Mahal ko si Jesucristo!!!! (I love Jesus Christ in Tagolog!)
What a phenomenal week! I love being here at Temple Square. The miracles never end, and I am SO extremely thankful for that! Sister Retuta and I actually are so busy that even at night we don't have enough time to write in our journals... but because we want to get to bed on time and be obedient, we wake up at 5:30am some days to write everything that happened. My future children better be grateful! Haha... I'm so grateful Sister Retuta and I get along so well. There never passes a day that my abs don't hurt from laughing so hard. She ALWAYS makes me laugh and is ridiculously self-less & loving! <3
So I have so many different experiences and miracles to pick from that it's really hard to just pick a few... but I will, only because there just isn't enough time!
Well, to start off... I want to tell you about a man named Jerry and his brother Yves (pronounced Eve). I met Jerry when I came to Temple Square for the first time with Sister Alvine. They all speak french and are all from Africa.. but I met Jerry when I was still in the MTC and he was SUPER amazing and we had the best lesson. He understands French better than English but I was still able to teach him a little with Sister Alvine and that experience meant so much to me! So then I came out of the MTC and was talking to Sister Alvine about him and she said that he was not answering or if he did he was not really progressing and was too busy with school/work. So she told me she was going to "drop" him (or stop calling him/contacting him) and I was like NOOOOOO!!!! And she willingly transferred his information to me and I sent him an e-mail.. she ended up being really right.... BUT I did not give up. I refused. I knew and felt that there was something more so we would keep in touch every once in a while via e-mail and I would try to send him uplifting messages when I had a moment. Anyways.. so then one day I got an e-mail from him telling me that his brother is coming from Africa and that Jerry wanted to take Yves around Temple Square with us!!!! So i got waaay excited -- but he requested that it be in French and English. So Sister Alvine is in Louisiana right now on her outbound so I found another sister from Madagascar to give the tour with me and we ended it with me feeling on cloud 9! I was seriously blown away. I don't know how, but the spirit was SO extremely powerful and evident throughout the entire lesson. His brother opened up to us about all of his concerns and questions and everything and told us that he did not want the Elder's to go to his house anymore because they make him feel uncomfortable.. but there was something about being here that made him feel different. And he also said that us sister missionaries were much different. He felt he COULD open up and didn't feel it was competitive or anything in any way. He has the most sincere heart of anyone who I have ever taught and was so sincere in his efforts to know why he should pray to know the truth of things. bottom line is that he ended up giving us his contact information and although he doesn't speak english super well, he wants me to help him and teach him. AHH!! So crazy. I almost cried that night. You have no idea how amazing it is to be filled with so much gratitude for the trust that Heavenly Father has with me. I realized that there are just some people who really need YOUR testimony of the Savior to work on coming closer to him. No one else's, but YOURS. It really also testified again to me of the importance of listening to the promptings of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is there to guide us and help us. I could have easily just let Sister Alvine let him go, but I didn't because I really felt there was something more. And that something more was Yves. He told us that he needed to draw nearer to God and Jesus Christ, and he was happy that we are able to help him. I just felt my heart was too big to be in me anymore. I love this Gospel & I love bearing testimony of it!
One of the other miracles that happened was with a man named Stephen Hughes from Tennessee currently living in Utah on a scholarship for music at the University of Utah. Sister Retuta contacted him from a member that referred his information to us. We contacted him first and found out he had some concerns and just left it at that but then we talked about how it might be better to ask him about what those concerns are and then she called him again and he said things like " I don't want to talk to the missionaries because I don't believe this... and I believe this... and the Mormon church just lies to you about this... and you don't really care about people, you just want them to be baptized.. etc." Poor sister Retuta was having a miniature heart attack having no idea how to deal with this man as he was aggressively talking over the phone so she added me in randomly and we got to talking. He eventually calmed down -- and here comes a couple of crazy things. 1. We got him to agree to come to Temple Square that same day to talk about his concerns. 2. He was being taught in the beginning of the year by a couple of other sisters here at Temple Square. They were reallly close with him (exchanged pie recipes, sang hymns over the phone, everything!) and had a baptismal date in June and then one day Sister Fisher was on her outbound and she got an e-mail from him telling her that he forbids them from calling him again. That if they tried he would sue them, to delete every bit of information they have about him.... yeah. And so you can only imagine how absolutely devastated she was. I honestly FALL IN LOVE with my investigators. Every single one of them. It hurts more than anything when people not only distance themselves from you, but from God in general. It hurts SO bad and really, just helps us get a better picture of how Heavenly Father feels... but continuing... Sister Fisher was completely hopeless that he would ever talk to missionaries again... but VUALA! Now he is. And we have another appointment with him this Saturday morning! Oh! And he is going to apologize to the sisters (willingly!!!). And, he is willing to hear us out as we honestly acknowledge his doubts and concerns. I assume he ran into some Anti stuff... which honestly is always terrible unless you get both sides of the story. So yeah. He is our new investigator and we are so nervous/excited/amazed that we get to teach him. What I find really cool about it is that the member who referred him was a return missionary that goes to U of U and had NO idea about his past history with missionaries or anything at all. I KNOW that God has a plan for this man, and I am absolutely certain that there was something that God wanted Stephen to know that wasn't figured out the first time. Again, just strengthens my testimony in just how well Heavenly Father knows us. How he honestly HANDCRAFTED the message we have to share for each and every single person that walks this earth -- to fit everyone in his/her individual way. If that is not a miracle, my goodness.. I'm not sure what would be!
I would also like to share a quick story about a man named Rich. I met Rich's coworker, Austin, during general conference and Austin gave me Rich to contact. He is a not active member of the church. I gave him a call, and initally.. it's always usually pretty awkward... but I'm getting used to that feeling... lol. And I eventually earned a little bit more of his trust and was able to ask him about his personal relationship with God. He told me that he didn't have one and hasn't prayed or gone to church or really thought much about God in over 8 years. WOW! Can you imagine?! He told me that when he got divorced from his wife he decided to just stop everything. My goodness how my heart yearned for this man. I didn't ask him for details.. but I could only imagine what he had gone through to feel so abandoned by God. More than anything I just wanted him to remember that God loves him and that he is a precious child of a loving Heavenly Father. He said he came to a point recently where he realized that would one day probably start praying again but didn't think about it much. Well... HERE and NOW is that time for this man, Rich. He committed to start praying, even if it is just little bitsy prayers, we did a prayer together (which was a miracle in and of itself. (He didn't say amen... but he told me he closed his eyes - which was good enough for me). I got him to end up laughing and he agreed to dig his scriptures out of storage and to read some of the highlighted passages that he had from before. It was honestly a really wonderful conversation and I ALSO invited him to come to Temple Square (because he lives pretty close) and he agreeeeed!!! :D :D Well, there's nothing better than helping people with that relationship. Like I'm pretty sure I say in every e-mail... it is just the best feeling in the world and makes every negative experience worth while. <3
Just so everyone is updated.. my back is feeling SOO much better! I actually am back to doing zumba in our parking garage!! :D Haha Hurrraaay for Zumba!! It sometimes gets a little achy... but it's not too bad and I really can't stand stretching for exercise any longer.. haha.
Also, I introduced Andrew (from maine) to Christian music and he fell in love!! Haha! How can someone NOT?! The most filling music ever! Matthew West!! Wooh!
Oh! So at Temple Square we have different assignments like when we have to be at the Tabernacle for an hour, or at one of the entryways of the Visitors Center, or in the Assembly Hall, etc. and so Sister Retuta and I were at a desk assignment where the previous sisters invited us to play a game. Which actually turned out to be pretty fun and we might end up making it a goal for the rest of the transfer... haha. every person that we meet who walks into the Visitors Center we have to mention Jesus Christ. If they ask where the bathroom is, where to find a drinking fountain, what they can see in the building, or just try to speedily pass on by. EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. Oh my goodness, it was so entertaining. We had a blast! It was so fun! Haha. :D
Well, back to the basics. I realized that no matter WHAT. We always need to pray. Every time someone doesn't pray... they honestly never have a good enough excuse! I love praying and I love when people feel the power of a prayer. Of that daily nourishment of communication between us and God. There is a WONDERFUL mormon message that goes along with that perfectly!
:D
Hmph, well, if you reallllly love me... write me a letter in the mail! It's so lonely here! That is part of MY daily nourishment! :)
Love you all!
SMILE :D, BE HAPPY :), & REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!
Love,
Sister Corina Selene Cuevas!
p.s. ooooh we took an explore day where we got to go show around our trainees everything around Temple Square and the Humanitarian Center, Welfare Square. etc. It was amazing and I'm amazed at how awesome everything was! Ahh! Phenomenal! Here are some pictures!
p.s.s. It's BOBS BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!! Bob got in an accident when he was younger and has been in a wheelchair since... He can't really talk really well, but he is ALWAYS at Temple Square keeping us sisters company. He says "HOLA!" every single time that I walk in and he is there and always greets people with a smile. He is amazing and we love him so much! Some of the Sisters pitched in to get him a present! :D And here is a picture of Bob! <3 We love him!!!!
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