Miracles

So this one is going to be a quickey!

This week was insanely fast and slow all at the same time. On Monday I.....had a really bad pain in my right shoulder that started spreading to my neck (due to a bike crash I had earlier last week) and ended up going to the doctor on Tuesday. He told me that I just had a interscapular muscle strain (or something like that) and prescribed a muscle relaxant pill, some type of antibiotic, and told me to rest for 2 weeks. Which means NO BIKE. At first, I was not too happy about that because we live half an hour from our area (sounds just like El Salvador, right?) and our area is ginormongous! But....God is blessing us with miracles.

I had two really powerful lessons this week. (Hence why I said we're being blessed with miracles.) One of our investigators, N_____, is starting to progress. She opened up and told us many things about her past and she shared her fears and she started crying and it was just....wonderful. She has so much trust in us and told us that she had never told anyone that stuff before. She also prayed at the end! We've been working three weeks on that! (Sister Perez and I. Her previous companion and her had also tried that before I came....) And she finally did it!!!! Talk about complete happiness. :)

The other lesson was actually with a less-active sister. Oh my stars--is she having trials or what?! But I told her that it's all in the Lord's plan and that He is giving her ample opportunity to turn to Him and receive more of His love and strength. We sang "Be Still My Soul" (which by the way is quickly becoming my new favorite hymn) and I about died from being overwhelmed with the Spirit. I sure hope and pray that she could feel it, too! There's a reason why we sing hymns in the Church. They invite the Spirit and the Lord can speak to us through the words....

The last miracle of the week. Because I went to the doctor, and my companion had some health problems, our area has been a little neglected this week. AND we're on foot, so we're not doing as much as we normally do. Anyway after lunch, we were going around, trying to contact people and we had a bunch of downers. We also tried talking to a couple of our investigators, but they weren't home. I was feeling so....pesada. There was one man in the park that just really got me. I testified with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, but he still went away thinking that he didn't need a Savior to save him. I (we) owe EVERYTHING to Jesus Christ. How can people not see that? It doesn't matter how good I am or how close-to-perfect I might be, I can never take myself to God's presence. I will never taste of exaltation if it weren't for my Redeemer and His selfless sacrifice.

Anyway, we were going to go and try to visit one of our more positive investigators and I was praying with all my heart that Heavenly Father could help us find a new investigator. Sister Perez has been sick and we hadn't been able to go out to work for two days. Our contacting numbers were horribly low and we had ZERO news. I was pretty down on myself. Well, just as I was praying in my heart specifically for that, I saw two women and a boy shoveling, what looked like dirt, off the sidewalk, closer to their house. I stopped and offered our service and at first it looked like they weren't going to accept. Then Sister Perez jumped in, grabbed a shovel and told the boy that he needed a break. I stopped and started talking with the mom.

Well. This lady.....I was meant to meet her. I've already set up an appointment to help her tile her floor and paint the office. She's......got this amazing story and she has four children--all over the age of 8. I was able to talk a little bit about our service as missionaries and a little about the Church. It was....amazing! And after we left (The lady, A______, was SUPER happy by the way....), I was in the best mood ever. I started talking fearlessly with everyone. The next few lessons we had were fantastic and I couldn't believe the difference in me.

Heavenly Father answers prayers! Especially when we ask for SPECIFIC things (like President Hintze has been telling us....). And He wants us to find His children. We had walked by that place several times before, but never had we talked to her or seen her before. What a miracle.

God will continue to use each of use as His miracle workers. I pray that this week all of you will pray for a specific "missionary experience" and have the courage to do what the Spirit whispers to you. I promise that as you do so, your faith will be strengthened and you will continue to increase in joy and love for others.

Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support. The mission is the best thing that a person can do in life and I hope you all remember that you don't need an actual name tag to serve a mission. We should all have them painted on our hearts like Neil L. Andersen said! I love you all! Have a fabulous week full of miracles!

Love Always,

Hermana McCulloch