Wow, what a wonderful week in the mission field.
I was able to witness someone I have come to love enter the waters
of baptism and be confirmed as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. S___ is
now a member of the church and has the gift of the Holy Ghost. I am so proud of
him. I have seen him come a long way from when I first met him. His baptism was
beautiful. I can't imagine it any other way. The next day, he received the Gift
of the Holy Ghost. It was a great blessing, everything that was needed was said.
A highlight of the weekend was definitely seeing the branch president give S___
the biggest welcoming hug I have ever seen. The spirit was so strong for
the whole meeting. The members, who do not understand English, told me multiple
times how strong the spirit was. It was a wonderful experience. I will never
forget this day for the rest of my life. I wouldn't be surprised if I think
about it every day.
A highlight for me this week was Zone Conference. It was seriously a
pump up . I am just so happy and excited to be a missionary!!!
An interesting experience we had was while tracting. We came across
this man who let us in. The second we sat on the couch he was firing off
questions and before we could answer, telling us we were wrong. His questions were
directed so he could loudly respond on what he believed. It was
frustrating. After a while, we started to talk about prayer and how he could
talk to God. He immediately started asking questions with a purpose. His voice
changed. He really wanted to get the Book of Mormon in his native language. At
the end of the meeting, the spirit was there, he invited us to come over again,
and he had said a prayer. It was a miracle. It is so fun to watch the spirit
change people.
This week we were able to teach the Chinese family again. This
really resulted in us sitting there, while the Chinese-speaking member taught
the lesson. The lady said a beautiful prayer asking Heavenly Father
for his help so she could know the truth. She told us she felt really good
about everything that was said and wants to keep meeting (of course,
I found this out after the fact). The member that helped us is so cool! On
the train ride back, we were sitting on the train and got to know a Japanese
exchange student who now wants to get a Book of Mormon. This member blows me
away. This member really shows me how I want to be when I return home. I
want to encourage every member to really help the missionaries!
Okay, I am so blessed this week. But I have one more thing that
really blows me away. A man, who was less active when I first got here, passed
the sacrament yesterday. The combination of S___ receiving the Holy Ghost and
then seeing that, you better believe I felt like I never have before.
Although this week, my mission has been everything but hard,
hard times come. But missionaries do see results from their hard work! I was
able to experience that this week. Being a missionary is the best thing
I have ever done. I love it. It is also the hardest thing I have ever
done. The rewards are great and the hard times are worth it! Here is a
quote from my Mission President's email this week.
“Anyone who does any kind on missionary work will have occasion to
ask, why is it so hard? Why doesn't it go better? Why can’t our success be more
rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the church? It is the truth. We
believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the
font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being
soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?
“You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about
this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that
missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.
Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ this is the truth
and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us
when it was never ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and
mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane.
Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the
summit of Calvary.”
-Jeffery R. Holland MTC talk @ Provo MTC June 20, 2000
Sister Regnier
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