Monday, April 5, 2010

Changes and Miracles 3/30/10












I couldn't have asked for a better last week of the transfer! My companion and I gave this week everything that we had to share the spirit on Temple Square! There were so many miracles but there is one special one I want to focus on.

In mid January I took 3 people on a tour. Lee and Brian were father and son, Brian in his 20's had recently moved to SLC for work and Lee was visiting, along with Pricsilla who is from Nicaragua. Lee and his family had visited Nicaragua to build homes a year ago when they met Priscilla and now she was living with them and working in the US. She was beautiful!!! Anyway, we took them on a wonderful tour and they had so many questions. They could care less for the history and the buildings but really just wanted to know everything. Priscilla could not come to understand the Book of Mormon. They were all very very Christian and she knew the bible and couldn't believe we had more scripture. But as we were teaching she felt the spirit so strongly and had tears in her eyes. Lee and Brian agreed and loved everything but they did not refer to learn more. Priscilla gave me her information for her home in Nicaragua to send a referral through in July when she will be back home. She wants to learn in her native country.
Ok- fast forward until last Saturday. I was in the referral center making calls and I found Priscilla's card in my folder I thought that I should call her and re-invite her to hear from missionaries in Colorado where the family lives. I called her and she was so excited to hear from me, her and Connie (the mother, Lee's wife) were on there way to SLC to visit Brian! She said, "Oh ya we are on our way to SLC, wow I can't believe you called, I should bring Connie to Temple Square". So I thought maybe they might come to the square and walk around, well Sunday afternoon they came! I took them on another tour and Priscilla told us she had come back because she felt such a powerful spirit on the square and really had many questions. Connie was AMAZING. She was so prepared to hear everything. When I opened the Book of Mormon and shared the account in Nephi 11 she just began flipping the pages and reading. After teaching her from the Book of Mormon and taking them on a wonderful tour I looked at Priscilla and she said this .. " I came back today and wanted to see you girls because I love your devotion and love for God, but I just cannot accept that there is another book, the Bible is the only scripture on the earth from God and I don't know, I will read the Book of Mormon, but I just don't know".. I was preparing to answer her but then Connie said, "Priscilla you can't know anything is from God unless you sincerely read and pray about it, if it is truth God will reveal it to us!!" My jaw just dropped. Connie was the answer! She accepted to receive the Book of Mormon and the missionaries and she said she will read and pray about it. AMAZING! Throughout the whole tour they were saying what a miracle it was that I had called yesterday to see how she was doing. Connie was so grateful and so excited to read. And now this amazing beautiful family will receive missionaries and Priscilla's heart has been opened, not by us, but by Connie. My companion knelt in prayer and thanked heavenly father for leading us in preparing their heart's for the Gospel. Prepared.. prepared.. prepared. Even they could see God's hand in this miracle.

After this I received another witness that Heavenly Father know's his children so well. He is literally planning out every single tiny thing in our lives! We MUST put all of our trust in him and his plan, when we don't trust him he will not continue to show us the way. Press forward and TRUST.

So we had transfer conference yesterday morning! 12 sister's were called to serve in their outbound missions. 2 of the sister's were in the MTC with me! So I have a very high chance of being called to another mission next transfer. For this transfer I was called as District leader again and my new companion is Sister Kim from Korea!! haha ya.. I know. Another Korean and another Kim. The Lord know's how much I love Asian people. Maybe I will live in Korea some day? I was wishing I would have learned more Korean from my first Korean companion. So Sister Kim was raised in Korea and then her family moved to California when she was 16. Her English is great and she had an older sister who served in this mission last year. Which is crazy because the other Sister S. Kim's older sister served here as well... strange. Anyway, I am so excited to refocus and grow to love the new sister's to serve with. There are 12 in my district, we will have district meeting's every week and I am responsible for their scheduling and number's every day as well. I love it!

ok ok one more miracle. My companion and I this last week were really practicing inviting member's to give us the names of their non-member friend's. We KNOW that everyone know's someone, it is just figuring out how to invite them. Especially with Conference coming up this weekend, we have to be good at it. Well.. all week long we were inviting members and not 1 person gave us a number until Sunday night. We were closing the Joseph Smith movie and a BYU ward was there. After testifying we invited them and received 33 names and numbers! MIRACLE!!! We really really needed this to keep us busy in the referral center and to bring the Gospel to more people!!! We knew they Lord was trying our faith and then blessing us with so many!

So this weekend is General Conference! I will be able to attend one of the sessions, but for the other's I will be everywhere on the square and at the conf. center inviting all of the member's. So if you are coming to conference you better have your phones ready because the sister's will ask you for your non-member friends. I am sooooo excited for conference! We are so blessed to have a living prophet on the earth and have the opportunity of hearing from him so often. I encourage you to prepare your minds through study and prayer so you will be able to receive the needed inspiration for your life right now. Miracles happen as the spirit speaks to us and gives us guidance and direction.

I love you all! I love this Gospel!

-Sister Carly Jo Porter

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