Mission Call

Mission Call

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Darkness Before the Dawn

So Sorry! Mom (me) totally forgot to post this on Monday the 18th. OOPS! Enjoy!

So, I totally stole that subject line from my brilliant little sister. She knew how to describe this week without even knowing what this week entailed! I guess that's just the Lord's pattern, though. There's always darkness before the dawn. But dawn comes, no matter how dark it is. Light always comes. And I just love looking for the miracles that are just hiding around the corner! I want to start off by saying that Christ heals broken hearts. Completely and without a scar. My heart was broken and aching last week for those that I love. Now my heart is full beyond comprehension. I can't even say what I feel right now. A pretty adequate expression on my feelings are found in Alma 26:16. Look it up. He says it better than I could.
So, this week was amazing if you can't guess. There was still craziness in the beginning of the week. Let's just say I was on exchanges with another sister for 4 days straight before she went home. I didn't get to see Sis. Larsen until Tuesday. And it was crazy. But I love that Sister and I'm praying for the best for her as she makes her journey back into the real world (how terrifying!). 
On Wednesday we got to teach a former investigator! We didn't get to pick her up as a new investigator because she's super busy, but we did get to teach her about Jesus Christ! And it was the best! She's from India and has little understanding of who Christ is, and she said she wanted to learn more! She's great :) Then we checked out a referral from the Elders named Irenda. Oh my goodness. She has the SASSIEST little four year old girl EVER! She's great ha-ha. We picked Irenda up as a new investigator after testifying of the healing power of the Atonement. That family needs a lot of healing. And it's going to come :) They're so great! Ha-ha, they make mission life hilarious. Then we raced the Elders home and totally won because our Tiwi (the car monitoring system thing) wasn't working. Beat that, Elders! ha-ha don't worry, we were being safe. You still gotta have fun on a mission. No, I'm not acting my age and I probably never will :) 
We also got to have INTERVIEWS with President! Oh how I love seeing him smile and laugh and joke around. That man has so much to deal with, but he's doing it all because of the Savior! He's great! I was told that when missionaries are assigned to a mission, they're most likely assigned to that area because of their mission president. So, I was basically assigned to President and Sister Christiansen, and I'm totally down for that ha-ha. On our way back from interviews, we had to get our oil changed and this 56 year old man starts walking up to us and starts hitting on us. We talked with him the entire time our car was being working on (at least 2 hours) and his heart was softening to the gospel and we got to sign him up to meet with the Elders in Annapolis!!! Yay! It was so cool! Though he was kinda creepy at first, he still needs the gospel in his life and I'm so glad we were able to share that with him. So good.
     Okay, are you ready? Because what I'm about to tell you next is just miracle overload. We got to go to MLC on Saturday and meet with all the leaders in the mission. It was amazing as always. And we got to go to a Just Serve training, a new program the church is trying to start on the East coast (it's already been started in most parts of the US). Super cool. I got to see some members from my last ward in Martinsburg. Shout out to the Keogans! Then, Sis. Larsen and I decided to tract. It was really weird. She really doesn't like knocking doors, and I'm not too fond of it, but the Spirit prompted us as we were about to get in the car to knock this one street. It's, like, 8:30pm and dark. If the Spirit hadn't prompted us, we totally wouldn't have even thought of doing it. But luckily he did. We knocked. We got chased away by a dog and skipped a house. Knocked some more. Nothing big happened. We get to the end of the road and ... nothing. But we felt prompted to go back to the house with the dog. Scary. But we did it. And this sweet lady from Italy opens up. She's been meeting with the Jehovah’s Witnesses because her sister asked her to, but she feels like they're too pushy. She said we could come back. We'll totally start teaching her next week :) All because the Spirit prompted us to knock :) 
   But wait, there's more! God is so good! Yesterday we got to have dinner with our Relief Society president and her family. It was like Thanksgiving in April. And the best part was that we got to bring Bill, a man someone referred us to who is a sweet old man who's super lonely and needs the gospel :) We brought him; they loved him; the Spirit was so strong. He's our new investigator :)
And there's more! We come out of that appointment and we have two voicemails. One was from Theresa, our investigator, and I'll get back to that one. And the second one was from a member family, the Chuggs, who live next door to our investigator Suzie. They were over at Suzie's house just talking, and Suzie didn't know she was being recorded in our voicemail. They're just having a normal conversation when Suzie says, "Do you all hold baptisms on weekdays?"...... wait for it... "... because I've been thinking about getting baptized on May 2nd..." !!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS EVERY MISSIONARY'S DREAM. So, yeah. We just sat in the car and cried tears of joy. Her heart has softened. And she's going to be getting baptized on the 2nd. And I'm so grateful for that family for calling us, listening to the Spirit, and leaving us that voice mail.
But wait, there's even more!
We called Theresa back and she just nonchalantly says that she and her fiancée are planning on getting married this Saturday and she's planning on getting baptized this Sunday and if it can't happen this Sunday, then next Sunday.... wait, what?! Long story short, Sister Larsen and I are planning her wedding and she's getting baptized. So, there's that... They don't teach you how to plan weddings in the MTC...
MIRACLES! I can't even begin to describe the joy I'm feeling. There's so much joy. There's joy in the hard times, but the hard times, the pain and suffering there, allow so much more joy to come in the future. And I'm so grateful for my trials because they allow me to recognize the good. 
I am just so happy.
Every time I think about that voicemail, I want to start crying. Theresa is finally getting baptized! She's been investigating the church for a year now and it's finally happening. The work is Hastening! And the best part is: it has nothing to do with me. I didn't do anything. I worked and I worked and I worked. I've been obedient and I'm trying to improve. And God did everything to provide me with these miracles. 
God is good. All the time. Thank you all for your prayers. I know most of this is directly from your prayers. Thank you! You are changing lives, healing hearts, and working miracles!
Be Blessed.
Scripture of the Week: D&C 103:36
Quote of the Week: "We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count." - Neal A. Maxwell
Love, 
Sister Humphrey

Sorry, no photos this week. This computer is weird. Love you all!