Ok, so first off, before I forget... Super cool thing happened yesterday!
I had to give a quick 5 minute talk in sacrament meeting, just to introduce
myself and talk about why I came on a mission and things I've learned so far.
Well because I was introducing myself I of course told them where I was from.
There was a couple visiting just for sacrament meeting because their son had
just married a member from our ward and their reception was the previous night.
Anyhow, after sacrament meeting I walked off the stage and the quickly stopped
me and the wife I could tell was super excited and she told me that she was from
Chico. It was Marilyn Wasden! I don't remember of course but I immediately
knew who her mom and dad were and that Tori was her sister-in-law. She
remembered mom and dad and her and her husband talked about how dad spoke at her
mom's funeral. Anyhow, it was super cool and I just kept thinking, what a small
world! Anyhow, I thought that was really cool and y'all might enjoy it!
Now onto missionary work fun! So this week was super cool! Last
Monday the four of us decided to spend the last part of p-day touring the shops
on front street (front street is the street right next to the cane river and
they have all these adorable shops facing the river and the road is actually
made from the original bricks from when Natchitoches was first built). Our
first stop was the tour store and as we walked around looking at the fun toys
the girl working there asked us why we were all dressed up. We got to talking
with her and told her that we were missionaries for our church and she told us
that she once dated a member of the church but he wasn't a very good member and
never could answer any of her questions. I asked her if she would like to meet
up with us and learn more and she agreed and asked if we could meet up the next
day. We ended up spending the last hour or so of our p-day talking with her in
the store and it was super awesome! We then met with her on Tuesday and just
talked a little bit about Jesus Christ and answered a few of her questions. Our
first real lesson with her was on Thursday and it was awesome! It's obvious
that she has been prepared and she is really seeking for truth. We taught the
restoration and the spirit was so strong! At the end I knew I needed to extend
the baptismal commitment but I was really nervous but I did it and it was
awesome! I asked her if she would be baptized when she learns that all of this
is true and she was like, "well, yeah, that's what I've been wanting". I was so
excited! I'm so grateful for the knowledge that this church is true and I know
that she can learn that for herself as well if she really takes the time to
study it out and seek answers. She even said the closing prayer and it was so
simple and perfect! She was going to come to church on Sunday but ended up
having to go to Shreveport for the weekend but she said she wants to come this
Sunday. We have our next appointment with her on Thursday and I'm super
stoked!
Things are going great with Darby as well! It is amazing to see how
strong she is and teaching her the commandment lessons is just funny because
it's basically her teaching us the entire time! We were talking with our ward
mission leader yesterday about the example she has been during all of this.
Whenever she comes across a problem with her parents she immediately turns to
the scriptures and to prayer. In the words of our wml, "she's constantly
holding onto the iron rod". And it's so true! I know that she will continue to
progress and I know that the Lord really is guiding her and I know her parents
will one day realize the growth in their daughter that has come about because of
the truth she has been studying!
It's been a great week and It's been wonderful to really see the hand
of the Lord as we have truly sought to do His will. I'm not sure how much I
have really talked mentioned about my companion. I think I told y'all she is
shy but I'm not sure I explained how deep her shyness is :) We can't go
tracting because she simply will not talk to people and when I first got here
that was a really big stress for me because I knew we needed to find people to
teach. I've really been seeking the Lord's guidance on how to find people to
teach and I've been doing my best to be obedient every day and look for
opportunities to talk to people. It's been amazing to see how the Lord has
placed people in our path because of this! We had the toy store girl on Monday
and then on Saturday we had another cool experience! The Greens were in town
for a reception so they met with us afterward and took us to ice cream. As we
were about to the pull away a lady pulled up next to us and motioned for us to
roll down our window. She asked us if we could tell her how to get to the river
front for the Meet Pie Festival that was going on. She told us that she was from
Columbia and is a new professor of Spanish at NSU and still doesn't know her way
around. Well, Ms. Robin is amazing at talking and started up a conversation
with this lady. During the conversation we quickly grabbed a mormon.org card
and wrote our name and phone number on it. We handed it to her from the window
and when she saw mormon she got really excited! She told us that her
grandmother used to house the mormon missionaries in Colombia and she always
raved about how much to loved them! She asked us if we could meet with her to
talk with her more and she wrote down her information for us! It was super cool
and it was a real testimony to me that when you are obedient and do all you can
to do the Lord's will he truly will place those who are seeking Him in your
path! We are going to contact her today and I will most definitely keep y'all
posted on how it goes!
I love y'all and I loved reading all your emails! It's fun to hear
about everything going on in Utah and California! Y'all will have to tell me
more about these projects for the missionaries in Zimbabwe! It sounds super
awesome!!! I love y'all and hope you have a fantastic week!!!
Love,
Sister Ogden
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