Saturday, July 30, 2016

WEEK FOUR: The Miracle of Slovakia

In their "sick" England shirts with the Slovak flag within.  Not sure how they got these but they are awesome!

Zone in yellow ties

Temple flowers

The sisters in my district:
Sisters McDonald, Roberts, Dahl, Hale, Paul, Herrington, Miller, Benion, Miller, Taylor, Valentine, Brown, and Huff. There are also a few others not in the picture. Sisters Losee, Jurgensen, Clingo, Anderson, and Van Workem.  NOTE:  Sister Anderson is related to Riley Hansen.

 I can't believe that I forgot to write about this last week.It is one of the coolest things I have heard of. This is called the miracle of Slovakia. The former mission president of the Czech Slovak mission told it to us in our class:

The church in Slovakia was very weak since it wasn't recognized as an actual church. There was only about 20 members in the entire country. They decided they wanted to be recognized as an official church in Slovakia. To do this, they needed 20,000 signatures saying that the person signing supported the church becoming official. To accomplish this, the church hired professional petitioners. They went out for two weeks trying to get the signatures. They gave up after the two weeks with fewer than 200 signatures saying it was impossible since the Catholic church over there told its members to not sign. Everyone is Catholic so no one would sign. As a desperate last chance, they asked the missionaries to try. The missionaries in Slovakia had a special fast and prayed a ton. In 3 days, they had collected between 22,000 and 23,000 signatures. They don't know how it happened, but we know the Lord had a hand in it. The missionaries could barely speak the language, let alone be persuasive enough to get that many signatures!

Anyways, this week has been great. We love it here and the spirit is super strong! I feel God's love for me every day. The strongest by far is when I am reading the Book of Mormon. Through reading that, I have had answers to so many questions and have felt peace even though I have had to go through so much change to be a missionary. It is wonderful! 

I am glad for the chance I have to be here learning Slovak and learning to serve others and God. It is the best. Thanks so much to everyone who sends letters or emails. It is cool to see what is going on at home! I will try my best to answer if you send something! Sorry if I don't. I mean too. 

This week in a lesson we taught in Slovak, I was able to feel the Spirit of God so strongly. It was overwhelming. I was able to say things in that lesson that I had no idea how to say before or after that lesson. It was remarkable. I am amazed at how the Lord fulfills his promises. In the scriptures we read about the promise that if we open our mouths, it will be filled with what the Lord needs us to say. I have felt that for sure when I speak in Slovak. Also, lots of people here go through tough times adjusting or get bad news from home. As I pray for the ability to help and know what to say, I remember experiences from years ago, or a scripture I read in seminary and I am able to help them. The Lord know us all so well. He knows our lives and our struggles. He wants to help. I have felt how He will reach out to me if I reach out to Him. It is amazing. I know the same can happen for anyone else too.

I love you all!

Starší Pace


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