Dear...Everybody,
This was one of the most spiritual weeks of my entire mission. I
don't even really know where to start. I guess that we will start with the
biggest miracle of all. Last week we were on bikes. (miracle that I survived).
So you remember that lady that we found from the Marshall Islands? This is the
coolest story ever. We have this senior missionary couple that comes up here to
work every week. They help us with all of the new member lessons and less
actives in the branch. They came up this past week and told us about an amazing
contact that they had.
They were in Walmart looking for a pair of shoes for a
service project when they were contacted by a man from the Marshall Islands. He
said that he was a member of the church back home, but had since not gone to
church. He told them that he wasn't aware that there was even a church here.
The missionary couple then asked him where and if he was going to church. He
replied that since he didn't know there was a church here that he decided to
start a church of his own. He and his friends and family from the Marshall
Islands get together every Sunday to have "church". It was just a year ago that
this man got his "preaching license" and the congregation became a recognized
church in the community.
The senior missionaries of course asked if they could
go and meet everyone that attended and invited him to come back to church and
see how he felt. They set a return appointment for this coming Saturday and
left. After the couple had told us the story we were dumbfounded. We teach a
lot of people from he Marshall Islands and heard that there was an Assembly of
God church here that was all Marshallese. We have been looking for this
Marshallese pastor for months. We had no idea that he was a member though! We
asked the couple where the man lived. They responded that he lived on the north
side of Broken Bow on Cherry Lane. I said, "Cherry? Are you sure? I don't
think that there is a Cherry lane in Broken Bow." They responded that they
didn't think so either. They had gone looking for it and weren't able to find a
Cherry Lane anywhere in Broken Bow. I thought to myself for a second and then
said, "Pretty sure that there is a Sherry Lane though. In fact some of our
investigators live on Sherry. Let's go by them and see if they know this
pastor."
So off we went. We got to the house that we played volleyball at the
week previous and asked the less active lady if she knew this pastor. She told
us that it was her brother and that he lived in the house right next door.
Amazing. So we talked to her about coming to church and inviting her brother to
come with her. She happily said that she would attend with her family. I was
floored. We asked more about her brother's teaching. She said that he teaches
from the Bible and the Book of Mormon every Sunday and that there were 60-70
Marshallese people that attend every week. Most, if not all are non members.
We then asked her where the church was. She said, " We hold our meeting in the
Assembly of God church in Broken Bow. The people in that church are nice enough
to let us use their building for one or two hours every Sunday." This whole
time we have thought that they were an actual branch of the Assembly of God
church, but turns out that they just let them use the building. Miracles are
real. We are going to start meeting with this group of 60-70 every Sunday. I
always wondered why we couldn't be like the missionaries in the Book of Mormon
that saw such great miracles and had scores of people join the church. I cannot
wait to tell you how everything plays out with this group of people.
Sunday we had 8 investigators at church, 3 of whom are new
investigators from this week.. All of whom are Marshallese. We had a wonderful
testimony meeting. One of the Marshallese recent converts went up and bore her
testimony. It was amazing. There was not a dry eye in the room. After the
meeting we went to the home of the 3 new investigators and talked to them about
the meeting. One said that she absolutely loved the meeting. She asked how
they picked who would go up and speak. We simply told her that anyone who
wanted to go up, could. She said, "Oh really? I was going to go up there but I
didn't because I thought that it was just for members." We told her that she
was more than welcome to go up and bear her testimony in the next testimony
meeting. She then asked if there was a translator for the Marshallese people
who attended, and said if there wasn't that she would gladly help translate. We
of course said that we would appreciate her help in translating. She then said,
"Oh wait, do you have to be a member to do that?" Before I could even answer
the question she said, "Speaking of which, how can I become a member?" Wow.
Umm...Wow. Well...you're doing it right now. We explained the process and
talked about a day that all three of them would like to be baptized and become
members of the church. Amazing. I have never seen so many prepared people in
all my mission.
There were so many wonderful and spiritual experiences this week. I
have so many stories to tell but I am not quite sure if I can write them. I
would have to ask the people who are involved if I can share their story. Some
are just so personal and spiritual that I do not know if I can really describe
them in an email. I will try to talk to y'all about them next week after I get
their permission.
Speaking of next week, I would love to Skype on Mother's
Day. Plan on me calling at about 8 o'clock Sunday night. I don't know what
time that will be for y'all but pretty sure that y'all can handle figuring it
out. Wish that I had more time to write but, alas, I do not.
My companion is
getting transferred so I will have to stay the night in Mt Pleasant, Texas and
wait for my new companion to arrive tomorrow. I love all of you so much and
want you to know that I miss you terribly.
-Elder McNinch
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