Dear family,
I hope the family is doing okay! I've been praying for them a lot. Of course, I am worried about you Pops! You sounded so tired and sad on the phone. I've been praying especially hard for you. I really like the last verse in Enos. It is once of my favorites and I think it applies perfectly to Grandpa. Enos had a good relationship with God. He talked with Him and felt the joy that comes from repentance. The Holy Ghost had given him a foretaste of eternal life and He looked forward to the day when He would see God. Verse 27 says, "And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen." I don't know if this helped you or not but it helped me. I believe Grandpa is the same way and that he will see God's face with pleasure since he knew the Master he served.
We had some pretty cool miracles happen this week. We went a knocking and planned to do so for at least two hours. The first house we knocked-the very first!- turned out to be a member of our church! She isn't on our records. Crazy, right? She seemed genuinely excited to see us and let us into her home immediately. She is a convert and is from BRAZIL! Seriously, how does this keep happening?! Her English is really good although her accent is pretty thick. Her husband is a returned missionary and they met in the YSA ward here. She invited us to come back anytime so we are going to start working with her. It was such a testimony to me that the Lord is aware of all of His children. He knows where they are, even if the church doesn't. The timing was perfect. We had been in that neighborhood a couple of days prior but really felt like we needed to be somewhere else. So when we came back we found her and discovered that she usually isn't home at that time but she was waiting for a fridge to be delivered so we met her. How cool is that??
Another cool miracle happened right before dinner. We had about an hour so we decided to knock around the Aiken's house. The very first house we knocked WE GOT IN! This just doesn't happen in this area! It has only happened twice since I've been here so we were pretty much stoked. Her name is Allison Grecko and she is the epitome of a true Christian. She let us in immediately and was so curious to know more. We introduced ourselves and explained what an LDS missionary does. We also introduced the Book of Mormon. The spirit that was in the room was so very tangible. We bore such fervent testimonies and I know she felt it. She was so excited to get a Book of Mormon that she hugged me!! I just hope she reads it and that she will allow it to touch her heart. The Book of Mormon can do wonders, and I think it will be the key for Allison.
Sister Aiken is the one who sent you that picture of us dressed up like cows to get a free dinner at Chick-Fil-a. I am so impressed with their family. They have two sons out on missions. One gets home in six months and the other just left. They are so missionary oriented! I have never seen anything like it. Eli, one of the sons, has brought people to church, gone on a 24 hour exchange with the Elders and goes out with them all the time. He has even gotten one of his friends to take the lessons! Cooper, the other son, is writing a girl who he has dated forever. She wants to be baptized, but is scared to tell her Methodist family. She goes to church though! In her YSA ward and even attends institute. She has taken all of the lessons too an could be baptized any day now, but she wants to wait for Cooper to get home :/ Sister Aiken talks to everyone she meets about the church. I just admire them so much. They have taught me what it means to be a member missionary!
On Sunday, one of the members who we have been working with and who is coming back to church pulled us aside and said that he thinks his wife is going to leave him and wanted advice and comfort. He looked so completely dejected and I had no idea what to say. Clearly, as a sister missionary I have never been married so my ability to empathize was severally limited. It is always amazing to me that people trust us enough to tell us their struggles. At first, I didn't understand why. I am young and have seen very little of the world and don't have a great deal of life experiences to draw upon. So why us? Then I realized something that anyone with an iota of brain power would have realized a long time ago: it is because of His name that we wear. We represent Him. People trust that He guides us in what we do and say. They really don't want to hear what I have to say, but what their Savior has to say.
I love you all!
Sis Daniels
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