Miracles and Opportunities

Family!

 

Thank you all for the wonderful emails! I really loved the pictures, Andrea! I have some cute nephews! :)

 

This past week truly was a week of miracles! We had sooo many, but I am just going to tell about two of them for now.

The first one happened in an apartment complex that we are often at because we teach quite a few people there. We were walking around the complex trying to find people to teach because we were a little early to an appointment. As we were walking around, we passed this lady on the phone twice and both times we didn't want to interrupt her, but everytime we passed I would say, "Oh man. She's on the phone!" Then we went to our appt, which ended up falling through, and we were walking back to our car. This time we passed this lady a third time. We decided that we couldn't not talk to her this time, even if she was on the phone. So, we decided to go talk to her. We were walking behind her, trying to catch up. We got pretty close to her and I said, "Mam, can we give you our card?" As we handed it to her, we could tell she was upset. I then asked if she was all right and she shook her head and started to cry. I then just gave her a hug and she cried into my shoulder. We asked her if we could come back and talk to her tomorrow since she was still on the phone and she agreed. It truly was a miracle. Although we hadn't talked to her the first two times, Heavenly Father put her in our paths, so we would be smart enough to talk to her the third time. Heavenly Father knew that she needed us to talk to us. She just needed someone to be there. It was a quick correspondence, but I know that we needed to talk to her. We have stopped in since and she hasn't been home, but maybe all she needed for now was that hug. We planted the seed and we will see what happens. :)

 

The second one is about a group of teenagers and a old yellow ford truck. :)

On Sunday it has been a particularly stressful Sunday with lots of phone calls and just a lot going on. Appointments were cancelling and Heavenly Father knew that Sister Birrell and Sister Schillemat needed a pick-me-up. :) We decided to head to the Campanas, a family in our ward to visit them. We were parked in their driveway, when we saw across the street a large group of teenagers. We need to talk to everyone, so we decided that we would talk to them before we go to Campanas. So we drove across the busy street and parked on a side road. As we got out of our car, we passed a family in their driveway. Normally we would talk to them right away, but we knew that the teenagers might not be there for long. So we just said Hi to the family and went to the group. Well, the teenagers were walking away but two of them responded to us and talked to us for a little while. After giving them our card and inviting them to church, we headed back to our car. As we passed the family this time, three of them were pushing an old yellow ford truck up their driveway. The truck was barely moving, so we dropped our stuff and ran up to push. As we touched the truck, it began to move easily. Heavenly Father sent angels to help us push that truck. It just rolled up the driveway, smoothly into the garage. Then we were able to talk with the family for a little bit and invite them to church. It was exactly what I needed! I realized how everything happened exactly at the right time. If we had talked to the family first, we would have missed the teenagers. If we had talked to the family first, we would have missed that service opportunity. It was perfect! Heavenly Father provided us with another miracle! We are so blessed. I know that miracles happen all the time, but we just have to be willing to look for them.

 

Oh yeah! We just had another one this morning. We went to talk to a guy named Angel. He ended up not being home, but then there was another guy walking into the neighbor's house. So we talked to him. He wasn't very interested, but he got his friend from inside. We ended up talking with him for a while, gave him a Book of Mormon, and have another appointment for tomorrow! Even though Angel wasn't home, we were in the right place and the right time to talk with the guy next door! Miracle! :) Then we talked to another two guys close by and they gave us a referral! Heavenly Father is blessing us so much!

 

I love being a missionary! I love serving with my wonderful companions! Sister Birrell is always looking for the miracles and pointing out even the smallest miracles. It reminds me to always be looking for the tender mercies of the Lord that happen to us every day.

 

So, what is your miracle of the week? I want to hear all about it!

 

Happiest Valentine's Day to you all! I know it is a little belated, but I love you sooo much! I actually had the best Valentine's day ever! Mama, I loved your Valentine and the card was wonderful! It meant so much to have that card. Thank you Mama! Then I got the letter from Geoff last week and it made me cry. It was so good to hear from you Geoff! Thank you so much Geoffrey! Also, Sister Badten sent me a very sweet gift! Thank you all soo much for your support and love. It means so much to me to have a loving family supporting me and praying for me. (I need lots of prayers!)

 

Life as a missionary is great! Time is going fast and I have another birthday already! How can I already be 22? This morning my zone leaders called to wish me a happy birthday because they have a binder that says today is my birthday. It was really funny because they sang the whole thing and then I asked, "Did you know my birthday is next Tuesday?" They thought it was today and we all had a good laugh! It started our day off well. :) (I asked if they'd sing again on Tuesday and they said they would. :) Plus, Elder Watson will play his guitar. :) )

 

Have a wonderful week! I love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you soon! Love you lots,

Sister Gretchen Schillemat