And so pass my first crazy two weeks as a Sister Training Leader in the Rio Grande Ward! Never have I ever been so tired and happy all at the same time.
One of the blessings I have as a Sister Training Leader (STL) is I get to go on exchanges with the fantastic and amazing sister missionaries in my zone! I’m telling you, every time we go on exchanges we see miracles, both in their areas and in ours! It is incredible!
I went to the Redd ward with Sister Dean (she’s on her 2nd transfer in the mission) and we had some cool miracles!! We had a day full of appointments. We taught lessons every hour and by the end of the day, we realized we had hit leadership standards for the key indicators IN ONE DAY. We had found a total of 7 news and gotten 4 total people on date, one of those dates moved up by a week or two 🙂 It was so cool to see the Lord work miracles! One of the investigators they have on date has been talking to her family and so she invited her mom, dad, brother, and sister to listen in to our discussion. They loved what we taught and have been soo supportive of the investigator daughter and they really want to learn more. The Spirit was so strong in the lesson, the mom was in tears at the end and the dad gave an awesome prayer. I encouraged Sister Dean to work with her companion in getting them on baptism date with the daughter who is investigating.
Our final lesson of that night, we had a lesson with an investigator who asked her husband to sit in for the first time. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was THERE. It was so strong, that at the end of the lesson, we asked the husband what he was thinking and feeling because he seemed a little far away during the teaching and he said that some of the things that were said made him really think about things in his life and he was having flashbacks. We felt prompted to extend a baptism date for August 5 and they both accepted!!!!! By the end of the day, Sister Dean was so pumped up and excited about missionary work and it was the coolest thing to see the fire light up in her eyes.
Then, we had another exchange and this time I got to go serve with Sister Hepworth in the YSA ward. This is her first transfer 🙂 It was an incredible experience because every ward and every missionary is so different. I feel like with Sister Dean I was teaching her and training her a lot. This past exchange with Sister Hepworth, I was the best cheerleader in the world! She was really distant with everyone at first, really hands off, but after exchanges, Hermana Cifuentes and I have seen a huge change in her. She is more open, more friendly, and I can tell she’s seeing more of the joy in missionary work. She is a fantastic missionary and I really think she just needed the chance to prove to herself that she really can do it and understand that we are all there to help her. It was super great. I was so tired from waving my pom poms all day, but no matter what Satan threw at her, she handled it and didn’t loose her cool. I am so proud of her.
Another miracle: we had 4 investigators at church and 4 less actives come to church this Sunday!!! It was a MIRACLE and made my day! We stood outside waiting for at least 10 minutes waiting for them and they came!!! I was so excited. We prayed so hard. It was an awesome experience!
We found a miracle investigator this week as well 🙂 She was one of the ones that came to church! Her name is Corina and Hna Cifuentes found her on exchanges with the YSA sisters. She is so prepared and super smart. She was able to put together all the dots of the Restoration lesson! We brought a member with us, Hna Diaz, and she really pays attention when this hermana bears her testimony. Hna Diaz is also the reason she came to church! She invited her and then offered to help take care of her kids during sacrament meeting, so she came!!!!!!!! It was awesome. She accepted a baptism date of August 12 and we are so excited. We will be meeting with her again this week and are planning on teaching her a bit more about the Book of Mormon. She is so ready and it is such a blessing to teach her.
We also are working with a less active family who has a couple of unbaptized kids, one is 8 and the other is 11. We have been meeting with them at their dad’s house, because all efforts to meet with them at their mom’s house have been thwarted by their mom not really wanting us around and not wanting to come back to church AT ALL FOR ANYTHING. The dad is so willing to let us teach and he wants to come back to church, too, so we are super excited about that.
We have been seeing a cool miracle progress over the past couple of weeks, too. We have a 16 year old investigator named Nirvana whose mom didn’t like Hna Cifuentes and Thompson before I got here. But since I’ve been here, we’ve really seen her soften. She came to church with her kids the first week I was there and I went out of my way to talk to her and be her friend. It seems to have worked, because gradually, we are seeing the Lord soften her heart. She came to church AGAIN this week, got an interview with the Bishop, signed up to feed us on the dinner calendar AND she agreed to come to an FHE that a member invited her to. I am so excited. I hope things keep going super well. She’s a really nice lady and I know she’s going to love knowing more about the gospel. She just has to open her heart to it.
Sorry this email was so long this week! My heart is so full and I feel so blessed to be a missionary of the Lord in this place at this time. I love the missionaries I’m serving with and I love the people we are teaching. One of my favorite things about the mission is just how large my family is getting. It really is the best. This gospel changes people. This gospel truly helps people become their best selves, no matter their background. It doesn’t matter if a person has had no religious background and come from the worst past in the world, or if the person has come from a lifetime of membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, this gospel changes lives. It changes people. It changes hearts. And it has changed me.
I love being a missionary.
—
Hermana Oliphant
New Mexico Albuquerque Mission
4400 Presidential Dr. NE Ste. E
Albuquerque, NM 87109
USA
Called to Serve 