Brownsville, Letter 10

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week was fantastic as always! We had an inspired zone conference and great experiences in being led by the Spirit to find God's children.

One experience that resonated with me this week happened Wednesday. We had to stop at a gas station and we were standing there and my companion had pulled out her scriptures and was showing me something she had learned, and a young man walked up to us and said that he was just there to rent a movie, and he saw us with our scriptures and knew he had to come and ask us who we were and what we were doing. We told him we were missionaries, representatives of Jesus Christ sent to share His word, and the man was shocked. He began to tell us that he had seen the light of Jesus Christ, but that he had strayed far away from that light. He said he felt this great heavy weight on his shoulders. He said, "I'm lost, and I know I'm lost." As he said that, he began to weep, and as he did his countenance changed before my eyes and I felt this great love rush into my heart, a small portion of the love God had for him, and I saw this precious prodigal son that had strayed far away. He spoke of how he has been so lost, away from God, and how he couldn't believe that God had sent us there at a place that simple to tell him that he wasn't lost to God. As he spoke he wept, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone cry like that. I looked at his face and saw so much burden and pain, the kind of pain that we would all have if there were no Christ, and that can only be lifted by and through Christ. We were able to speak with him of truth and light and the love that God has for him. We shared with him the scriptures and reminded him of Christ's saving grace. That experience was a testimony to me that God and Christ care about every sheep that wanders, and that He guides His servants through His spirit. It filled me with gratitude for my Savior who would take upon himself that pain for every soul, so that we don't have to carry that burden on our own.

This week I've continued to be amazed at how the Spirit speaks and guides us to these amazing people. Last night we were about to get in our car to go home for the night, and the Spirit spoke clearly that it wasn't time for us to go back yet, so we kept walking and were led to specific people to hear the gospel. Earlier in the week, we were driving away from the neighborhood and the Spirit spoke and said that we had to go back, and we were again led to specific people who had been specifically prepared to hear this message! A family who is about to have another baby who wants to have God in their lives and the lives of their children and to be an eternal family, a man who has miraculously survived a recent accident and who has been looking for a way to come to know God because he knew it was God that preserved him, and many more incredible ways people have been prepared to hear this message.

This week we had an inspired and enlightening zone conference - President Torres is an incredible spiritual giant, there is no question about it! He taught us incredible things about how we are entitled to receive personal revelation at every moment of our lives, and that if we feel like we are not, it is because we are not listening! He said that if we know how to listen to Heaven's voice, we will not hear Satan telling us that we are garbage, we will hear God saying "I am pleased with you." He said "If you feel alone, you are not alone, you are DEAF!" That will change my mission and my life! If we know how to hear the voices of heaven, we will know that we are never alone, because we will hear the angels that minister to us, feel them bearing us up, and hear the voice of the Lord when He says "I am here". He said that sometimes we forget that we have the power to call down angels to our aid, and that we have unlimited access to the powers of Heaven - the only thing that gets in our way is ourselves! We just need to hear Heaven's voice!

I love this mission! I love this precious time that the Lord has lent me to be His servant and to see miracles. I love the people here in Brownsville, and I love that I get to feel a tiny portion of God's love for them from time to time!

Les quiero muchísimo!

Hermana Clarke

Write to Hermana Clarke at rachelle.clarke@myldsmail.net