Hey there! Sorry, I probably won't be able to send pictures in
Balakova since we write at a gaming internet cafe and they don't really
allow for you to download stuff. But I'll try. :) Thanks for sending me
all those pictures though, it helps so much to see your faces. :) It's
so crazy that Justin is back home!! I suppose Katie isn't super far
behind him too huh? Well she's probably got like 5-6 months still huh.
Man... and Aprils getting married! That's so exciting! He looks like a
good guy. Have you met him? I can't wait to see pictures of the wedding!
:) That's also so great that you got to go to the coast! Sounds like it
was a nice, peaceful time. Don't talk to me about the temple though
haha I can't think about it cause it hurts too much! Other than the
family, I miss the temple more than anything!!
Congrats to dad for his seniority... ahhah that's funny that the worker
didn't even ask... I don't think dad looks that old.:) The Turners will
be missed! It sounds like you sent them out well though. I'm glad you
all are having a good time over there at home :) and that you are
enjoying your callings. We have a really great ward mission leader here,
he really is our best friend/co worker. He calls every night and
throughout the day if he thinks of someone we could stop by or if he has
an idea. He really wants to make a difference and is truly our link to
the branch.
I'm so excited for halloween and the holidays!!! Only 2 months until we can skype!
I
don't really have a whole lot to say about this week. It's been a
mental/spiritual battle more than anything. Lot's of ups and downs and
all I really want to explain is that President's letter meant a lot to
me, that my efforts are not in vain, that they are counted and that I
must keep going. I haven't found or taught a new investigator in about
three months and in general we haven't seen any results of our work. I
was letting this get to me and Satan knows exactly what buttons to push
to get me into a hole of self doubt. And remembering all of the promised
blessing the Lord has promised to me specifically and to the mission I
was starting to wonder why we were having such a hard time. I kinda
broke friday night and saturday
morning. It took all of my faith just to leave the apartment and get
past the thoughts running through my head. But after that time of really
being rung out all I had left to do was just let it all go and give it
all to the Lord. And now the fire's back, the Dachney fire. The passion
and desire to shove it all back in Satan's face and kill it with
kindness, love, forgiveness, obedience and complete submission to the
Father. It was a hard week, but now I see that it was necessary.
My mission is so precious. Thank you! My love and appreciation for each of you grows every day.
Sister Johnson
Dear Elders and Sisters,
I have felt the Spirit in an amazing way the last couple of days,
and wanted to share some things with you before I list a few of the
incredible things that have been happening in the Mission. First, let me
thank you for your great display of faith. So many of you are working
very hard, even when immediate success does not seem to come. That is
the trial of our faith--when we work hard but see few rewards. Please
know that that cumulative faith and effort is having an effect on this
Mission and on the people who live in this Mission. I promise that your
work and effort are not in vain.
I have prayed that I might know
what the Lord authorized me to say, rather than just something I might
say on my own. I have felt grateful to have the Spirit verify that I was
authorized to make the promises set forth below. However, before
talking about those blessings, let me talk about the opposition to those
blessings. Satan is working as hard as ever. Every one of you who have
had lessons or baptismal dates fall through know that. While we have
seen a sharp decrease in "incidents" involving missionaries (only one in
the last few weeks with no injuries), Satan is working hard on us and
our investigators.
I would like to ask you all to do some things
to combat that. First, as you feel the effects of Satan in your own
life, cast him out. If necessary, get a priesthood blessing to help you
do that. Second, pray specifically for your investigators to be
protected from the influences of Satan. Ask the Lord that Satan will be
kept away from them. Remember specifically that "WHATSOEVER he shall ask
the Father in the name of Christ it SHALL be granted unto him" (Mormon
9:21). Pray that Satan will be cast away from your investigators and the
people you meet. Third, as you pray in your investigators' home, bless
their home to be a place which will be protected from Satan and where
the Spirit can dwell. Fourth, pray for not only your own investigators,
but the investigators throughout the mission. We must unite our prayers
against Satan on a constant, daily basis. Our entire Mission will be
blessed as we do this. Remember the scriptural promise: "Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
As we unite our
prayers and our faith in Christ, Satan's influences will be diminished,
and many more blessings will occur. Many more appointments will be kept
and baptisms will increase significantly. Elders, you hold the
Priesthood of God. Sisters, you have been set apart as missionaries by
the Priesthood. Have active faith and not just passive faith. As we
continue to work hard, miracles will continue to occur in
ever-increasing numbers. Also, as we all unite our faith and prayers,
the above-referenced things will be done.
Please remember to keep
making sacrifices! I read earlier today the following in the Lectures
on Faith, written by Joseph Smith: "Let us here observe that a religion
that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power
sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." The
Prophet then added: "Those, then, who make the sacrifice, will have the
testimony that their course is pleasing in the sight of God; and those
who have this testimony will have faith to lay hold on eternal life, and
will be enabled, through faith, to endure unto the end, and receive the
crown that is laid up for them." Remember that sacrifices are EXTREMELY
important.
And now for some wonderful miracles (with some profound teachings from some of your letters mixed in):
--"We
had a lesson set up for an investigator. He said he was bringing a
friend or two, so we agreed to meet at a cafe. We had a member join us
on the lesson. When we finally arrived and sat down, there was five of
us but it soon grew to 11 people as more of our investigator's friends
showed up and the table next to us also was interested in the
discussion. We taught the Restoration and bore our testimonies of the
Book of Mormon and of modern-day prophets. We received several contacts
and committed 3 to read the Book of Mormon. The spirit was there, and we
hope to have follow up meetings with all of them."
--"We talked
to a man about the Restoration and introduced the Book of Mormon to him.
Others came and started telling him that it was all wrong, but the man
stood up for us. We gave him the Restoration movie and he watched it
that night. The next day he met with us and his face was lit up. He said
that when he watched the movie, it all seemed right to him."
--"This
last week we saw miracle after miracle. Within 2 days we went from
having 0 investigators to having 3, all of which are referrals. Amazing
things are starting to happen in this city and it is incredible to
actually learn how to exercise faith more, implement it, and then see
some of the miracles that Heavenly Father can perform. Miracles do come
after the trial of our faith and we have seen that this last week, for
sure."
--"We've been trying to contact a certain potential
investigator who seemed very promising and we had little to no success
contacting him. But one night on our way back to the apartment, some
police officers stopped us and asked for our papers and we were almost
back home, so it was a little frustrating. But afterwards, we started
back home and ran right into our potential investigator and set up a
meeting! If the police officers hadn't stopped us we would have made it
home before our Potential came outside!"
--"The miracles that
have been happening are incredible! And the biggest miracle of all is
that we are missionaries and the Lord lets us be part of this great
work! As I walk down the street with different sisters, it never gets
old to say, "Sister . . . We're missionaries!" That gives us excitement
to keep going because we know for sure that the Lord will bless us."
--"One
day we were roaming the streets finding people to teach, when all of a
sudden a former investigator walked up to us. It's been a few years
since missionaries have been over, and he asked if we could stop by some
time. When we stopped by, we met his father who also is very
religious."
--(This one was fun for me because I got to
personally witness it)! We had been out contacting for several hours
without too much success. However, the Elders I was with kept talking to
everyone and literally minutes before our final appointment, we
approached a man who was standing by a bench. He turned out to be a
Baptist who hasn't been baptized yet! He was very interested in having
the missionaries come over and talk to him and his family.
--From
a Zone Leader: "We get at least one call every night from the district
leaders about a miracle. We set goals with them last Monday, and
surpassed each goal we set. I love this work. I love miracles."
--"This
week we decided to stay out until
9:30 every night. And the first night
we had just been talking about desiring to give more, even when we
don't have perfect faith. As we were standing there on the corner,
making a decision, the neatest woman walked by and told us she would
come to church. Well, one woman we met has been to church and has a
friend who is a member, and wants to come to our next activity, and just
every new potential we get seem to be more and more prepared."
--"President,
this week has been out of control! People are talking to us everywhere
they go, and last night a young woman even came up to us as she heard
another woman tell us she wasn't interested. We even fasted that one of
our investigators would come to sacrament. Until now, that's the only
commitment he hasn't been able to keep. And you know what? He came and
he watched Conference. He heard the words of our prophet and when it was
over he said . . . "I feel like the Apostles and Prophet are just like
my friends."
--"I am beginning to see waves of miracles and I
know the tide is going to change. Yesterday at church we had two random
people show up. One of the persons we have taught before and we had no
way to get hold of him, but he showed up and he agreed to meet later
that night. [They did and extended a baptismal challenge which he is
considering]. The second man we met on the street, and he told us that
he had read about some person named Moroni and he read about some
"Pearl" thing. He knew about the Pearl of Great Price! At church he said
he loved everything about it and he wants to come every week. Later
that day, he said he hasn't put the Book of Mormon down and he set up
two meetings with us!"
--"We prayed that God would give us a
miracle so that we could teach someone. We did phone calls from some old
potential lists, and no one wanted to talk to us. It was time to go,
but I felt the impression to call the last name on the list. [She wan't
home, but her daughter said she would call back]. About 20 minutes
later, that lady called. She wanted to meet with us and told us she
would meet that day at
3:00. We went to the church, and while we were
waiting, we were searching for something in the library and found a Book
of Mormon in Armenian. When the lady came, she came with two family
members. Her son in law had just had a heart attack a few days ago, and
they had been searching for a church that would pray for him. All of the
churches had turned them away, because they are Armenian. We taught
them the Restoration and related it to how they could help their family
member. They were all in tears. We were able to give them a Book of
Mormon in their own language because we had "happened" to find it 5
minutes before. They came to church
on Sunday. One of the ladies said
"This is the church where our children need to be baptized."
I
wish I could list more of what you have written, but this letter is
already very long. Sisters and Elders, we love you. Great things are
happening. Remember to do the four things discussed above to control
Satan's influences. I promise you that much greater blessings are
obtainable for our Mission. I promise that baptisms will increase
dramatically. As we continue to work hard, exercise our faith in Christ,
and pray fervently for all of our investigators, incredible miracles
will happen.
We love you all. Thank you so much for the work you are doing.
Love,
President & Sister Schwab
