March 18
Dear Family,
I am so glad to hear that spring is around the corner from you all and that you are going to have some warm weather. That is exciting news. Sounds like you all are staying busy with school and your activities. Steven, I am very excited to hear that you are driving now. That is so crazy for me to think that you are old enough to drive. Congrates on your permit. Justin I am glad that you are having fun roller balding. Sounds like you have been enjoying that and your time outside. Jeremy glad you are still liking work. Keep up the hard work. Tyson I am glad that you are having fun with your friends. Keep being the great example that I know that you can be to them. Chelle, I love you and I am so proud of you. Mom and dad, I love you and I love all of YOU!!!
Sister Allan and I had some great things happen to us this week. This week has been a huge testimony builder for me and I have truly felt the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I do believe that we go through hard times, so that we can be prepared for the miracles that the Lord will bless us with. On Tuesday we knocked a street. We knocked for about 45 mins. We weren't having any success and I felt that it was time for us to leave and walk back up to out car. Sister Allan, said "no lets keep knocking." Being the great companion that I am I continued to knock with her. When we had knocked the entire street, we got to our car just in enough time for us to get to our dinner appointment on time. Sister Allan was looking for her keys and as I looked inside the car window guess what I saw? I saw the keys laying on the back seat in the car. I actually starting laughing because this isn't the first time that this has happened to me. Sister Allan felt bad and I reassured her that is wasn't a big deal and that we could call a member to come help us. The Lord still blessed us and we were able to get the keys and still make it to our dinner appointment with enough time to eat with them before they had to take off for the evening. It wasn't till after that, that Sister Allan said that she should have listened to me. She had mentioned something cool to me that if she would have just said okay lets go after I mentioned that we should go, that she wouldn't have been able to know that, that was a prompting of the spirit. I believe that this was suppose to happen for a reason so that she could learn and recognize the promptings of the spirit and that she could trust me when I say that we should go. It was a cool experience and I know that the Lord is truly looking out for us.
Another great thing that happened to us was that when we were planning Tuesday night for our day on Wednesday and I felt that we needed to walk for most of the day. I didn't know why, but I did get this really strong feeling that there was going to be someone who needed us. I told Sister Allan what I was feeling and she said, "alight, lets do it." I am so grateful for Sister Allan and how hard she wants to work. It helps me out so much and we do work hard together and do come home very exhausted at the end of the day, but that is good and means we did our best. Anyways so we went walking and we were coming up to the library and I suggested that we go in and see if there is any volunteer work that we could do. The lady said that we needed to get finger printed and have an interview before. We decided that this wouldn't work out because we aren't in an area long enough for the finger printing and that it is a lot of work for the new sisters that get transferred in. We did talk to the lady for quite a while and showed interested in her and she asked what we do as missionaries and we were able to tell you. She is all about nature and we were able to share a little bit about how it is God's creation and that we should be thanking Him for all that we have here. Our conversation got interrupted by this guy named Damien. He needed help with his computer. We said our good byes and left. We didn't get to far out the door when Damien called out to us and apologized for interrupting. We told him not to worry and that it was actually good timing. He commented on my water bottle and said that he had just bought one for himself. That started the conversation. He asked who we were and we told him that we were missionaries for our church. He commented on how while we were inside that we had this strong energy and light around us and that he felt something. He wanted to talk to us and said that he is going through a difficult time and because of this trial he feels like he needs to have God in his life again. We were able to hear what was going on and to give me comfort and hope. As he was telling us what was going on a scripture popped into my head and I knew that it was the spirit telling me that I needed to share it. The scripture was Alma 36:3 talking about if we have trust in the Lord we will be able to get through those difficult times. He really enjoyed it and it lead into talking about the Book of Mormon and Joesph Smith. While we were telling him the first vision he was so glued to us and was so interested. He told us that he felt that same feeling that he felt at the library. We explained that it was the Holy Ghost and that we really wanted to know more about the church. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said that he would read it. Yesterday he even sent us a text saying that he went to the temple visitors center in LA. That was so amazing for us to hear.
Damien us the highlight of the week and I know that he was the ONE person that we were suppose to see that day and to lift him up and to say the gospel with him. I know that the spirit was there guiding me and filling me up with the words that Damien needed to hear. The spirit was so powerful and I know that Damien felt something and the Holy Ghost was testifying to him of the truth.
We had a lesson with Mark again on Tuesday and we taught him the Law of Chasity. The lesson went to well and was so powerful. The spirit was there and It was the Holy Ghost that was definitely the teacher there that night. I was a little nervous about this lesson, but I had faith that if I opened up my mouth than I would be filled with the right words to say. When we committed him to keep the Law of Chasity we explained that we wanted to eliminate any temptation and to stay somewhere else until he gets married. That was hard for him to hear, but he said that we would. We are actually going to push back his baptism date to April 28. He plans on getting married April 20 and I feel that this is best and that he needs to get married first. Things are still going great with him and he is progressing.
I just want to let you all know that I know that God lives and that He has a great and marvelous plan for all of us. Sometimes things don't go as planned, but if we put our trust in Him everything will turn out for the better. I am so grateful for the spirit and for the guidance that I have been able to have and to meet the people that the Lord has put in my path. I am grateful for hard times so that my faith can grow strong and that I can prepare myself for great things to come. I know that if I live righteously that the Spirit will always dwell with me and lead me the right way and be a comfort of me when I need a friend. I love this gospel so much and I love being able to share my experiences and to share how much I grow and learn each week.
I love you all and hope that you have a wonder week.
Sister Ackley
Pictures: Sister Fogavai and I at lunch, my district at lunch, Sister Allan and me
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