September 27, 2010 Letter

Dear Family,

     This week has been especially crazy.  We have taken on the apostle's promise that if we will get 20 contacts a day that our weeks will be filled with teaching appointments.  Well...we have 22 new and old investigators.  YEAH.  6 of which are having baptism dates set this week.  Yeah we have a TON of teaching appointments.  So awesome.

     So this week's story is about this nice black lady that we met while we were tracting.  She was sitting in the front seat of her car with the back hatch of the car open.  She had a ton of stuff just kind of all piled in there.  We asked her if she could use any help.  She was so confused as to why we were asking, but eventually she said that she could use our help if we were serious.  She went on as we were helping her, telling us about her life story.  She had been in Katrina and lost her home and some family members.  Namely her grandmother.  She then told us how she had been with her husband for 10 years and he had been cheating on her for eight.  This was the reason for moving and the stuff in the car.  This was her second husband and she has 4 kids.  Crazy.  We started talking with her about the church and what not and how life is really hard at times, but through Christ's Atonement we can feel comforted.  She said that she knew that and asked where she could find one of our churches down in Houston where she was moving.  We called the Elders in Houston and they are going to help her move in when she gets there.  She asked for a card with our names on it so that she could remember us and the name of the church.  When we gave her a pass-along card she started to cry.  We told her everything was going to be okay and that Heavenly Father would take care of her.  She proceeded to tell us that that wasn't the reason she was crying.  She said that she had been looking for that picture. (the one that was on the pass-along card that we gave her).  She explained that before the hurricane her grandmother had let two young men come in and share a "message" with her.  She (lady we helped)  was there when her grandmother let them in, but didn't want anything to do with another church.  Turns out that at the end of that visit the missionaries gave her grandmother that pass-along and told her that they would be back to teach her more.  All that this lady remembered was the picture on the card; not the name of the church they belonged to.  Her grandmother was investigating the church prior to the evacuation.  The last thing that the grandmother said to her before the evacuation was that she felt at peace because of the message that the young men had shared with her.  The grandmother didn't evacuate and was killed. This woman had been searching for that picture for 2 years or so trying to find which church the picture was from, and there we were.  It was so amazing.  This woman was so greatful just to have us help her repack her stuff in the car, and then we brought her the picture.  She was speachless.  She gave us both huge hugs! ( I know that is not allowed, but would you ever try to stop a crying black lady from giving someone a hug?...I wouldn't either)

     It was so amazing to see how the Lord works in our lives.  I know that I am here for a reason.  I know that this gospel is truth.  That Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father live, and love each and everyone of us.  I love you all.  Happy General conference week.  Happy Birthday dad.

love- Elder McNinch