I HAVE THE COOLEST STORY EVER FOR YOU ALL TODAY!!!!!
But before I tell ya let me just state that I am soooo exhausted!!! And it’s a great thing!! "Why is my favorite missionary so tired?" you may be asking yourself... its because its been one heck of a week and most days began at 4:00 or 5:00am!! I’ve decided that the mission is coming to an end just way to fast.... SO I DONT GOT TIME TO SLEEP!! We had one lesson at 6:00am on Thursday, which means waking up and getting ready at 4:30am to get geared up. We went to the temple on Friday and had to drive 45min to the temple and show up at 6:00, which means waking up at 4:00am. Then just to throw the bow on top, we had a baptismal service at 7:30am Sunday morning, and for those of who know what its like we had to clean and fill up the baptismal font and church before hand.... meaning another wake up alarm at 4:30.
BUT WAIT there’s more!! Sunday night my comp had changes to become Assistant and we spent the whole night talking cuz he was kind of nervous and we have really become great friends!! I will defiantly miss this guy!! He has been a great soldier and an incredibly hard worker, plus I taught the guy to laugh a little harder and have an even better time in the service of the Lord! MAN I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!
So on to my super incredible story right!?!
To my adoring fans who have paid such extraordinary attention to my banana and rice filled life here in Ecuador, you will all recall that last year elder Stidham was severely sick and hospitalized many days.... it really was a rough time for me because I just wanted to be in the field working and I was in way to much pain and suffering to do much... I seriously went through a million trails and learned many more life long lessons, but among my heart-ach and countless doctor/hospital visits I began to know and talk with my nurses and doctors. I actually became great friends with one doctor and I taught a little bit of the gospel to one of my nurses.
Well over a year latter our hero elder Stidham is walking down the sweetly scented trash filled streets of Guayaquil and knocks on the door of a reference. The next thing he knows is that this same sweet nurse who received a little of the gospel from a sick missionary appears in the doorway... they both look closely at each other trying to awkwardly remember where they know each other and then it dawns on them and she gladly lets the missionaries into her home!
(Idk why this is in 3rd person lol!)
But anyways I got to teach her the gospel, the spirit testified of the truth powerfully to her that the message of the Plan of Salvation is true, AND THEN SHE FEASTED ON THE BOOK OF MORMON!! Like literally. In only 4 weeks she has read all of 1 and 2 Nephi!!
Well as I said earlier, we had a baptism Sunday morning at 7:30am.... can you guess who got baptized???
That’s right, Gevoanna Jibaja, my old nurse, was prepared by the Lord and introduced to the gospel of Jesucristo by your favorite skinny, extremely sick and insanely white missionary! (And no I’m not sick anymore!!)
Even though I’ve been joking a lot in this letter, I really can’t describe how humbled I have been to have this amazing experience! The Lord prepared me in a way that I never could have imagined becoming an instrument in His perfect hands. I am sooooo grateful of every rough day that I went through last year just to have been able to meet Geovanna. As I reflect back on how close I came to being sent home from the mission due to illness and how many tears of sadness I shed I just have the words of Jeffrey R. Holland ringing in my head when he said:
Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.
Brothers and sisters I add my testimony to those true and powerful words. God has a PERFECT TIMING FOR ALL THINGS!!
It’s been one crazy and incredible week and I’ve got another one coming up.
Elder Stoker is my new companion and he’s from Syracuse, Utah!!
-He has 9 months in the mission
-I’m training him to be a Zone leader!
-I’ve heard a million great things about him!
-As far as I can tell they are all true and I’m pumped!!
We will be having a baptism this Saturday of an investigator who has been investigating and attending the church or over 11 years!!! Please Pray for Karina, she has done a 180 with her life in these last 6 weeks and her family has told me that they have never seen her happier!!
Love you all!!!!
Please write and let me know how you all are!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment