Sunday, July 19, 2015

Week 16 in San Fernando: My "refiner's fire" Week

Hey guys! I hope everyone has been enjoying the Book of Mormon;) Let's jump right into the week! This week has been quite challenging, but my companion and I have also been blessed to witness a lot of little miracles. During the week when Matias was accompanying us we passed by the internet cafe where we always write. I had almost forgotten about the woman who had asked us about the church and who we had failed to give an invitation or learn her name or her information. As we were passing by at about 8:40 I caught a glimpse of her closing up shop. I immediately stopped and told my comp we would not be leaving until we know her name, her number, and had given her a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet on the Restoration. We did just that, to which she greeted us warmly. After taking down her name, Marcela, and her number we went home almost floating. What a blessing to finally find her again after a week of searching in vain!

Murica!

I learned a great lesson through this experience. We had had the chance to give her the invitation and take down her information 2 times and hadn't taken advantage of such two times. God isn't going to provide us with blessings that we don't use. And so for a week we searched in vain, not only for the woman, but for Anyone. No one was home! No one was in the streets. Not even the members seemed to be around! And then, after I had pretty much given up hope that we would find her, or anyone, we were blessed to run into her. God answered our prayers. I only hope that next time I take advantage of the blessings from the start instead of waiting and suffering for not listening.

On the way to La Boca: Crossing 12 lanes of traffic



Later in the week we had the chance to visit with Marcela and get to know her better! We had scheduled to see her at 5 in the church. 5 rolled around and out of sight and she still hadn't come. I wasn't sure if we should wait or if we should leave, but I felt prompted that we needed to stick around. Stick around we did, and at 6 something Marcela came in. However, before she had showed up my companion and I had offered a kneeling prayer, asking Father to help Marcela to make it to the appointment. About 10 minutes later there she was, walking through the door. We had the chance to talk to her and explain a lot about who we are and what we do. She loved that we believed in personal revelation and that a prayer was a personal communication with God. It was wonderful to see how the spirit had touched her and prepared her for this moment.

Big soccer team here in Argentina!






On Saturday we got to see the Galarza family:) Silvia and Franz were there, and we taught them regarding temples and the importance of marriage, as it would later allow Silvia to be baptized and the two of them to be sealed in the temple as a couple for time and all of eternity. The next day the lesson in church was over temples and marriage. Coincidence? I think not!

Let's jump to Sunday morning. My companion and I were really looking forward to church, as we were expecting a lot of people to show up. However, as 9 o clock drew ever nearer I was worried that not even One of them would show up! We entered the sacrament room as the meeting started. About 20 minutes in who shows up but the Entire Galarza family! What a huge blessing!
This week was littered with a lot of trials, but throughout the dark strokes on the canvas were moments like these that I decided to share with all of you this week:)

SO, if you feel as though you're in the middle of a refiner's fire week while the rest of the world seems to be jet skiing around you, don't worry! Look for the miracles, big or small:) And remember, it's only a week, one of many:)

Love you guys! Stay strong!
Hermana Dickson

No comments:

Post a Comment