Whirlwind Weekend

I LOVE working with Sister Neahusan! We hit the ground running right from the get-go and have seen so many miracles. Honestly, this past weekend felt like an entire transfer, but I know the rest of the transfer is going to go by so fast! 

 We've been able to get back in with an old investigator - I saw him twice this week, once with Sister Fuimaono and once with Sister Neahusan. A lot of things in his life are turning around and he's started reading the scriptures we send him daily. 

  We also saw another investigator twice.  She's been praying about a date and chose December 28th. We're praying that will go through

 We saw some other investigators that we hadn't seen for quite a while, and we were finally able to stop by after transfers. As we were planning what to do, Sister Neahusan was intent on giving them another baptismal date. I was much more hesitant - I didn't know if it would be the best thing for them, and I was sure it would be too pushy. We agreed to consider both sides and pray more about it later that day.   That same day we had the New Missionary Meeting (since Sister Neahusan just finished her training) and in one of the training sessions, we were roleplaying with another companionship. We decided to pretend to be these investigators, and at the end of the role play the other sisters invited us to be baptized on December 23th.   The moment they extended that date, I felt the spirit rush over me. As much as I didn't want to extend a date to them, worried about how they would react, the spirit seemed to be saying in that moment that that was what we needed to do. Hermana Neahusan felt the same, but we prayed to confirm the feeling before entering their house - and again felt the spirit confirm that yes, we were supposed to invite them to be baptized on that date.  I was terrified. I care so much about them and want the best for them, and I didn't know how they would respond to another date so soon, especially when we hadn't seen them in a while. But we followed the spirit, and at the end of our lesson with them we asked them to pray about being baptized on December 23rd. They said they would, and in the closing prayer, prayed right then in front of us to know if that was what the Lord wanted for them.  It was a huge testament to me of the power of the spirit, and that the Lord knows His children so much better than we do. It's why as missionaries we simply cannot rely on our own knowledge and abilities - we HAVE to turn to the Lord and rely on Him, because He knows so much better than we do.  

We were also able to have some great interactions with Gloria and her daughter this week. Her

daughter has a LOT of questions, but she said she'll think about baptism and pray about a date. She came to the Christmas party and got a doll from Santa, she was so excited! It was adorable! And then, yesterday at church, she absolutely loved it, she looked completely comfortable and was glad that they were going to a Spanish ward. Gloria was so happy to see her so happy!  She loves nativities like I do, so I told her she can come with me today to pick out the nativity I'm getting as my Christmas present.

Ezekiel 2:6-7 felt really personal to me as I read it Sunday morning. ..........  

6 ¶ And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.  

7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they aremost rebellious.  

What first caught my attention was the mention of dwelling among scorpions, since that's been very true of my mission :P But applying the rest of the scripture to myself, it made me think of the nature of the calling that I have - that it doesn't matter if I'm accepted or not, my calling is to declare the word, and to do so without discouragement. Sometimes that's hard for me to remember, I want everyone who opens the door to just accept the gospel, but that's simply not the way it is. But that doesn't change my calling and responsibility as a missionary, and I can trust in the Lord, despite the scorpions that surround me :P

Also, in studying Sister Eubank's talk from the General Women's Session of conference, I was really struck by her admonition to be articulate in expressing why we believe what we believe. I decided to write down her questions.  

1. How do you feel about Jesus Christ? 

 2. Why do you stay in the Church? 

 3. Why do you believe the Book of Mormon is scripture? 

 4. Where do you get your peace?   

5. Why does it matter that the prophet has something to say in 2017? 

 6. How do you know he is a real prophet? 

We learned how to make pupusas!!
This is the first one I made, it was good!
I love, love, love pupusas!

 I'm still working on articulating my exact thoughts on each of these in my study journal, but I invite each of you to ponder the same thing. Expressing our faith and testifying to all those around us is how we're going to change the world!  

Love you!! <3

Hermana Garner 

This was the mini stocking I got from one of the couple missionaries, and it reminded me so much of our stockings that I got a little emotional to be honest haha