This week was slow again. We discussed what we could do better to have more success, but we feel like we are doing everything we can and just nothing is coming. Our investigators have been out of town, or hard to get a hold of, so we may have to try some other tactics. We do look forward to when Lavina is in town again and we had a miracle with Nahal this week that will allow us to be in her home more frequently. It is slow, but steady thankfully.
On Thursday morning, Nahal texted us and said that she was available for us to come over until 9:45, so we promptly gathered up our things and headed over to her house. She really opened up to us while we were there and she shared with us some of her biggest concerns (she is so busy) and we tried to help her figure out how she could make time for the Gospel. She shared with us that she wants to do more and show her gratitude to the Lord because she feels so loved and so special, but she just doesn't have enough time. We asked if there was any way that we could help her make time. She shared that her biggest problem was that her son, Keeyan is falling behind in school and she cannot help him because she learned everything differently in Iran and there is a language barrier. Both Sister Smith and I felt prompted to offer to come help Keeyan with his homework a few evenings a week. She and her mother both started crying when we made that offer. We are grateful that this opportunity presented itself. It will give us an opportunity to serve and also be in there home. It will provide us a way for Bob (Nahal's husband) to see us doing good things and benefiting his family. We are hoping that this will give Nahal a little more time and that we will be able to squeeze some lessons in before or after we help Keeyan. We are mindful that we will have to make more apparent our purpose to bring others to Christ and share the Gospel and we will try to keep that on the forefront of our minds and interactions with Nahal's family. Nahal told us that she had been praying the night before for an answer that she needed to be at church and that she had gotten it. She did everything in her power to make it to church but of course, the adversary. One of her employees did not show up for work and she had to go in to her daycare. Next time! As we were leaving, her mother (the one that is reading the Book of Mormon in Farsi and came to church even though she knows zero English) said that she thought God sent us.
We set a goal with the Lord to help us find a family to teach by November 1st. We are praying so hard that it will happen!
This week in my studies, I learned a lot. It was like an avalanche of knowledge. I feel like I am starting to understand the Atonement better and more appreciate the Savior. I also am learning that I have to do a lot more and at the same time, let the Savior to a lot more. One thing I learned is that I have to really pray and trust the Lord to help with the things I asked for. In Helaman 3:26-27 TENS of thousands of people were brought into the church because they sincerely asked the Lord in prayer and the church prospered. Additionally, in verse 35 of the same chapter, it says the people were sanctified, or made holy, "...which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God." They had to give all their deepest desires to the Lord and let Him fill them with His desires. Helaman chapter 4 was also very interesting to me. The Nephites had become wicked and as a result had lost a significant portion of land to the Lamanites. When they realized their folly, they repented and the Lord was able to help them recover some of the land that they had lost. But, they only "regained the one-half of their property." It just made me realize that we should simply get ahead and stay ahead. When we disobey God, we deprive ourselves of half of all the good things that we could potentially have. I know that when I have made mistakes, I may not have deprived myself of temporal blessings, but I am sure that I have lost spiritual blessings and also joy because I had to experience sorrow instead. I also read in Helaman 5 this morning and it just keeps getting better! Verse 10 discusses that we cannot be saved "in" our sins, only "from" our sins. "From" denotes a separation or moving away and it clicked this morning that repentance is the process by which we remove ourselves from our sins. I just had this great imagery of walking away from a heavy load and then the Savior being able to pick us up and taking us away so that we will never be plagued by that load again. But we have to take the first steps. I am so grateful for the Savior and His Atonement!
Love you lots and I am thankful for all you do!!
Love,
Sister Turley
Picture--Exchange #2! Sister Wawro, my mission sister (she was trained by Sister Cromar as well). I got to spend the day on South Whidbey--almost in the land of my nativity :)
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