Week 11--The Week in Miracles

Hey Loved Ones,

HUGE miracle this week. We felt impressed to go tracting on a street, and after 2 hours did did not see much success. As we were getting back into the car, Sister Gregerson felt we should do one more house on the corner. We knocked, and the woman answered and said, "Sisters! One moment; let me pull up some chairs and we will talk!" We sat on her porch and she told us her name, Kay, and that she'd been to our church before and loved it. She said she didn't really know why she stopped attending, as she loved our church best and felt the people were the nicest in the world. She also told us she was engaged to be married in June to an inactive member, Jerry, who is not even on our roster. She was looking for someone to marry them and a venue as well, as asked if it would be possible at our church. We told her if she wanted the Bishop could do it in our building for no cost. She was so happy, and then started crying and said that she had just been praying and feeling lost, and wanted to have a sign, and then we showed up. She said she knew she needed to come back to church, and that she knew she would be welcomed back with open arms. We told her we would come back before church and meet with her and her fiance on Friday.

On Friday, at 3:15, we get a call from her and she asks if we can bring the Bishop with us at 5. We say we will give it a shot, but we know Bishop Jackson is probably the busiest person we know and has eight children who are all home schooled, and he just opened up a law firm. We call him, and ask if he could come to her appointment. It just so happens he's taken the day off from work! When we show up, she and Jerry are both waiting on their porch. As soon as we get seated, she says, "I want to be baptized right now. I know I need to be married first, but I want to be married as soon as possible and baptized the next day!" We are kind of stunned. The Bishop rolls into the drive and they both remember each other! She tells him the same thing. He's kind of in shock too, and goes over the baptismal interview qualifications right on the porch, and she says, "Yes, I know all that, I don't have any Word of Wisdom problems, and I'll try to pay my tithing too! We want to get married the first weekend in June, and then baptized the next day!" So she pretty much puts herself on baptism date for June 4th, and asks if he can marry them on the 3rd.

Bishop says we have to give her all the discussions, and read the Book of Mormon. He asks her, "Kay, do you have a Book of Mormon? Have they given you one yet?" She smiles so big and says, "Oh, do I have a Book of Mormon!" She runs into her house and immediately fetches this beautiful leather grain LDS quad, and opens it up and pulls out all the Missionary Discussion pamphlets, and had the pages all marked in different colors and highlighters. "You know what they call you, Kay? A Dry Mormon," says the Bishop. "All we need to do is baptize you."

She really is ready for baptism, and it made me think of why after not coming to church for years after meeting missionaries she still had retained her testimony. It's the Book of Mormon.

Not everyone is like Kay. We have one recent convert whose mother Lea has been taking discussions. She wants so much to be baptized and to see her husband's proxy baptism done in the temple by her daughter at his one year mark, but she has a Word of Wisdom problem with smoking. The past week we had the perfect lesson, with the perfect ward member who shared the PERFECT testimony and by the end of the lesson we were all CRYING and Lea offered the most beautiful prayer I have ever heard. We gave her two commitments: Come to church, and put her Book of Mormon on top of her tobacco and every time she is going to smoke one read a chapter first.

We can't get a hold of them Sunday morning. So we literally go over to her house and knock on the door for ten minutes. Then we go around and knock on the bedroom door to wake them up. Then (because we are really close) we walk right into their house and wake them up for church, and tell them we found a member to give her a ride. She's happy to see us, but tells us she doesn't feel well enough to come to church today. Then she rolls a cigarette right in front of us--no Book of Mormon in sight--and starts smoking it. We were at a loss.

And I wondered why she didn't keep her commitments--didn't even try. Sister Gregerson and I went back to square one. And realized the very first commitment we need to give someone--before we ask them to pray, before we ask them to come to church, before we ask them ANYTHING--is to read the Book of Mormon. It's the keystone of our faith and the first step to conversion. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and i know that you CANNOT BE CONVERTED TO THE LORD UNLESS YOU READ IT.  You can be converted to the people at church, or the food, or the way you feel in the chapel at church, but not to the Savior. So read it, and pray and fast until you know it is true.

My challenge to you,

Thanks for reading this long letter,

Love you, but Jesus loves you BEST!

Sister Pugmire