Dear Family!
This week we had FOUR people come back to church!!! People that had since
disappeared, are now coming back to full activity. That's insane.
Let me tell you a story. A small frog had made its way into our home
because it rained, and trailed itself in and out of dusty areas. I saw it later
that day, and I didn't recognize it at first. It was just a pile of dirt, stuck
to the ground in the kitchen. (Not that our kitchen is THAT dirty.... but when a
frog goes in and out of the 'no go zones'... it gets messy.)
I looked at the little guy and felt really sad for him. Once I realized it
was the frog, I knelt down. He was helpless. I kind of made a face, thinking
what to do about it. He certainly wouldn't like me picking him up. But he had
gotten himself into a mess, and I was the only one that could do anything about
it. I reached down, and peeled the dirt strand off him so he could be freed from
the ground, and picked him up. He really was small. I took him to the sink, and
slowly with tiny taps of water with my finger, peeled all the dusty particles
off him so his limbs could eventually move. The last thing I took off was a
matted bit over his eyes. The little guy walked around on my hand, now totally
mobile, and seemed content.
I smiled and took him outside into the greenery and let him loose, free
again.
So on Monday I gave an FHE thought about that experience and talked about
repentance. God wants to forgive us even when we get ourselves in messy
situations that bind us down. Every time I think of teaching investigators about
being washed clean, I think of that little frog and how stuck he was, and later
how free he became.
In other news, we have a great new investigator! His name is BiiMay. It
means 'new year'. :) Buk, our sweet girl getting baptized in two weeks, brought
him with her to a lesson. Ironically, we had JUST seen him put in our path on
the road not 15 minutes earlier. I stopped and said hi because he's in our
english class. Now he's learning the gospel.
Mary, the older sister of Molly (who we baptized 3 weeks ago), has been
avoiding baptism. She's wanted to be baptized in like December, even though she
is ready right now. So this week we had a district meeting about "helping people
resolve their concerns". I don't think Elder Tatton (the district leader) or I
could have ever imagined that 3 days later, Mary would tell me: "I have a
question, Sister Painter. I have wanted to be baptized this whole time. But I
have one concern. It's tiny. But that's what kept me from being baptized with
Molly." ........ ONE CONCERN! I was like, "Is this really happening??" She
finally, after a month, opened up to me and I sent her in for another interview
for baptism.
She came out, and we looked at each other, and the district leader said:
"Do you have a baptismal form?"
She's getting baptized on SATURDAY!!!!
I never expected God would give us so many miracles. I don't know why I
ever thought He was limited in what He could do.
Other than that, everyone we work with has been growing so much and coming
back into the church with flying colors. I swear, they were simply
forgotten.
I love my mission!!!
Love,
Sister Painter
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