Brownsville, Letter 4
Hola Familia y Amigos!
This week has been quite a whirlwind! It's flown by and had a lot of ups and downs. But it's been filled with heavenly light and blessings as every week is! The Lord really has blessed us to be guided by the Spirit this week in many instances. Here are just a few:
This week I got a letter from my mom & family in the mail. In it there were a few lines thrown in about a story about a sister missionary who promised Heavenly Father that she would talk to everyone in a green shirt and had a lot of success that way. I thought that was super awesome, so I turned to my comp and said that we should pick a color shirt to talk to this week! We both had the thought to choose purple, so we decided that this week we would talk to everyone we saw wearing a purple shirt. A little later, we were walking to the car & I had a thought that we should go talk to a family I saw walking, so we went to go talk to them and ended up following them into the grocery store, funny enough! Once in there we lost the family, but decided to start talking to people in purple shirts who were shopping. And the very first lady we talked to who was wearing a purple shirt was absolutely golden! She was so accepting and gave us both big hugs and invited us to come visit her at her house. We continued to go throughout the store and talked to everyone we saw in purple shirts and ended up finding lots of amazing people that day! It was a huge blessing, and amazing to see how the Lord accessed people in purple shirts, of all things, through us that day.
This week, I've had some really special and sweet teaching experiences, both with less actives and nonmembers alike. It amazes me that the Lord sees fit to give me these opportunities to teach His children and help them find their way back home. We went to go visit this sweet less active family, and we were able to talk to the mom of the family who told us that she'd been struggling with a question that had been bringing her a lot of anxiety and stress. She shared that she felt like she was using the Atonement too much, and that she just kept trying to do the right thing but was dismayed that she kept making mistakes every day. She asked us how many times you can use the Atonement and ask forgiveness before God just throws his hands up and says "that's it." It was then that I realized that all the studies I had been doing on the Atonement and coming to understand it better weren't just for me, even though I needed it, but it was also preparation for that moment, so that I would be able to tell her with all the energy of my heart that she could never "use up" the Atonement of Christ, and that God's hand is always stretched out, so that we can try and try again until we finally get it right. It's like the sacrament prayers - God can't condone sin, but He can let us try again until we get it right, and once we do, if we repent, all of our sins are forgotten. Just like when a young priest messes up the sacrament prayer - the prayer must be said perfectly, and that standard can't be changed. But if the young priest messes it up, he gets as many tries as he needs to get it right - and once he does, that attempt is counted as perfect and complete, and all the others are forgotten. It was a tender blessing to help her see that as long as she kept trying, she was okay. And it was also a blessing to see her, her two boys and her husband all sitting in the chapel 15 minutes early for church on Sunday. (It is a really big deal for her to do that - she struggles with anxiety and getting going that early with her two kids is really hard but she did it and I was so happy haha.)
We also went to see a less active young man in the ward who is being raised alone by a single mom who is not a member. We went to see him but he wasn't there, and we were able to talk to his mom, who when we asked her about the church said that she has seen many missionaries come over and has never been convinced by what they had to say. She said that all the stuff about the gold plates bothered, and the fact that there was no proof of gold plates made her doubt. She thinks that we've been brainwashed by the church because we grew up in it. (That made me laugh haha) She said that she just likes to keep it simple, it's just us and God and all the other stuff is just complications, and that she was absolutely not convinced by all the stuff the missionaries had taught her son. My sweet companion began to tell and bear testimony of the first vision to this woman, and the Spirit was there so strong. I felt that I needed to testify of the Book of Mormon, and so I did. I told her that there comes a point for every member when they can't rely on the testimonies of others, that they must ask and know for themselves, regardless of whether or not we grow up in the church. I told her we didn't come out on missions because we were coerced into it by our church or by our parents, but because we know that this is the truth because we have asked and seen the fruits. I told her that I knew the Book of Mormon was true, because I have read it and know, from the words and from the Spirit, that it could not have been written by man. And that it was of God, and that it was true. And that if the book was true, it means that Joseph Smith was a prophet, it means that the Church is true and that we have a prophet guiding us today. I told her that to know she must read it, with a sincere heart, and that she will know that it could not have been written by man. When I finished talking, I realized that both her and my companion were crying. We knew the Spirit had touched her. We invited her to read the book and see for herself, and she said that she would. As we walked away from that experience, I had a feeling that all the missionaries she's met with and all the experiences she has had were preparing her for the gospel, and that, finally, it was her time, or very close to it. Best of all - she was wearing a purple shirt. :)
Heavenly Father has been so good to us this week. I've been working on focusing on the light that we see every day, and something I've discovered is that as you look for the light, something funny happens - it grows! There is just more and more, and the Lord's tender mercies are endless. I'm grateful for it every day.
I love you all - les quiero muchissimo!
Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Clarke
Write to Rachelle at rachelle.clarke@myldsmail.net
S
This week has been quite a whirlwind! It's flown by and had a lot of ups and downs. But it's been filled with heavenly light and blessings as every week is! The Lord really has blessed us to be guided by the Spirit this week in many instances. Here are just a few:
This week I got a letter from my mom & family in the mail. In it there were a few lines thrown in about a story about a sister missionary who promised Heavenly Father that she would talk to everyone in a green shirt and had a lot of success that way. I thought that was super awesome, so I turned to my comp and said that we should pick a color shirt to talk to this week! We both had the thought to choose purple, so we decided that this week we would talk to everyone we saw wearing a purple shirt. A little later, we were walking to the car & I had a thought that we should go talk to a family I saw walking, so we went to go talk to them and ended up following them into the grocery store, funny enough! Once in there we lost the family, but decided to start talking to people in purple shirts who were shopping. And the very first lady we talked to who was wearing a purple shirt was absolutely golden! She was so accepting and gave us both big hugs and invited us to come visit her at her house. We continued to go throughout the store and talked to everyone we saw in purple shirts and ended up finding lots of amazing people that day! It was a huge blessing, and amazing to see how the Lord accessed people in purple shirts, of all things, through us that day.
This week, I've had some really special and sweet teaching experiences, both with less actives and nonmembers alike. It amazes me that the Lord sees fit to give me these opportunities to teach His children and help them find their way back home. We went to go visit this sweet less active family, and we were able to talk to the mom of the family who told us that she'd been struggling with a question that had been bringing her a lot of anxiety and stress. She shared that she felt like she was using the Atonement too much, and that she just kept trying to do the right thing but was dismayed that she kept making mistakes every day. She asked us how many times you can use the Atonement and ask forgiveness before God just throws his hands up and says "that's it." It was then that I realized that all the studies I had been doing on the Atonement and coming to understand it better weren't just for me, even though I needed it, but it was also preparation for that moment, so that I would be able to tell her with all the energy of my heart that she could never "use up" the Atonement of Christ, and that God's hand is always stretched out, so that we can try and try again until we finally get it right. It's like the sacrament prayers - God can't condone sin, but He can let us try again until we get it right, and once we do, if we repent, all of our sins are forgotten. Just like when a young priest messes up the sacrament prayer - the prayer must be said perfectly, and that standard can't be changed. But if the young priest messes it up, he gets as many tries as he needs to get it right - and once he does, that attempt is counted as perfect and complete, and all the others are forgotten. It was a tender blessing to help her see that as long as she kept trying, she was okay. And it was also a blessing to see her, her two boys and her husband all sitting in the chapel 15 minutes early for church on Sunday. (It is a really big deal for her to do that - she struggles with anxiety and getting going that early with her two kids is really hard but she did it and I was so happy haha.)
We also went to see a less active young man in the ward who is being raised alone by a single mom who is not a member. We went to see him but he wasn't there, and we were able to talk to his mom, who when we asked her about the church said that she has seen many missionaries come over and has never been convinced by what they had to say. She said that all the stuff about the gold plates bothered, and the fact that there was no proof of gold plates made her doubt. She thinks that we've been brainwashed by the church because we grew up in it. (That made me laugh haha) She said that she just likes to keep it simple, it's just us and God and all the other stuff is just complications, and that she was absolutely not convinced by all the stuff the missionaries had taught her son. My sweet companion began to tell and bear testimony of the first vision to this woman, and the Spirit was there so strong. I felt that I needed to testify of the Book of Mormon, and so I did. I told her that there comes a point for every member when they can't rely on the testimonies of others, that they must ask and know for themselves, regardless of whether or not we grow up in the church. I told her we didn't come out on missions because we were coerced into it by our church or by our parents, but because we know that this is the truth because we have asked and seen the fruits. I told her that I knew the Book of Mormon was true, because I have read it and know, from the words and from the Spirit, that it could not have been written by man. And that it was of God, and that it was true. And that if the book was true, it means that Joseph Smith was a prophet, it means that the Church is true and that we have a prophet guiding us today. I told her that to know she must read it, with a sincere heart, and that she will know that it could not have been written by man. When I finished talking, I realized that both her and my companion were crying. We knew the Spirit had touched her. We invited her to read the book and see for herself, and she said that she would. As we walked away from that experience, I had a feeling that all the missionaries she's met with and all the experiences she has had were preparing her for the gospel, and that, finally, it was her time, or very close to it. Best of all - she was wearing a purple shirt. :)
Heavenly Father has been so good to us this week. I've been working on focusing on the light that we see every day, and something I've discovered is that as you look for the light, something funny happens - it grows! There is just more and more, and the Lord's tender mercies are endless. I'm grateful for it every day.
I love you all - les quiero muchissimo!
Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Clarke
Write to Rachelle at rachelle.clarke@myldsmail.net
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| Happy Sunday from Brownsville 1 |
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| Sisters Clarke and Riley with a family. Sorry. Don't know the name. |
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| Eating Kale chips and trying to stay healthy. |
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| Proselyting down by the docks. |
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| A nonmember Rachelle met. He's obsessed with Rubik's Cubes--and she wanted Tim to see his picture. |
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| Reuniting with one of her besties from the MTC, Hermana Turrini-Crane. |
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| The ocean view from the ward mission leader's back yard. They really are close to the ocean in Brownsville. |
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