Oi everyone!
This week was as per usual, a mixture of intensely spiritual moments and moments where I felt consumed & overwhelmed.
Lets only focus on the good though :)
So, this past week we taught 2 nonmembers P & Ia & 1 less active A with a member, L. With me so far?
Anyway, taught the 1st lesson on the Restoration & Sis C invited Ia to pray. She declined a bit bashfully, so Sis C turned to P & asked him to pray. He did so a bit hesitantly. As he started a humble simple prayer, the Spirit entered the room with so much force it was almost tangible. Halfway through the prayer P couldnt speak. His emotions were too strong & he began to cry. Ia then, continued the prayer, & started becoming emotional as well.
At the end of the prayer, we asked them how they felt. P responded that he felt like he was being hugged; Ia responded that she felt relief. Both their prayers left us all in tears & very overcome with the emotion & power of the sweet Spirit that could only be from Heaven.
Another tender experience was with an older investigator who came to church yesterday: O. He's a widower, in his late 70s, and lost his wife 13 years ago this past week. As I sat next to him in sacrament meeting, I asked him about a photograph on his keychain. It was a black & white photo of a beautiful girl I only assumed was his wife. It was.
A few minutes later, I saw him wipe the tears from his eyes as he said to me that when I sat next to him, he felt his long departed wife close to him. I reminded him of her & he said he felt so close to her during sacrament meeting. I looked into his old, tired eyes, with tears in my own, & bore my testimony in broken Portuguese.
"O, I know through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you will see your wife again. Its possible. Families are eternal & this is only a temporary separation. Death cannot separate you two from each other."
He began to weep & my heart broke into a thousand pieces.
This week was pretty rough, wont sugar coat it, but if theres one thing that this mission has taught me is that the Lord is ever aware of each & every one of us. Each & every one of his children anywhere in the world. And in our darkest hours, when we are drowing in grief & anguish that seems impossible to bear, He is ever closer to us. Ever attentive. Ever aware.
I love you all so much. Sorry if this email seems sanguine haha. I really am happy. Just pensive. And want so much for each of you to know that whatever issues, problems, trials, sufferings, no matter how grand or inconsequential, the Lord not only knows... Hes with you. So close to you. Sometimes the pavilion that covers us from our Savior is our own.
xoxo
Sister VerHoef
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