Elder Adams in Yakima: Week 32: In which Yolie receives a witness, Paul gets a tour, and we start teaching Brenda.

[written 2 Jan 2017]

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles

Happy New Year, dear family and friends! Estoy muy agradecido por la opportunidad que tengo hoy para compartir unos pocos milagros que hemos visto en el secundo barrio de Othello aqui. Pues, no son pocos, realmente. Me han mostrado que la mano del Señor esta moviendo en estes dias. ¡Que grandioso es el llamamiento nuestro como misioneros!

I am very thankful for the opportunity that I have today to share a few miracles that we have seen in the Othello 2nd Ward here. Well, they aren't just a few, really. They have shown me that the hand of the Lord is moving in these days. How grand is our calling as missionaries!

So, thus passes yet another week. However, this week was different from any other. Personally, I have seen more miracles and more progress in others this week then any other time in my mission. It starts with Nikita and Yolie. Despite her accident, Yolie was able to come to church yesterday! She also prayed about the Book of Mormon, and she got an answer. She knows it's true, and she knows the Lord wants her to be baptized. A family here, the Clays, have become good friends and have helped Yolie and Nikita a lot as they continue to learn about the restored Gospel.

We also talked to a really cool guy named Paul! He used to be looking into the church, but had to go to another city for a while. He came back recently, but sadly not into our area. However, we learned he was moving to a completely different city in a different mission the next day, so we got permission to teach him some. We showed him around the church building, and he was super excited! He said he was now super interested in looking into the church more, and wanted to attend church in his new city. He told us his address, we told him where the nearest church would be, and we then let the missionaries there know about him.

However, there was another miracle this week that was truly amazing: we met Brenda. To save time, I'll copy parts of this (rather lengthy) story from another letter (sorry!):

On Tuesday, we met Brenda and her family. Her previous husband was a Jehovah's Witness, but she did not like their beliefs. She had, however, heard really good things about the Mormons. Tuesday afternoon, she walked to our meetinghouse on the other side of town to try to find someone to help her out. She also wanted to start going to church with us. Finding no one at the first meetinghouse, she then walked all the way to the opposite side of town (past where she started) to the other meetinghouse. On the way, she chanced to run into a bishop from a different ward in the park. They talked, and he referred her to our bishop. He then helped her out a little bit to be able to get by, and invited her to church Sunday. 2-3 hours later, and to her great surprise, we knocked on her door. We had never heard of her before, and no one had told us about her trip just a few hours earlier. It was clear that the Lord had something in store for her. She had shown great faith and determination in her efforts to find us, and but a few hours later, we found her.

We have since been teaching Brenda and her family. A few days later, Brenda and her 10-year old daughter, Crystal, decided that they want to prepare for baptism on the 28th of this month. They later talked to the bishop of our ward, and they came to church Sunday. Crystal has so many questions, and they're all really, really good! On New Year's Eve, they had gone to a party at the local Nazarene church, and the church tried to convince them to attend there this past Sunday. However, they said that they had promised to go to the Mormon church the next day, and they would then decided which they liked. Sunday, Crystal said: "I want to go here next week." In our last lesson yesterday, Crystal expressed that she wished we could have "Mormon church" every day. After talking with the bishop, Brenda also wants to stop smoking now. They have a lot of potential.

Thus was our week. More people are progressing in the Gospel than I have ever seen before! Truly, the Lord is pouring blessings out on this area that there is "not room enough to receive them." I feel so blessed to be a part of it here with Elder Steadman! I feel indescribable joy when I think of it.

Love,

Elder Adams

[Questions from Editor Mom]

0. Your last transfer was a short one. Are we back to 6 week cycles, now? Do you know when the next one is? Last transfer was 5 weeks only, since the church has a flying blackout around Christmastime. To make up for it, this current transfer will be 7 weeks long, ending on Feb 1. Following that, the normal 6-week transfer cycle will resume.

1. What did you do for New Years Eve & Day? - Well, we made cookies on New Years Eve and delivered them (with short messages) to people we knew. We also had a really cool lunch with a member of the 4th (Spanish) Ward, Hermano Ramos.

2. How are you? Are you still staying warm? Are your shoes still holding up? - Yep, I'm still doing great, and I'm staying pretty warm! The gloves I came out with actually have a big rip inside for some reason, so while I can still use them, they are starting to die. I don't know how they got it, I promise. Don't worry, though, they still keep my plenty warm. I just have to be more careful. My shoes are also holding up.

3. Have you done anything lately to win the "Worst Guy" award? - Um, give me 30 seconds to check with Elder Steadman. (...) Oh, yeah. In his words: "You gave me a freaking upper respiratory infection. Yeah, that's all." So, I guess giving Elder Steadman my cold?

4. Send pictures, please! - Oh, fine. I'll try to get to it today.

5. How can we help you? - Give the Elders there hot chocolate in my honor. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I mean, you can, but you don't have to. Keep being awesome, and for reals, try to go out with the missionaries when you can. I know you've got a busy schedule, but we reaaally like members who want to go out with us a lot and are pretty willing to. Best if you can give them times that are generally best for you. Read your scriptures? I don't know, but those all seem like good things

And now... pictures!

#studytime
#giantspoon
#oatmeal
#readyourscriptures