us questions about some of the rules we follow as missionaries. This led into her asking us questions about our religion, and this led into a full blown discussion about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This night may have been the most exciting and satisfying moment of my whole mission thus far. There were points in out discussion where Lachelle was teaching herself about the apostacy, how, because we are all human, we all interpret God in a differing way, explaining why there are so many churches and why they do not all agree with each other. This led to her asking, "So what makes your church so different?" Probably one of the most golden questions we could get from anybody! After explaining the restoration and Joseph Smith's experience in the grove (having God the Father and His son Jesus Christ explain that none of the churches were true and that Joseph was to restore Christ's church upon the earth), she asked, "And how can I know this is true?" Another golden question! Seeing how Heavenly Father has prepared Lachelle to receive the message of the restoration was inspiring to me. She has a sincere desire to find truth in her life. We explained to her about the Book of Mormon and showed her the promise in Moroni 10:3-5. If we read the Book of Mormon and pray and ask if it is true with a sincere desire to know and act upon that knowledge, God will bless us with an answer, and we can know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and that Joseph Smith really was a prophet! Lachelle told us she was glad she let her come to us instead of trying to force out religion upon her. She said she had been trying to bring it up for a while, but was too nervous, and we said the same about ourselves! We reflected on this and thought about how inspired that had been. Our own nervousness and shortcomings made it so that Lachelle could come to us at the right time. The Lord truly knows us so well. Even though we felt that we were failing sometimes as we did not share a message with Lachelle, the Lord was prepared for our weaknesses and blessed us with this miracle. As long as we do our best, the Lord provides a way for miracles! We still have not followed up with her, but we will soon!

We met with Nancy this week and we were able to talk with her about her decision to stop meeting with us. She had a dream where she went to another church and didn't feel good about it. Although we still have a good friendship with Nancy, we were sad as we said goodbye and left. I wish desperately that she wanted to hear more. We have more to teach her and I know this would bless her life and her family's. Even if Nancy does not change her mind while I am here as a missionary, this experience has given me more motivation to be a more powerful teacher, to not be afraid to open my mouth and share right away my beliefs with the people meet. I am so grateful for the ways in which the Lord is changing me. My desire to share the gospel continues to grow each day. I am receiving so much more than I am giving. Learning to truly rely on the Lord in all things has been somewhat of a challenge. I tend to doubt myself a lot. But as I remember the promises in the scriptures about trusting in the Lord and putting our faith in Him, I find peace and comfort, and I can keep moving forward.

We met a man named Ziggy while we were tracting Sunday night. Most of our conversation was of him bearing his testimony to us of the Bible and his belief in Jesus Christ. What a powerful man! He is about 70 years old, from Poland, and pretty tiny. He kept telling us to read Psalms 32:8. "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye." Although he really did not want to hear about the Book of Mormon (he was born-again Christian), he was inspiring to us! I'm not sure that we inspired him much, but we were so glad to have met him!

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is an amazing thing, something so amazing it is fairly incomprehensible!  How grateful I am to know that He sacrificed for me so that I could return to live with my Father in Heaven, eternally, with my family! I am so grateful for the apostles and the prophet. I know Thomas S. Monson is our prophet on the earth today! I know this is Christ's church. I love you all, and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family!

Love,

Sister Mecate