Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Four Months, and four miracles!

I have some pretty exciting news for y'all, but I'll save it for later. ;)

This week was sure fun! We had zone p-day last week, Sister Boone and I are the only Sisters, so we sat and wrote letters while the elders played basketball. They invited us to play, but can you imagine how ridiculous it would be and look? We aren't supposed to make physical contact! Haha. It was a fun afternoon. Today, we'll be taking a tour of UNI with our district and the district closest, so that will be fun as well!

Halloween was very interesting as a missionary- we were "locked in" for not one, but two nights. It wasn't the case in Cedar Falls- but in many areas of Iowa, they celebrate halloween for two nights, the 30th, they call beggars night, and that is when children trick-or-treat, and then the adults celebrate on the 31st. So, just to be safe, President Jensen had us be in by 6 both nights. The exception is that if you were with members, and they were your ride, you could be with them, or go to teaching appointments, but absolutely no proselyting. We didn't have any appointments besides a dinner, so we were in for about all 3 hours both days.

Now for the good stuff! Drumroll please...

We set not one, but two baptismal dates this week!!!!!
The first was with Gabriel, who I told you about my first week here, I believe. He has had some doubts, but loves the Book of Mormon. We were teaching a lesson on the book of mormon, and toward the end we asked how praying about Joseph Smith, and Baptism were going. He said he felt good. Then, the member we brought with us asked a random question, about if he had been sprinkled or immersed for his catholic baptism in Togo. (miracle#1) He said that he had been sprinkled, and then explained that he had been thinking about it, and immersion in how Jesus was baptized , so "I think I will be baptized." You cannot imagine the spirit that came into the room, and the joy we felt. I felt the spirit prompt me very strongly to extend a baptismal date, and I did. He accepted, and is praying to know if November 23rd is the right date for him! Sis. Boone told me afterward that as I spoke, she was thinking the exact words that came out of my mouth, and she felt everything confirmed to her so strongly, and was so proud of me. It was such an amazing experience, one I will never forget. Please pray for Gabriel to receive his answer, and be baptized on November 23rd! :) (miracle #2)

On Friday, we saw Angie and Wayne, and read with them, we also invited Angie to ask Heavenly Father about baptism. We saw her again on Saturday, and had a great appointment, also just reading. Then, after attending a convert baptism the elders in our ward had, we had a couple missed calls from her. One of the messages was from Wayne, and he said he had a deal for us that he knew we couldn't pass us. We called them back, and they said that if we went with them to the musical they had tickets for that night, Wayne would come to church on Sunday. We got approval from our district leader, (turns out we are allowed to go to things like that anytime we're invited, they qualify as "cultural events") and told them we'd come. It was a fun doo-wop/ acapella choir performance. They sang sweet hour of prayer, and white christmas among many others. I really enjoyed it. Guess what everyone...Angie AND Wayne came to church!!!!! The man who has refused invitations to church for 6 years (with the exception of ward parties.) came to 2 hours of church, and said it wasn't too bad, and that he MIGHT come next week! (miracle #3). Angie invited us for dinner that night, and we had a lesson afterward on the gift of the Holy Ghost. We asked her how her prtayers about baptism were going, she said good, and that she was still thinking, but that she thinks she could get baptized in a couple of months. I felt that similar feeling from our appointment with Gabriel, and invited her to set a date to work towards. I asked her if we could plan on December 28th, and she said yes! (miracle#4) She is still praying to be sure that is the right time, and that this is what Father in Heaven wants for her, but this is huge, 6 years in the making! Please pray for her that she will get and understand an answer, and be baptized on December 28th.

Mick got a promotion at work, and had to cancel our appointment this week, and was out of town for church, but he is still excited, and told us to call him today, to figure something out. I will keep you posted on him!

I love you all so much, and hope you had a great halloween week!
Love, Sister Monroe

 Elder Weilenmann, (my district leader) writing a letter on zone p-day. :)

 Our halloween dinner at a member's house- we roasted hot dogs!

 We used part of our lock-in time to bake 90 cookies,
which we delivered to less-actives on halloween day. :)

 Some of the elders at our ward's fall carnival/chili and soup cook-off
the day after halloween, it was so fun, we worked the little prize booth.

Wayne and Angie at church!!

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