Miracles Never Cease!

Monday night was a night I will forever remember, for many different reasons. It was a night filled with every emotion, from utter despair to elation. It was a night where the Lord truly showed His hand and power in the work, and when my patience was tried.    

 ​It started out really, really rough. ​We decided to tract in an area we'd never been in before, and knocked two entire streets. Neither of them were friendly. We were rejected at each and every door, and not very nicely, either. As the last door closed, I broke down, right there on the woman's doorstep. Sister Neahusan just wrapped me in a hug and tried to calm me down, but I was really discouraged. You'd think it would have been the other way around, given that she's just barely finished her training and I'm close to going home, but I guess even 'seasoned' missionaries feel the sting and pain of rejection. The hardest thing about it is how much love you feel for these people and how much you want to give them such an incredible gift, and they don't even consider it.   

Hermana Garner's grandma
 and cousins got to attend the concert

  So we got back in the car to go somewhere else, and said a prayer to ask for guidance. I asked Sister Neahusan where to go, because I personally didn't feel like I was very in tune with the spirit at that moment, I was just wishing for the night to end as soon as possible so I could just lay down in bed. She responded, "No, I really think tonight is your night, and I feel a miracle coming on."     I tried not to laugh at her. I'd just broke down, I wasn't feeling any spiritual direction whatsoever - in fact, I was at a point at that moment where I just didn't want to be a missionary. Of course, I didn't discount the idea of a miracle happening, because I know that God is a God of miracles, but I was sure that He wouldn't be able to use me as a tool that night, because I did not feel spiritually in tune or capable in any way of being an instrument in His hands.  

But I started driving, heading out towards the main road, just wanting to get out of that neighborhood. As we drove, we passed an unlit street, and I had the thought to turn down it. Not trusting myself, I kept driving - until the spirit very quickly and clearly said, "Turn around."     I did, still not really trusting that it was the spirit and thinking that I was just making things up myself, and did a u-turn to go back to the unlit street. There were only four houses on it. We drove past the first two, which were completely dark, and then the third, which had a lot of cars there and obviously had some sort of party or gathering going on. So I stopped in front of the fourth house, which had one light on inside from what we could tell.      

Family friends, Anna and Julien Williams
spent some time
 with Hermana Garner this week
and were attended the concert

We said a prayer, then when we stepped out of the car saw a man standing outside. He looked up at us, and Sister Neahusan called out, "Hello!" He didn't respond, staring at us, and I, on a whim (since we couldn't see him at all) said, "Habla espanol?"     "Si."     We were both a little shocked that we'd pulled right up to the house of someone who spoke Spanish and was standing outside - and that he then accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and a return appointment. It was such an incredible miracle, and I felt the Lord saying to me, "See? They are out there, trust me, I'll lead you to them."   

   We had a number of miracles like that this week, and found four new investigators! Still working on getting the investigators that we have to progress, but we've been finding a lot more people, which has been a blessing. I hope that a bunch of them came to the concert, it was hard to tell because there were so many people and a lot left right when it was over.  

It was a little tough being both a missionary and directing a concert this week. I tried to just not worry

too much about the concert.  It's hard not to wish I could really put my all into it and polish it, but in the end that's not what it's about and I always knew that. So I didn't spend that much time on it, it ended up being a bit thrown together yesterday with sound and bringing in risers and things, but the spirit was strong and the small groups did a great job and it was a full crowd! One of our members told us she brought TEN nonmembers, which is just amazing! 

Love,

Hermana Garner

(We got several reports from family and friend about how wonderful the Christmas concert was, they said the spirit was strong and Hermana Garner sang beautifully!)

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

New Companion

I read a quote in the December Ensign that really stood out to me from the Portraits of Faith series (page 75). This woman said:   "Truth is truth, regardless. You don't have to argue it. You don't have to prove it. It just is. It's real; and it's real for everyone."  So many people think truth is relative, but we know it's not. I'm grateful for that understanding.  

 I also received new insight from Jeremiah 31:35. It mentions "the ordinances of the moon," and I was confused, so I looked at the footnote. With 'ordinance' there, the footnote says, "OR established courses." When explaining ordinances to people on the mission, I've always said that it's the steps we need to take to achieve exaltation. But in reading this explanation of the word - 'established courses' - I was struck by how Christ established the way and course for us. Of course, this was something I already knew, but it helped me understand and have more of an appreciation for the word itself and what it really means - each of them is part of the Lord's established course for us.

It was a bit of a slow week for a few different reasons.  I'll miss Sister Fuimaono (she's getting transferred) I'm looking forward to getting to know my new companion and new transfer! 

 But we saw some HUGE miracles this week!! The first was with a sweet couple that I met OVER A YEAR AGO with Sister Cedeno, and I've ended up serving with them in my area for the majority of my mission (they're right on the border of the branch and the ward). I've been trying to get in with them for that whole time, because the few times that I did catch them they always made appointments and were super open and seemed like they would be really receptive - they just have busy schedules and were never actually there when we went for appointments.  But this Tuesday, we had an appointment, and they were there and they let us in, and after A YEAR of trying to teach them we taught them the restoration - and they were super receptive! They said they'd pray about it and read the pamphlet (we didn't have a lot of time and didn't teach the whole lesson). They already have Books of Mormon, and they've actually been to Nauvoo of all places (they have family that lives in Illinois and they went by one day, just curious). They went to the Gilbert temple open house twice and loved it and are very open to learning more.  It was just incredible to me, that over a year later, they finally became investigators! I almost cried when they let us inside the house and we sat down, I've had so much love for them since the first time I've met them and really have wanted to share this with them! We're trying to go by them tonight, their schedules really are a bit unpredictable, so pray that we'll get a hold of them!​  ​

We also had a great lesson with Gloria and her daughter, and it was so cute to watch Gloria teach her daughter about Joseph Smith and bear her testimony without even really knowing that was what she was doing. Ana was very engaged and interested, and we talked a lot about how she can pray and receive answers to her prayers.

  ​The choir is sounding good! We had a rehearsal going through all the numbers last Thursday and it

went well.  Sister Wheeler said she could really feel the spirit, so that's what's important!​

​We've been able to get in with some less actives who NEVER open the door and melt their hearts a little by offering to cook dinner for them! Service really does go a long way, which is why #LightTheWorld is such an inspired initiative.  As we serve people and show our love for them and the love that God has for them, it will warm their hearts and they'll remember it when the time is right.  They're our brothers and sisters, and we get so much joy out of serving them ourselves!  

Sister Neahusan (my new companion) just came into the gym and literally ran up to me screaming, "Are you so excited to be companions????" before tackling me in a hug. Pretty good start to the transfer haha​ 

Love,

Hermana Garner