"It felt like my spirit got jumped by a gang of angels."
Hello Mother!
Last week, we had a conference with
Elder Hamula of the Seventy! He came to our stake conference and he also spoke
at General Conference (his talk was about the Sacrament and it was SOO
good!!!!!!! Do you remember that one?!?) Well anyway, basically, it was the
coolest conference of my life!!!!!! Seriously though- he said things that blew
my mind. I wish I could share it all with you but I can't type out the 10 pages
of notes I took. He talked first about how to receive revelation. Now it may
not seem like that great, but the way he explained everything and the steps to
receive revelation he told us completely opened my eyes. He said that what he
told us is how the General authorities receive revelation. Here are the points
he made:
We receive revelation by these 3
steps:
1) All revelation starts with a
specific question.
2) The question has to come from a
deep desire to know the truth.
3) The sincerity of the desire is
determined by your willingness to act on what you receive.
Then, Heavenly Father answers back
in 3 main ways:
1) Through His servants.
2) Through the scriptures.
3) Directly by His spirit.
Again, seems so simple and obvious,
right? But there is so much more to it than just that! He dove into the
scriptures and took us on a doctrinal journey like no other. He also gave us
the opportunity to ask whatever questions we wanted and the answers he gave
were even more mind-blowing! He also talked about in order to really talk with
people, we must be focused on asking inspired questions. I have learned about
inspired questions my whole mission but the way he explained it just helped to
solidify it all in my mind better. It's not enough to just throw doctrine at
people and hope something sticks, but instead we need to ask them questions
that will help them search their souls. And then we respond with doctrinal
truths. When you ask an inspired question, something is revealed about them to
you, then them to them. President Meredith also gave an amazing talk on how to
become a more consecrated missionary and the steps we need to take; that it's a
continual process and used a lot of great examples from the scriptures. I just
wish I could tell you everything I learned!!! Also Sister Meredith and Sister
Hamula spoke. They spoke about diligence and becoming a disciple of Christ. All
of their talks were amazing and the spirit was almost tangible because of
truths they bore and how they unfolded the truths in such deep yet clear as
crystal ways. By the end it felt like my spirit got jumped by a gang of angels-
it was that good!
What is also cool, even though it
didn't end up happening haha, is that we were asked by our zone leaders if
Elder and Sister Hamula could come with us the evening after the conference to
a lesson! We were like, sure! That would be amazing! So we were told Monday
night that both of them would come. Then the next day we were told that only
Sister Hamula would be coming and Elder Hamula would be going with another set
of missionaries. So we had planned on this all week, right? Well 30 minutes
before the lesson the ZL's called and said Sister Hamula couldn't come! So we
were bummed, but also a little relieved because some pressure was taken off
haha (although it would have been awesome for her to have come with us). We
ended up having a great lesson though with Brother and Sister Graves about the
Priesthood and Brother Hilton from our ward came. So, that was Thursday! Great
day. :)
We've also had some neat miracles in
the Visitor's Center! A few weeks ago, a guy named R*** (from India) came in
with his member friend who lives in Colorado. He recently moved to Texas to
finish a pilot program. Long story short, his friend felt like she should take
him here. He ended up having a great experience a the VC and is really
interested in learning!! We are all spiritually connected!
Also, a few weeks back we met a
Chinese couple at the VC. Sister Wang taught them a little at the Visitor's
Center and the woman was really interested. The man had to go back to China
shortly after but she is staying until Christmas. So Sister Wang got her
information and has been teaching her over the phone ever since! At first she
only wanted Sister Wang to teach her over the phone but has accepted to have
other sisters come and teacher her where she is living. But, Sister Wang has
done amazing at teaching her and she wants to be baptized! She has no Christian
background but has such a strong desire to know if God exists and which church
is His church. Sister Wang taught her how to pray and she said she gave a
beautiful perfect prayer over the phone!!
And also another miracle! While on
the phones the other day I received a call from a man who lives in Nashville.
He said he found a card in his mailbox about the Book of Mormon and decided to
call the number because he is really interested in receiving one. I talked to
him for a bit and he is the sweetest old man on the planet!!!! I asked him some
questions and got to know him. He says he just wants to have a purpose in life
because he has no family and is all alone. I testified to him that he does have
a purpose!!! A purpose greater than he could ever imagine! I didn't have a lot
of time to talk so I couldn't teach him right then, but I am going to keep in
touch and teach him until the missionaries come. What a neat experience though!
Such a miracle! He thanked me for my sweet spirit and said he could feel God in
my spirit.
These are the moments that make
everything worth it! I tell ya, I'm so darn lucky to be a missionary.
So, those are some highlights of
last week. Also had interviews last week with President Meredith. Let me just
say what an incredible man he is and how lucky I am to be a missionary under
his leadership. He is one of the most loving, faithful and humble men I've ever
met. All mission presidents are amazing, but I gotta say that President
Meredith is the best! :)
Love you all and thank you for your
prayers. If you have a question in your life, follow those steps listed above!
Haha :) Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are real. Work hard
every day because you're going to meet them again one day!
Love you all,
Sister Johnson
