We couldn't sleep because we were so filled with joy 7-18-2016
12:49 PM
¡Hola Familia y Amigos!
No tengo las palabras para explicar esta semana. Tengo mucho gozo en
mi corazón y alma. Yo sé que la Expiación es real. I really have no
words to explain this past week. It was incredible and my heart feels
like it's going to explode. I honestly didn't know it was possible to
feel this way, but I have more happiness than I have ever had in my
life before. It's amazing how this gospel can do that for me.
It's beyond crazy to me that some people don't believe in God or
believe that He has quit working miracles because as a missionary I
witness miracles every single day in the field. I'm a witness that God
has not ceased to be a God of miracles. And I'm so grateful that He
trusts me enough to let me be a part of them and I'm grateful that I
can share them with all of you. But I am sorry, I wish I was a better
writer and could explain them better to you but I'll do my best! (And
I'm sorry it's going to be like another journal entry but I will share
a miracle I had every day this week).
Monday:
That night we were able to talk to someone who is very dear to us. All
we did was listen to her and let her talk. As we listened my heart
grew heavier and heavier. She was living in the darkest and scariest
world I have ever heard explained to me. And just when I didn't think
I could listen anymore the most amazing thing happened. The Atonement
worked in me in a way I have never experienced. Immediately the
heaviness and sadness was bearable and I saw the dark scary world in a
new way. I saw this daughter of God in a way I have never seen anyone
before, I saw her divine worth and I saw her divine potential and I
felt an incredible amount of hope that wasn't there before. My
favorite Corrie Ten Boom quote came to life for me that day, "There is
no place so deep that God's love is not deeper still." The love that I
felt was so much greater than any sadness I had ever experienced, and
that was a miracle for me.
Tuesday:
We went to Millersburg for a day to look for more people to teach and
while we were there we saw a man and woman in a parking lot and it
looked like they were having car problems so we did what any
missionary would do and pulled over to offer help. They had it all
under control but the woman was just absolutely shocked that we were
there and we had found her. (Her name is Katie). Katie explained to us
that the night before at work there was a new girl and they got
talking and the girl was a Mormon. The girl at work was telling Katie
all about the Plan of Salvation and the Book of Mormon and Katie loved
all of it and when she went home she had a ton of questions she wanted
answered. And when she saw us she knew it was an answer to her prayer
and invited us in for a lesson! We were able to explain more about the
Plan of Salvation and answer her questions. It was so amazing that we
were able to find her when she needed it. It is the coolest thing in
the world to receive a prompting from the spirit and to act on it and
then find out later that it was an answer to someone's prayer. There
is no better feeling.
Wednesday:
Sister Elizabeth drove us to Cynthiana for the day so we could find
more people to teach, we didn't find very many Hispanics but we did
find Jeff. We found him in a trailer park and stopped him right as he
was getting out of his car. We got talking to him and told him all
about the Book of Mormon and he loved it! He couldn't believe that
Christ came to the Ancient America's and he had never heard about it
before! He was so excited and so happy and said he would read it and
come to church sometime. It was incredible. Also, Wednesday night was
when Fidencio had his baptism interview and he passed!!
Thursday:
We had zone meeting that day and at the meeting an Elder from
Georgetown came up to me and told me that his investigators moved to
Paris and he scheduled an appointment for us for that day with them.
Normally we would be super excited but I thought I was going to barf
because we had exchanges right after the meeting which meant Hermana
Crowther was going to Winchester and an ENGLISH sister was coming with
me to Paris so I literally had to do a Spanish lesson all by myself. I
prayed and begged Heavenly Father for help. Well we got to the lesson
and her name is Zaira and the lesson ended up being amazing! I had no
choice but to rely on my Heavenly Father and with His help I was able
to understand almost every single thing she said and I was able to
communicate effectively. My Spanish was no where close to perfect but
I was able to communicate everything I wanted to say and that was a
miracle. And it was a miracle that we found Zaira, she is incredible
and knows so much about the church. I felt like she was teaching me.
Later that day I was so grateful because Sister Elizabeth came with us
for the rest of our exchange! Well we decided to go look for a less
active and we got to her house (it was this cute little cabin) and a
man answered. We asked him if Cynthia was home and he said no and that
we better not come back because she doesn't want anything to do with
the church and wouldn't be happy to see us. Well we got talking to him
more and his heart was softened. He told us all about his life and how
he met his wife and where they're at in life and how they feel about
the church. And he really doesn't have a problem with the church and I
think he would come back if his wife wasn't so against it. But we
talked for a really long time and he even invited us in to show us his
cute house. I think he secretly really enjoyed our company. He said he
really wanted his wife to meet us and he thought she would connect
better with us and he even told us he was going to ask her if he could
invite us to their annual cabin party!! I don't know what that is but
it sounds like a blast! But it really was a miracle that we found him
without her because his heart was able to be softened and it was a
miracle because he invited us back.
Friday:
We went to Fidencio's that night for one last lesson before his
baptism. Quick side story: we were in the car (me, Hermana Crowther,
and Elizabeth) and we were praying together. As I was saying the
prayer someone hit the car and started shaking it like they were
coming to kill us and me and Elizabeth let out a blood curdling shriek
mid prayer. We locked all the doors and waited for our killer to find
us and then Fidencio comes up to the window just laughing his head
off. It's funny how the roles quickly switched though because I
thought Elizabeth might kill him haha!
But the lesson was incredible. We read to him from Alma 7:11-13 and
bore our testimonies of the Atonement. After we were done Fidencio
bore his testimony to us out of no where. It was incredible, the
spirit was so amazing. I thought my heart was going to explode. I
can't begin to explain what it feels like to watch someone invite
Christ into their life and change completely and then hear them bear
their testimony of it all. When we went home that night we couldn't
sleep because we were so filled with joy.
Saturday:
The ward has had a drought and so Hermana Crowther and I went to the
church early and vacuumed all of the bugs out of the font and we swept
and mopped it. We had fun. Then the baptism came. I really can't
explain it. The entire room was full, so many people came. The spirit
was there from the beginning and Brother Harney really invited it in
with his opening remarks. We had a couple of amazing talks and then
the four of us missionaries sang for his baptism (you know I really
love Fidencio if I was willing to sing in front of people) and then
the actual baptism happened. The second Fidencio stepped into the
water I started crying and I couldn't stop. His baptism is the
happiest I have ever felt. I was happier at his baptism than I was at
Disneyland, than that one time I shot even in tournament play, than
any Christmas or Swiss days I've been to, I was happier than any happy
moment I have ever had. There are no words. But watching someone
change their life for better for eternity is the greatest blessing
Heavenly Father has given me and the greatest miracle I have ever
seen. I didn't want to fall asleep that night because I didn't ever
want that feeling to ever go away. I really think that how I felt is
how heaven will feel. I really wish I could write better or even
better I wish all of you could've experienced it and felt it for
yourself. It was incredible.
Sunday:
Fidencio was confirmed and became the newest member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Also, we were able to teach Mario
and he wants to get baptized and we set a date so he should be getting
baptized August 7 or 14. The last miracle for the week.... We reached
every single goal we set this week. It doesn't happen often but we did
it and there is no way we could've done it without Heavenly Father, it
was a miracle to us.
This week definitely goes in the books for the best week of Hermana
Swapp's life. It was so incredible and I'm so grateful that I got to
experience it all. God is truly a God of miracles and he performs them
every day. The Atonement is so real and I know that Jesus is the
Christ and I will be a witness for Him for as long as I live. He is
real and He lives.
I love all of you so much. I hope you all have a wonderful week and
know that I am praying for you. And be happy because life is too short
to be anything else!
Les Amo Mucho,
Hermana Swapp
Exchanges!
Fidencio's baptism!!!
Cleaning out the font!
The Linker family!
Fidencio came to a fireside!!
We were fed a delicious meal from Beverly!!
I found some cool glasses.
Louisville
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