We had the sacred opportunity to attend the temple today with half of our mission. I have been looking forward to this week for so long. I have missed the temple since I haven't been there in a year. But I made a promise to God that I'd never wait that long to go to the temple again! I'm so blessed to have so many temple close by in Utah, it really is a privilege. The spirit is so strong in the House of the Lord. I'm grateful to be a member of Christ's church and to be able to learn and gain insights and answers to prayers.
Side note: Sister Orme drove us to the temple and on the way home we accidentally took an unauthorized detour that took us through Seattle and Tacoma...We sat in the car and just watched the skycrapers and Tacoma Dome pass by us and silently prayed that we'd soon make it safely back to the Federal Way mission. Haha, it was quite an exciting road trip!
I want to tell you all about a really special girl. Her name is Shania Roberts. Her brother was baptized a couple of years ago and will be leaving for a mission to Africa in a couple of weeks. Shania has had the desire to be baptized for quite a while, but her mom is against religion and hadn't given her permission to be baptized for a long time. She said that Shania would have to wait until she was 18 and then could make the decision for herself. Shania kinda fell off of the radar for a couple of months. Recently, Sister Erickson and I had the thought to stop by and just see how she was doing. She told us that she missed coming to church and she noticed that she wasn't as happy as she was when she was regularly coming. She ended up coming to church the next Sunday. We had a lesson with her the following Tuesday. Sister Erickson and I both felt impressed to invite her to be baptized. She said she would love to, but since she's only 16 she knew that her mom would still say no. Sister Erickson read 1 Nephi 3:7 to her and promised that God would prepare a way for her to obey this commandment. We began to pray and fast for a miracle and for her mom's heart to be softened. When we came into church last week her brother, Jose, came in and told us he had talked with his mom and that Shania could be baptized if it's what she wanted. Shania told us about this as well and asked if she could be baptized on January 28th. Her brother will baptize her and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then, on Sunday he'll be giving his farewell talk in Sacrament meeting.
Heavenly Father has a way of making things work out in His way and in His time table. I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a piece in His great plan.
Another cool miracle real quick - a few weeks ago we received a HQ referral, but he wasn't in our area so we passed him off to some Elders. Well, he is also being baptized on Saturday! <3
Sister Hammond <3
also, forgot my camera so I'm forwarding sister erickon's pictures :)
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