Dec. 29- Christmas Miracles

Where do I begin?!?! Miracle #uno :) Okay so our first was because of a four year old boy. We were walking back to our car when we finally found someone outside! That's when we ran into the mowers! Ethan is 4 years old. He and his Dad were cleaning the garage when we stopped by to chat. They are members but we stopped anyway to ask for a referral. Brother Mower automatically said he didn't know anyone but cute Ethan jumped off his bike and said, "My friend R.J. goes to the wrong church can I introduce you to him?"....a referral from a 4 year old? We'll take it. R.J. just so happens to live next door to the Mowers. Ethan ran over and knocked on the door. He was so excited to introduce us to his 5 year old best friend. Nobody answered the door so we promised him we would try again later. Well, yesterday we were in that same neighborhood when Ethan comes running out of his house and says, "Can we try again!" We did! Thanks to cute Ethan we will be teaching R.J. and his family this week! Yay! Miracle #2 That same day we got done with our last appointment and had 30 minutes until it was time to head home. We are trying to use every second wisely so we prayed and decided to point to a random name in the ward directory. My finger landed on the Johnson's name. We drove over there to find their oldest daughter was having a small party with her highschool friends while they are all back for winter break. After talking to a few of the girls for a little while we went to say goodbye to Brother and Sister Johnson. Brother Johnson pulled us aside and said, "Sisters you look like you need to go roast a marsh mellow over with all those girls." At first we said we were okay then he informed us that none of his daughter's friends were LDS and none of them knew very much about the church. Okay fine! We went over and jumped right into the girl talk, trying our best to get their names down and get to know a little bit about them. Before long they were asking us about what missionaries really did all day and about how often we get to call home. They were shocked! Questions started flying at us like crazy! We left with the hopes that lots of seeds were planted that night :) Miracle #3 One of our investigators is named Gayle. She is really hard to get a hold of and her family is not to fond of her joining the church. She invited us to come over on Christmas eve and share a christmas message with her family! She made it sound like it was going to be 5 or 6 people....we show up to the party to find like a really fancy adult Chirstmas party! There was like wine and cheese balls. Like that kind of stuff! Obviously the 19 and 22 year old missionaries stood out a little bit in that crowd which was a blessing! Gayle intoduced us to a few people and suddenly people started asking us all kinds of questions. Once again everyone thought it was so shocking that we gave up internet, tv, and that we only talk to our families twice a year. Before long they were asking us about what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is all about. Miracle I tell ya! We didn't get to share a message because Gayle asked us to do it another time BUT once again seeds for for sure planted. We are going to start teaching Michelle (the best friend/neighbor) this week! I'm running out of time so I'll save the rest for some other time! I love you all and loved hearing your voices on Christmas! The past 6 months have gone by way too fast. It kinda scares me a lot. I feel like a whole different person than when I left. My testimony has grown so much stronger in the atonement and all that Jesus Christ has done for us. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. There is simply no other option. During a member present lesson we were trying to teach the restoration. The member that we took with us got a little ahead of us and ended up teaching out investigator, A.J. the first 3 lessons and about how to receive revelation form the Book of Mormon. Sister Charles and I were in a panic! Everyone knows you can't just throw everything at them! Our investigator just sat there and at the end said, "WOW!" We was literally speechless. It was overwhelming but at the same time the spirit was so strong as this passionate member bore his testimony that there is no other way. The knowledge that we need is at our fingertips. God has given us so many resources to help us learn and grow! I know that Brother Smith is right. There is simply no other way. This church is the one and only true church on the earth. There is no other way. Thank you for all the Christmas gifts and thoughts! I love you all so much! Happy New Year!