Miracles Happen

March 19, 2012

Hello everyone! Happy 2 days after St. Patrick's Day!

So, I had another incredible week! Shocking, I know. Who would have thought?

On Wednesday, Sister Hebdon and Sister Nielson came back to visit. Sister Nielson had to go home early from her mission twice, because of back problems and Sister Hebdon was in West Palm Beach for an entire year. Everyone knows and loves her. One of our investigators, Cesar, was taught by them and dropped by them, but was super excited to see them again, as was the rest of the ward. Lucky for us, they gave us an opportunity to see lots of less active converts that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Plus, they came over one morning and went through our area book and explained a whole bunch of people to us. It was SUPER helpful! Then they came with us all afternoon on Friday and were super helpful there too. It was pretty awesome to have the power of 4 sister missionaries all at once! They came to see their recent convert, Edeliz, get sealed in the Orlando Temple on Saturday! They said it was the most wonderful thing ever to help someone get baptized and sealed for eternity. I can only imagine how wonderfully magnificent that would be! Hopefully I'll be able to experience that sometime, too.

On Thursday, we did our weekly planning at the church building so the Zone Leaders could watch us, take notes, and give feedback. It was pretty awkward at first, but turned out to be amazing. They stopped us after a while and discussed some things they had learned from us and then gave us some advice. Elder Rybin explained ... well, he said a lot, but I will summarize it into two quotes: "Guess What! God's still going to bless you" (he was refering to the fact that even when we can't incorporate every aspect of PMG and every piece of advice from leaders, we're still doing a good thing by being missionaries) and "Faith is my acceptance of God's acceptance of me." Everything they said was super helpful and very humbling. They gave us each a blessing since we've been a little overwhelmed and lacking in faith lately. It is so wonderful to see the power of the Priesthood in action!

We had a Noche de Hogar on Thursday night that was also miraculous: 7 investigators came! All of them SLM except Blanca! Most important in my opinion was Inocente's presence because afterward he said he felt better about getting baptized on Sunday (Monday, he said he wasn't ready). Although, he got sick and didn't even come to church on Sunday, so he didn't end up getting baptized this week anyway. Oh well, that's what next week is for!

We went by to teach Blanca this week and Rosa's friend was there. We taught him, Fabian, and he accepted a baptismal date for next Sunday and came to the FHE. We came by to see him on Saturday and ended up teaching Blanca 2 Nephi 31. This is a great story but I don't have time to tell it. So to be quick: She accepted baptism, passed both her interviews, and got baptized yesterday!! It was amazing to see the Spirit touch her and have her completely change her mind. Her baptism was probably the sweetest experience I've ever seen. (even though she is 78 and couldn't get down the stairs by herself!) I am so glad that President Anderson was able to see it and 2 of our other investigators were able to be there as well.

So, needless to say, miracles exist and I'm sure if you try, you can see them in your life, too. God really does love each and everyone of us!

And I love you all, too. Isn't life great?

Love, Sister Sheffield

P.S. Thank you Sheffield Family for all the little notes!! They were Fantastic! I Love you!