Dear Family,
You should be grateful that I can even email this week for there were multiple moments this week that I thought my heart would burst, burst from joy and break with heartache. I will start with the heartbreak first since there is so much more joyful news to follow up with. A member in our ward passed away suddenly from a heart attack last Monday leaving behind his wife and four teenage children. I did not know the family before since they were fairly inactive and lived in a part of our ward covered by the elders. We received a message telling us and asking us to forward the information to the other missionaries you covered that area. We did, but didn't get a response. As we were driving to our next appointment, my companion and I felt the impression to go this family first instead to offer whatever support or help we could. When we arrived, the wife was on the couch with another member, just sobbing. She had not been able to sleep or eat, and was just distraught. We knelt in front of her and began to sing hymns. We sat with her for several hours while she cried or talked to us. And during that time, somehow I started to feel the pain of this dear sister. I felt as if my heart was breaking and the world was crashing down, yet at the same time I knew it wasn't my pain. In some way, Heavenly Father allowed me to mourn with her. Later in the week, I was asked to play background music for the viewing and funeral. Our bishop stood to speak at the funeral service and spoke boldly about the temple. This family had been planning to get sealed for several years, but they allowed various obstacles to stop them and then they became inactive for the past several years. A wonderful family that knows about the gospel and the blessings of the temple, but had not taken full advantage. Our bishop boldly invited them to get their lives in order so they could be sealed as a family.
And while all that was going on this week, our ward also had a ward temple trip they have been preparing for. We have been working hard to help many families prepare names to bring to the temple, and by the time the week ended we had prepared over 200 names to receive ordinances!! It was exhilarating and exhausting since we were running everywhere trying to help, but I thought my heart would nearly burst from joy as we found more and more families that were ready to receive those ordinances. And especially joyful, we were able to help the Robles family in our ward get all the papers and records so that Brother Robles could be sealed to his parents who had long since passed away. But that wasn't even the end of the temple joy this week- On Saturday we were able to go with our recent convert family, the Pintos, to do baptisms for the first time. It was a powerful spiritual experience and we loved every minute of it. That very night was the Relief Society broadcast with the overwhelming theme of covenants. How beautifully orchestrated was this week!?
In thinking of things that have changed, I suddenly realized that I do"besitos" now. In the Hispanic culture, you greet people by kissing the right cheek, and now I am so accustomed to it that I don't even think twice about it. Once in awhile I have done it to a white person on accident and they tend to think I'm a little strange. So if I come home and start kissing people on the cheeks, now you know why : )
One of the truly great lessons I've learned on my mission has to do with what power really is. True power is faith. True power is virtue. True power is the priesthood. True power is knowing who I am as a daughter of God. True power is charity, the pure love of Christ. True power is found in the Atonement of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus the Christ.
Please continue your prayers for Dilma, and the Gomez and Cuellar families. Also, keep in your prayers Patricia, Doris, and Rubia- some of our new investigators.
I love you all.
Keep the faith,
Hermana Kristi Koerner
No comments:
Post a Comment