Spectacular news! The new YSA building is opening next month on the 3rd. I repeat: THE NEW YSA BUILDING IS OPENING MARCH 3rd! Finally! This is an answer to many prayers :) We got a tour of the building this weekend.
Yi was baptized on Thursday. There were rainbows in the sky the day of his baptism. Definitely the primary song, ''When I am Baptized'' coming to life. He gave such a powerful testimony at his baptism. I will be forever grateful that Heavenly Father placed him in our path.
We experienced a huge miracle this week with one of our investigators, Stephanie.
We have been teaching Stephanie for only a few weeks now. She was taught by Elders a year or so ago and some Sisters in another district picked her back up again and then referred her to us. Her grandmother is a member and she has a Catholic background. She is so excited to learn about the gospel this time around and she really wants to be baptized. We gave her a baptismal calender and set her date for March 19th which is perfect because that means she can be baptized in the new building. Stephanie wasn't able to make it to church last Sunday and this past Sunday was crucial for her to attend now that she is dated for baptism. She was bummed that she could not come last week but she was excited that this week she would be able to come. Again, we arranged a lift for her and everything was set to go.
And then the boiler in her home stopped working Saturday afternoon... We got a text from her saying that the boiler in her house had stopped working and that she had called the plumber to come fix it. For all of you that have no clue what a boiler is, it is the thing in houses/ flats that heats up the home (heating and water). The good news is the plumber could come right away to fix it. The bad news is he wanted to come on Sunday sometime between 9am -1pm. No big deal, but we kind of have church during that time.. We called Stephanie right away and tried to figure more about the situation. We asked if there was anyway for the plumber to come right at 9am but that is not how it works here in England-- They give you a time frame and they come when they come. Sometimes even later than they said they would. We asked if there was any way for the plumber to come another day. The next day he could come would be on Wednesday, way too late. Stephanie was frustrated that something came up again that would keep her from coming to church. Sister Merrill and I were also frustrated. The adversary sure does work hard to stop good things from happening in our lives. We told her that Heavenly Father would provide a way for her boiler to be fixed and for her to make it to church. She was not convinced right away that if she still came to church that everything would work out.We invited Stephanie to pray with us over the phone so that she could ask Heavenly Father for help. She felt too upset to pray so we said one and then asked her to pray on her own. We read 2 Nephi 32:8-9 and explained how important it is that we pray even when we don't feel like it and we can pray to ask for specific blessings and Heavenly Father will answer. It was a leap of faith, but Sister Merrill and I kept promising her that the plumber would come early to fix her boiler. We prayed that the plumber would come early and that Stephanie would still be able to come to church. We had faith that Heavenly Father could work this miracle because ''the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them'' (1 Nephi 3:7).
We called Stephanie right before we went to bed Saturday night and she told us that she had decided that she was going to get dressed on Sunday and wait for the plumber but whether he came or not before 10am, she was still going to come to church. Music to a missionaries ears! We were happy to hear that she was going to come to church no matter what. We still kept praying that the plumber would come early and that her boiler would be able to be fixed. We knew this was a time to build Stephanie's faith.
We called again Sunday morning around 9:20 am and what Stephanie told us left us with dropped jaws-- the plumber came early at 8:45am and was gone by the time we had called her. That like never happens here in England! We all rejoiced together over the phone. Wow. Heavenly Father is definitely a God of miracles. We can trust Him to always provide away to keep His commandments as we strive to live the gospel.
Stephanie came to church and loved it. She said church felt like home. She mentioned that what she learned or heard at church sounded familiar to her. We taught her the Plan of Salvation after church and explained how we have already been taught the gospel and that our spirits recognize it here on this earth and that is why it sounds so familiar. Stephanie is wonderful. We love her so much :)
Something I learned this week is about choices. I have weaknesses and little things that have bother me that I have noticed I need to work on and I have made the conscious decision to do something about them. Lately, for instance, I have noticed that it bothers me for some reason to be in charge of the phone and I just really dread making phone calls. I made a conscious decision a week or so ago that I was going to have the phone as much as possible so I can overcome this weird attitude and that I was no longer going to complain to myself about it. It is amazing the instant improvement I noticed as I made the choice to do something about my weaknesses, even minor ones, and turn to Lord in prayer to ask for His divine assistance. This life is full of choices we can make. In fact, the everyday choices are central to our eternal progression. The choice to change and become better every day is available to us because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Through the Atonement we can overcome anything. This blessing starts with a choice.
I love being a missionary.
I love you all!
Sister Jordan
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