Hermana McKenna Swapp: June 2016

A Week of Miracles! 6-27-2016

¡Hola Familia!

¡¡¡La semana pasada fue muy bien porque Fidencio fue a la iglesia!!! ¡Fue un milagro! This week was so good because Fidencio went to church!! It was a miracle! We found him Monday night and taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and why we get baptized. The spirit was so strong and his phone started ringing (we do the lessons outside) and all these cars pulled up and disrupted us, but it made me kinda happy because you know that's when it's a good lesson. Because Satan's doing everything in his power to ruin it. But it ended super well and I even got him on camera saying he would go to church this Sunday. Well... we didn't see him for the rest of the week. We called him and drove to his apartment every day but we couldn't get a hold of him. So we finally got a hold of him Saturday morning and scheduled an appointment with him for that night. We had to talk to him Saturday night or there would be no way he would go to church the next day. So Saturday night comes and we get to his house and were knocking on his door and calling and he's not answering. We were freaking out so we knocked a little harder and called a few million more times and he finally answered his phone! He told us he wasn't going to come out because he wanted to take a shower. We begged him to come out and told him why it was so important and we told him we needed to teach him some more things to get him ready for his baptism and he said, "I don't even want to get baptized." My heart dropped. We finally talked him into coming outside which was a miracle in itself. He came out and we asked him what all of his concerns and doubts were and we had a really good talk. We told him to go inside and say a prayer and ask specifically, "Heavenly Father, is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the only true church?" and we promised him if he did that he would get an answer the next day at church and he promised he would. So Sunday comes around and Hermana Crowther and I drove over early to knock on his door and make sure he was awake (which he was) and we even brought him a blueberry muffin because we're the nicest missionaries in the world (; And then he came to church!! It made me so happy! He left right after church so we couldn't ask him how it went (because relief society went over) but the Elders said that when he stood up to introduce himself he said, "I'm Fidencio, I'm new I'll be here every week now." That made me so happy, I think he must have gotten his answer if he told everyone he'll be coming all the time now. But we are going to see him tonight to see how he's doing and how church was!

This week was just full of miracles. One day we went to North Middletown. It's this tiny little place and I haven't been there since I've been to Kentucky but Hermana Crowther and I had made our plans the night before and North Middletown wasn't in those plans but we woke up feeling impressed we should go there, and right after that we got a text from Sister Elizabeth saying, "Why don't we go to North Middletown today?" So we went. We went to find a member in our ward who hasn't been doing well but when we got there she wasn't home so we went to a random neighborhood and we decided to knock on just a random door. This teenage girl answers and starts talking to us and her dad came to the door and when he saw us he said, "Oh good, you're here!! She's back here you can come in." He went to the back room and Hermana Crowther and I just looked at each other, we were so confused. The teenage girl looked at us like we were weirdos for not following him. The dad came back and when we told him we were missionaries he started laughing. He thought we were home health nurses. That was kinda funny. But his wife has diabetes and she has a giant hole in her foot and hasn't been doing well. He asked us to come back and see her, she showed us a picture of her foot and it literally had a hole and you could see her bones and everything else. She was in a lot of pain. We asked them if they would all want to say a prayer together and they did. So we all bowed our heads and Hermana Crowther said the most beautiful prayer! It meant so much to them and they even asked us about our church after and said they wanted to learn about it and come. We're going to get the Elders and have them give the mom a priesthood blessing. The spirit was so strong and I know it was a miracle that we found them right at that time.

Well we were driving around the neighborhood and Sister Elizabeth was with us and we both felt impressed that we should go knock on one of the houses and so Hermana Crowther and I did and out came Isaac. He saw us and he just kinda laughed, he asked who we were and when we told him he started laughing and said, "No way!" We asked him some questions to just kinda get to know him and we asked him if he believed there is a God and he said, "Well it's interesting because I've been wondering if God is real and so I was praying and I asked God if he was real and that I needed to know and asked him if he would send me something or give me a sign or something to know that he's real and then you two show up. So either God sent you here or you just have really good timing." We were so excited and asked him if he had time for a lesson and of course he said yes so we taught him the restoration. The spirit was so strong and Hermana Crowther and I taught in a way we never have before and when we got to the part about Joseph Smith he said, "This sounds super familiar." It was amazing!! He loved the lesson and accepted a Book of Mormon and we invited him to read it and pray and ask God if it's true and if the things we taught him were true and he said, "Every single Mormon I have ever met is so happy and it must be because of this book. So I'll read it. And yeah I'll pray to him today, that's definitely going to go down." It was amazing the spirit was so strong! And there's this quote that says, "A teacher of gospel truths is not planting something foreign or even new into an adult or a child. Rather, the missionary or teacher is making contact with the Spirit of Christ already there. The gospel will have a familiar 'ring' to them." That's totally Isaac, he knows it already. He's going to get baptized, the only stinky thing is the Elders get him because he speaks English! But it really was a miracle we found him.

Another miracle... Tiffany! We found her outside of the library and we went up and started talking to her about the church and she said she didn't think she would be accepted into our church and we asked her why and she told us it's because she's gay. We told her that it didn't matter and that we love and accept everyone because that's what Christ would do and she was super surprised. We gave her the website mormonsandgays.org and told her she could see our church's stance on gays and she was so appreciative. Well for that rest of the day and the whole next day I was just thinking I really wish I would've told her right then that God loves her so much and cares about her and I was so mad I didn't do it. Well two days later we went to the library for a lesson with Margarito and he ended up not being there when we got there but Tiffany was! So we sat down and talked to her. She had so many questions for us and she asked, "If I want to become a part of your church what would that mean for me?" We explained that it's not a sin to have the attraction but it is a sin to act on it. She was very understanding and was just happy that she wouldn't be forced to marry a man. We talked more about it and she asked about the word of wisdom, and piercings and tattoos, and so many other things and she loved everything about the church! She then began to explain a ton about her past and how she went to a ton of other churches and they all told her she was going to hell and she was worthless and how her mom hates her and just all of these horrible things that no person should ever have to go through. And so I felt that super strong impression that I needed to tell her how much God loves her and cares about her and so I did. And she got super emotional and couldn't talk for a minute and she looked up at Hermana Crowther and I and said, "It's weird how hard that hits home right now. You both have some really good timing." We talked to her some more and invited her to church. She told us she wanted to go but she didn't have a means of transportation or any clothes. She only has one pair of basketball shorts and a tank top and we told her we could find her a ride and some clothes and she was so appreciative. She couldn't believe it that there were people who actually cared about her. It broke my heart. She didn't come this week but she just barely called us a few seconds ago so we're going to meet her tomorrow and probably teach her some more.

So we went over to the Salas's this week for FHE and it was so fun. We watched a mormon message together and we were all going around talking about it and the spirit was super strong and things were just going great. Well I was sitting in the corner where I could hide easily (that's important to this story) and their grandma started talking and bearing her testimony so everyone was super serious and the spirit was strong and it was great. Well their 6 year old just jumps up and goes running up the stairs and stops half way. He had a dog leash and a stuffed panda bear and he tied them together and he threw it over the stairs like a fishing pole and it smacked the grandma in the leg. I couldn't believe it and everyone acted like nothing happened and the grandma continued on and I couldn't handle it, I lost it! I was laughing so hard!! But thank goodness I was in the corner so nobody could hear or see me. But I couldn't stop laughing, like I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. And the thing that made it so funny is everyone just acted like nothing happened! So finally the 10 year old interrupts the grandma and says, "Hermana Swapp, are you okay?" And then I started laughing even harder and out loud. It was so bad I felt like the worst example to the kids but pretty soon the whole family was laughing so I think it was okay. It sounds so stupid over writing but every time I think about it I start laughing all over again. I replay it over and over again in my head!

So they had the Bourbon County fair this week which is a super big deal and the ward does a Tiger Ear Booth every year (it's like scones except for with holes in them). And we were scheduled to go Thursday, well this huge storm hits. We were in Winchester with Sister Elizabeth and she started getting tornado, flash flood, and severe thunder storm warnings on her phone. So the fair got cancelled for that night, so I was super bummed. But then I got really excited about the tornado, I just really wanted to see one or at least a funnel cloud or something. Well we needed to talk to people and Elizabeth needed to go to the bathroom so we went to the gas station.... the perfect place! We were talking to some people and the tornado sirens started going crazy! I was so pumped and so we got in Elizabeth's car and decided to drive back to Paris. Well we got back and nada. The storm stopped, I was so sad! But there was a tornado in Georgetown, just like a city over I think. So it wasn't my time, but maybe I'll get lucky and see a tornado another time on my mission! And don't worry we got to work at the booth Saturday night for like an hour or so, so it all worked out!

But this week was super good, I've already been out for three months, can you believe it? I love being a missionary and I love seeing all of the miracles God sends every single day. He is so loving and so aware. I love being an instrument for Him and I love being a witness of Jesus Christ. I hope you all have an amazing week and I love you all so very much!

Hermana Swapp