Fisrt, no, there are no floods here. :) All high and dry!
Whew! What a week, what a week!
Last Monday, we had a once-in-a-lifetime finding opportunity: a solar eclipse. One of the sisters we were with happened to have some eclipse glasses, so first, we got to look at it. We then proceeded to offer the glasses to passersby on EPCC campus.
The first find was a young lady whose family was Jehovah's Witnesses. While looking at the eclipse, she expressed that she didn't agree with her family's beliefs - but was too afraid to tell them because they had threatened to disown her if she did. The second was a hardened nursing major who'd recently lost both parents. She gladly accepted a Plan of Salvation pamphlet.
As we flagged people down and offered them the glasses, I thought of how much we really do help people see. For most people, they can't look directly at the sun, they'll burn their retinas. All they could see was that it was darker and colder (Temp drop: 30 degrees). They knew something was happening, but it's not until they had the right tools that they were able to see.
When they were offered the glasses, most all of them gladly accepted. "Wow! How beautiful!" "That's legit!" they said. There was a young couple with eccentric clothes. The girl accepted the glasses - "Whoa - babe, you gotta check this out!" but her boyfriend refused. "Babe, it's an eclipse!" she told him - but still he refused to see.
When we offer people the gospel, we're offering glasses. Most people don't want to face their own guilt or look directly at it because the truth is too bright and hard to understand. But through the eye-opening lens of the gospel, all other distractions are blocked out and they can safely look. For most, the reaction is, 'Wow! It's beautiful!" and perhaps may think, 'I wish my family could see this!' like the eccentric girl. But then, there are some who downright refuse to see.
For miracles this week, I must be brief:
- We found a less-active member who's not on the ward list outside the public library (perfect timing). Wagner Ioanis recently moved here with his 16-year old daughter after going through a hard divorce. He wants to come back to church and asked us to tell the Bishop to send over some home teachers!
- We broke the car door of a member and it wouldn't close. We were running late but she couldn't drive off with a broken door- then, the latch flipped back into place on it's own!
- We actually got weekly planning done in three hours (a first!)
- We contacted a referral, and the members who'd given us a ride KNEW the people we were contacting! They're the perfect fellowship and Chuy and Maria are so prepared!
- A member texted us out of the blue on Saturday asking if we needed a ride - she was free all night, and we were able to go to four different people with her!
- We went to contact another referral and he's also awesome! His name is Ronnie Rios, and he's a retired special ops interrogation officer. He's very sincere and has a lot of real intent - AND, the man who referred us to him, Elder Arce, is the perfect fellowship!!
MIRACLES ARE REAL! SO REAL!!
Love, love, love,
Hna Smurthwaite
Also, found a butterfly!
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