Mission Life #75 Last but not LEAST

Maandag, 6 augustus 2018

Goedemiddag!!!

This last week was honestly a little rough. My companion is struggling, so it was hard for me to stay motivated. Luckily my district is just freaking awesome.. A lot of lessons fell through, but we had some great lessons I want to talk about. 

First of all: P. family. I think I told you about them, if I haven't already, well I freaking love them. They are so so cute. We had an amazing lesson and we invited the 9-year old to be baptized. She accepted and she was so happy! In her prayer she thanked God that she could finally be baptized. Mijn dag kon niet meer stuk. Then we went to A., our other progressing investigator. We are really good in following the Spirit with him. We teach him what he needs. He is in a divorce and he is having a hard time. We listened (trust me he talks a lot so it was een hele opgave) and shared scriptures he needed to hear. The next time he felt so much better! We wanted to talk about the plan of Salvation, but we kept talking about the gospel and about baptism. The spirit was so strong. It was building up. On the crescendo we invited him to be baptized. He said yes! We invited him for the first of September. He couldn't say no, but also couldn't say yes. But it made him think. It was so amazing!!! It has been a while since I've felt the Spirit that strong. We should never be afraid to follow the Spirit.

We stopped by another investigator we hadn't seen in a while. She is a daughter of a member and she goes to church because of her mom. Her heart is not open. And trust me, we've prayed so much! We just felt like it was all her now. So we were there. She just woke up (people sleep here all the time! Even when it's like 3 or 4 or 5 pm) and she was not having it. Short answers. I got really mad inside and I told Heavenly Father I did not know what to do. We felt like we should just get to know her. So she loves movies! Especially cartoons and animation. We talked about Disney for probably too long (you all know I LOVE Disney). Then I felt prompted to share a Mormon message. Listen carefully, a Mormon message. I told her let's watch one, without knowing which one. Then sister Spencer had one. Shower of Heavenly blessings. It started raining. And our investigator just loved it so much! She completely opened up. I think we just need to teach her like a kid. We've not been teaching her in the way she needs to be taught. It was amazing to see the difference. I think she can really feel our love for her. Also my companion and her are going to read the Book of Mormon in Dutch in 6 weeks. It's a race. Really hard one haha. 

I shared this with my mom and dad and I want to share it with you too. It's in Dutch. 

We hadden de familie P. (van Guyana I love them so much!) uitgedaagd om hun getuigenissen te delen gisteren. Dus 2 van ze hebben dat gedaan, inclusief degene die nog niet gedoopt is! Ze zei in haar getuigenis dat ze me zal missen. I cried en toen liep ik naar voren. De Geest gaf me de dingen die ik moest zeggen. Na afloop kwam er een zuster naar me toe en ze was in tranen. We omhelsden elkaar en huilden. Ik vind het zo moeilijk om vaarwel te zeggen. Ik kan het gewoon niet uitleggen. Saying goodbye is the hardest thing ever. It feels like home! In the song 'prayer of the Children'  it says 'help me to feel the love again for my own land'. I am scared honestly, but I pray that I can and may feel this same love for my own land, Nederland.

I just want to close with my testimony. I've shared my testimony every single day. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. I've learned on my mission that Joseph Smith has done more save Jesus only for the salvation of men that has ever lived upon the earth (DC 130:5 or something). Because of the Restoration, we can be restored with God, we can be connected, protected. Because of Joseph Smith the plates were translated. Because of the diligence of olden day prophets we can read the words that we need to read so we can receive answers to our prayers and questions. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. 

I've asked Heavenly Father multiple times. The Book of Mormon is my compass and it will always be. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. He has done so much for me. He has raised me up. I'm a perfectionist, but I've learned that I cannot and don't need to be perfect. That's why we have Christ. 'Come unto me and be perfected in me is what moronic tells us. What ever you are facing right now, Christ is there. By his grace you can do it! Grace is the enabling power to do whatever HE wants you to do. I know He lives. I'm so grateful that I have served my mission. I'm going to miss Suriname and Bonaire so so much. I know it has blessed my life more than I could ever imagine. I've learned more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This is the way. He is the way. If you've lost your way, find Christ! He is always there. Work hard pray often! In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Vaarwel!!

Lobi,
Zuster Spijkerman