Happy Labor Day! To be honest, it is kind of weird to be taking a holiday along with the rest of the nation (well, as much of a 'holiday' as we get on a mission!).
This week has been really, really awesome!!! We have seen so many miracles. And we are just so amazed that it has all come down to CONTACTING. As we have had goal-oriented contacts, really just looking at people with the ends of helping them come to Christ and be healed and be baptized, we have seen miracles soften their hearts and open them to receiving the invitation to accept missionaries. Last week, we saw a lot of miracles for other missionaries. This week, we saw a lot of miracles for Lake Nona North Spanish (that's us)!
The biggest one happened on Thursday night. That morning, we had an awesome district meeting about following the Spirit, asking inspired questions, and listening during contacts. We had just finished a lesson with our friend Pastor J and were heading out on our way to another activity. It had been a powerful lesson where we felt the Spirit strongly about the Book of Mormon specifically. As we were headed to our car, we stopped to talk to a mom sitting on the curb watching her kids. We talked to her and invited her to listen to the missionaries, but she said she was really busy with her schedule and the kids. As we were pulling out a card to give to her, I felt the need to testify of the power of the Book of Mormon. I gave her a Book of Mormon card and said something testifying of it. It is awesome because I don't even remember what I said. I know I was trying to listen, follow the Spirit, and ask inspired questions. The next thing we know, she was opening up to us about how she felt an emptiness in her life and just wanted so badly to feel better and to feel purpose again. It was one of the most powerful moments I have felt to kneel down in front of this stranger, look her right in the eyes, and testify to her from my heart that we were sent from God to help her fill her emptiness. We all felt the Spirit so strongly. We asked her if she had some time right then, and then we all sat on the curb and had a great lesson. She opened up to us completely about some of the things that her family was going through. We taught the whole thing in Spanish, and felt so strongly the power that the Gospel was going to have in her life. We invited her to be baptized on the 27th of September, which she accepted gladly. Her name is Sister G - she is from Guatemala and she has a husband and three kids. We went back to teach brother and Sister G on Saturday, where they were able to feel together the power that the message of the Restoration could have for their family.
We also stopped by to see the G's last night because they weren't at church yesterday. We came to find the family in a bit of a crisis - Sister G really wasn't doing well. It was another powerful experience to gather the family together and read from the Book of Mormon. In the course of reading just one chapter, we saw the whole atmosphere of the home change. We came in a moment of darkness and confusion, and the Book of Mormon left the home in a state of light and peace. Their 12-year-old son, J, said the family prayer to end our study. It was so awesome. They are so awesome. The Gospel is so awesome. I love being a missionary.
We also found another great Dominican family that we plan on visiting this week on Wednesday. Pray for them!
D. is doing awesome! (the one who got baptized in June) Their whole family came to church yesterday; they have made up their minds to come together. Hopefully this will lead to the baptism of her 3 kids!
Miracles are exploding all over the mission. The recent push to talk to everyone has truly been the "Hastening of the Work" here in Orlando, the Promised Land. It is really a marvelous work and a wonder to see all of these prepared people coming out of the woodworks and becoming investigators.
We also are teaching R and B. I am not sure if I told you about them before, but Bibliana almost got baptized before. They are now reading the Book of Mormon together. Pray for them too!
I am learning a lot lately about humility and following the Spirit. Lately, I have learned what it really means to follow the Spirit in the things I say. I feel so successful and satisfied as a missionary, because I know that I am relying more on the Lord than ever before. I am trying to do His work, not my own. And I have been so much happier. You know, I guess that is what humility means - to lean not unto our own understanding. I think that has been a big cause of the anxiety I have had before on my mission - relying too much on myself. When we rely on anyone other than the Lord, we are disappointed because humans are imperfect. And that includes ourselves! As I have been trying to trust the Lord and His Spirit, I realize that my imperfections don't actually get in the way as much as I thought they did. I still need to work on them, but we don't have to be perfect to take part in His perfect work. Cool stuff.
I love missionary life!!! Being a missionary IS the best day ever!!
Haha I love you all so much!!
Love, Sister/Hermana Kara Allred
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