Another new development was that on Thursday there was a big old snow storm that blew through. It was windy and snow fell all day and a lot of the night, and so there was a lot of snow outside which made it near impossible to go on walks. Luckily, I love the snow and it was very relaxing to watch it blow by. I really enjoyed it, in fact.
With all of these draw backs and restrictions, you'd think we'd have less opportunities to do missionary work, but God has opened more doors than we thought possible. Since so many people are stuck at home, we were able to have 32 lessons over phone calls over the last few days! Most weeks we would have about 13 lessons due to everyone's busy schedules, cancelations, etc, but now that everyone is forced to stay home, we were able to more then double our teaching amount and reach out to many amazing families that we love dearly. We have been spreading a message of peace and reassurance to a lot of people, talking about how God was able to prepare us for all of this chaos, and we've invited a lot of people to reach out to loved ones and friends with love and reassure them.
Earlier this week, we had an amazing opportunity. For the past month or so we had been trying to set up a lesson with a family friend of Sister Harvey's. She recently moved into our mission boundaries and Sister Harvey's mom had talked to her about the gospel in the past, and she had been interested, but never really looked into it. She moved away, but felt a draw to come back to Colorado, and her family ended up moving close by. Because of this we were given the opportunity to reach out to her, and she said she would love us to begin teaching her more about our gospel. Yet, for the last month, we weren't able to ever meet up with her. For one reason or another, it never worked out and we were forced to continue to delay the lesson. With the snow storm and the Virus, her family was home and they had time to talk with us, even if it could only be done over the phone. The morning of the lesson, Sister Harvey had a revelation. With the adjusted rules, we are now aloud to call home twice a week. Sister Harvey hadn't called home yet for the second time, and she had the prompting to get her mom involved, the original person who introduced the gospel to the women. We talked to President Rees and got permission to do so. In the end, we were able to have a conference call with the family friend, Mrs. Harvey, and us. The lesson went really well and she now wants to know more. A few weeks ago, we never would have even imagined the possibility of having a lesson with Sister Harvey's mom, but because of the changes that are happening right now and because of the Virus and everyone being home, it all lined up and we were able to have a fantastic lesson.
Many other missionaries around Colorado are also witnessing miracle after miracle. People now are home and have more time to talk to us, and their hearts are beginning to soften and their desire for the light of Christ in their life is becoming more evident in their life. As missionaries have more time now to ponder and pray and study, people are being brought to our minds and hearts and we are given guidance to people that we haven't spoken to in a while. We are going back and reaching out to many people, and because of it we are seeing a lot of success. God is truly leading this work. It is amazing how many doors the Lord has opened that we never imagined possible before. It is truly amazing being a missionary at this time.
Here's a scripture we've been sharing with a lot of people recently. 2 Nephi 9:20-21
"20 O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.
21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam"
It's amazing. Through this experience, I have witnessed the truthfulness of these scriptures. God does know what is happening, and He has always known. He knew we were going to face this crisis, and years ago church leaders have encouraged us to have food storage. Another tool that the Lord provided was Come Follow Me, which helps members to have a home centered, church supported system in preparation for us not being aloud to congregate together on Sunday. He has even given us a living Prophet on the earth today who is a world renowned doctor, who gives us nearly daily updates and advice and reassurance! It is amazing. The more I look around, the more blessings, miracles, and opportunities I see around us. Now that people are forced to be home, people have more time to spend with their family. Now that we have had people quarantined and store shelves being found empty, maybe people will put stock in keeping a food storage to prepare for whatever disaster will come around next. With so many people panicking, we have more opportunities
to love and minister unto one another. It has truly been amazing to witness these miracles and the many more that I haven't even mentioned yet. I am so grateful to be serving the Lord at this historical time.
I am grateful everyday I chose to serve a mission.
