Dear Family and Friends,
Okay, well this week was a week of learning and not only because we had zone conference. Tuesday was a really rough day. And then all of the citas fell through. And we were stranded with no Hispanics around. I was ready to quit. But there was a voice in my head that told me to keep going, something in my heart that told me to have the courage to push forward. And we did. We knocked doors and no one answered and we talked with everyone and they were all...not Hispanic. But we shared the gospel in so many ways and finally found someone who spoke Spanish. She is catholic but she invited us back later in the week. I don't know if any of the people we talked to needed the gospel at that point in time, but the next time there come missionaries knocking on their door, they'll remember us. Chasing them down the street. Just kidding. But only kind of.
Anyway so that was a time of contacting and then we decided to find a place with wifi so we can message some of our less active members and try to get some citas with them and the nearest wifi spot was 30 minutes away. So we started walking and followed the spirit as to which doors to knock on the way, which is how we found that one catholic lady. The members who picked us up were at the store just wasting time until it was time to come and get us and then they got mad that we didn't call them to come pick us up sooner. We had an awesome cita with one of their nonmember friends there and then they gave us an extra box of fish, which is super delicious, because they bought two when they only buy one normally, and a ride to our next cita.
This is where the miracle happens. Reyna, she is on date for baptism, is an amazing woman. We showed up to her house to make sure that she really did want to get married to her boyfriend and not just get married to get baptized. She said she did and she said she couldn't get baptized this Saturday but the next. So we committed her to that and then we started to talk about the cost for the marriage license they need and the miracle happened.
They don't have money for the license, they don't have money to wash their clothes, and they didn't even have money to feed their two little girls this week. But the lord knew that. He knew that since our plans fell through we would need a ride. He knew that the family we needed a ride from would be shopping and since they stayed a little longer, they bought a little more. And he knew that Reyna needed this box of fish.
How dumb is a little box of fish? But at the same time, how great is the power and wisdom of God? Knowing that he plays a huge role in all of our lives and works through us to answer someone's prayers is something that I have come to love on my mission. That knowledge helps me overcome my challenges on my mission. Whenever I feel like something is falling apart, I can think of this experience and keep pushing on. The lord is a lord of miracles and how blessed are we to have a hand in that!
Wednesday we did service for a single mom in our branch, cleaning the basement. I don't like spiders at all, so I was trying not to look at the vast majority of the ceiling that was covered in them. But I did. And I knew the spiders knew I was there, and they were coming for me. And I was sweeping when the look of horror came across my companions face as she pointed to my shoulder and I FREAKED OUT! But there was no spider and it took everything I had not to punch her...in the face. It was a reflex. I inherited that from my mom...that was a joke.
We had a mission meeting and man, oh, man did I love Zone Conference. I learned a ton! And I found a few things I want to improve on. One thing I loved was this, " You want faith? Live for it. Sacrifice leads to faith. Everyone of us is sacrificing something temporal to serve our lord, we should be able to have faith because we are sacrificing the world! Where's your mind? You can be here on a mission but your mind can be back in upper creek, Idaho!" And also, "Have we paid the price to receive revelation through prayer and scripture study? If we have not inquired of the lord we will not be able to receive revelation. Have we had meaningful communication with the lord? Are our prayers focused or are we falling asleep or have wandering thoughts? Sometimes we need to think abut if what we are praying for is necessary or not, are we going by boat or by land? What should we pray for? For the Holy Ghost and the greatest desire. We should have a plan ahead and take our plans to the lord. Ask Heavenly Father a question, take a moment to think, ponder, and formulate what the spirit is telling you, and ask for confirmation. After we pray we need to ponder for a minute and just feel what the spirit tells us throughout".
I know that sometimes in life we are just too tired to pray, or we have done something wrong and we feel like we just can't pray. Both of those things are false. Oh man, the devil sure knows a good way to cut off our communication to the man who can solve all of our problems. We need to pray. Everyday. Not only pray, but pray in specifics. We need to pray in faith. We need to know that there is a perfect man listening, our Heavenly Father, and he will answer us. I've learned this time and time again. I have a testimony of prayer. I know he listens to us. I know he wants us to grow, but I know with all of my heart that he answers our prayers. No one can persuade me to believe otherwise. Put that to the test, pray everyday and have examples and miracles in your own life that help you know that your Heavenly Father knows you by name. He knows what you're going through and he will answer your prayers. Keep the faith, push through just a little longer. He wants us to grow but he will be there to support us step by step, day by day. I know this to be true.
In my studies this week I also read this from an article our mission president wrote for us: "Your path may be thorny because of the opposition of the adversary. Don’t get discouraged in the face of opposition. Gospel truths will never go unopposed. Opposition is one of the signs of the true Church. When a standard of certainty and clarity is held up, it will be attacked. There are no neutrals on the battlefield. If it is from God, then Satan will oppose it. It is a badge of honor to be mistreated, persecuted and reviled. If Satan opposes you, be happy for you must be doing something right."
I know that this is true as well. Satan knows that the closer we come to Christ the closer we come to eternal life and the more he fights us. On my mission I have learned that every time I set it in my heart to be a little better and be a little more obedient, life gets a thousand times harder!! The only thing that helps me get through it is knowing that I'm doing the right thing. The life of a follower of Christ is hard, but it is worth it. There is nothing on this earth, no car, no hand bag, no position in a law firm that is of greater value than eternal life with our families in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. Think about that when life gets hard. When Joseph smith was in liberty Jill, the lord told him that his afflictions were just but a small moment and if he endured them well, he would have eternal life. I know that is true. Keep pushing through! :) you can do it. Even if I don't know your circumstances right now, Christ does. And because he died for you, you can over come every obstacle in life and achieve eternal life.
I hope you all have a good week! Thanks for you prayers! I love you all and I'm keeping y'all in my thoughts and prayers :) keep the faith!
Hermana Rebekka Kunz
Illinois Chicago West Mission
July 2014 - January 2016
Okay, well this week was a week of learning and not only because we had zone conference. Tuesday was a really rough day. And then all of the citas fell through. And we were stranded with no Hispanics around. I was ready to quit. But there was a voice in my head that told me to keep going, something in my heart that told me to have the courage to push forward. And we did. We knocked doors and no one answered and we talked with everyone and they were all...not Hispanic. But we shared the gospel in so many ways and finally found someone who spoke Spanish. She is catholic but she invited us back later in the week. I don't know if any of the people we talked to needed the gospel at that point in time, but the next time there come missionaries knocking on their door, they'll remember us. Chasing them down the street. Just kidding. But only kind of.
Anyway so that was a time of contacting and then we decided to find a place with wifi so we can message some of our less active members and try to get some citas with them and the nearest wifi spot was 30 minutes away. So we started walking and followed the spirit as to which doors to knock on the way, which is how we found that one catholic lady. The members who picked us up were at the store just wasting time until it was time to come and get us and then they got mad that we didn't call them to come pick us up sooner. We had an awesome cita with one of their nonmember friends there and then they gave us an extra box of fish, which is super delicious, because they bought two when they only buy one normally, and a ride to our next cita.
This is where the miracle happens. Reyna, she is on date for baptism, is an amazing woman. We showed up to her house to make sure that she really did want to get married to her boyfriend and not just get married to get baptized. She said she did and she said she couldn't get baptized this Saturday but the next. So we committed her to that and then we started to talk about the cost for the marriage license they need and the miracle happened.
They don't have money for the license, they don't have money to wash their clothes, and they didn't even have money to feed their two little girls this week. But the lord knew that. He knew that since our plans fell through we would need a ride. He knew that the family we needed a ride from would be shopping and since they stayed a little longer, they bought a little more. And he knew that Reyna needed this box of fish.
How dumb is a little box of fish? But at the same time, how great is the power and wisdom of God? Knowing that he plays a huge role in all of our lives and works through us to answer someone's prayers is something that I have come to love on my mission. That knowledge helps me overcome my challenges on my mission. Whenever I feel like something is falling apart, I can think of this experience and keep pushing on. The lord is a lord of miracles and how blessed are we to have a hand in that!
Wednesday we did service for a single mom in our branch, cleaning the basement. I don't like spiders at all, so I was trying not to look at the vast majority of the ceiling that was covered in them. But I did. And I knew the spiders knew I was there, and they were coming for me. And I was sweeping when the look of horror came across my companions face as she pointed to my shoulder and I FREAKED OUT! But there was no spider and it took everything I had not to punch her...in the face. It was a reflex. I inherited that from my mom...that was a joke.
We had a mission meeting and man, oh, man did I love Zone Conference. I learned a ton! And I found a few things I want to improve on. One thing I loved was this, " You want faith? Live for it. Sacrifice leads to faith. Everyone of us is sacrificing something temporal to serve our lord, we should be able to have faith because we are sacrificing the world! Where's your mind? You can be here on a mission but your mind can be back in upper creek, Idaho!" And also, "Have we paid the price to receive revelation through prayer and scripture study? If we have not inquired of the lord we will not be able to receive revelation. Have we had meaningful communication with the lord? Are our prayers focused or are we falling asleep or have wandering thoughts? Sometimes we need to think abut if what we are praying for is necessary or not, are we going by boat or by land? What should we pray for? For the Holy Ghost and the greatest desire. We should have a plan ahead and take our plans to the lord. Ask Heavenly Father a question, take a moment to think, ponder, and formulate what the spirit is telling you, and ask for confirmation. After we pray we need to ponder for a minute and just feel what the spirit tells us throughout".
I know that sometimes in life we are just too tired to pray, or we have done something wrong and we feel like we just can't pray. Both of those things are false. Oh man, the devil sure knows a good way to cut off our communication to the man who can solve all of our problems. We need to pray. Everyday. Not only pray, but pray in specifics. We need to pray in faith. We need to know that there is a perfect man listening, our Heavenly Father, and he will answer us. I've learned this time and time again. I have a testimony of prayer. I know he listens to us. I know he wants us to grow, but I know with all of my heart that he answers our prayers. No one can persuade me to believe otherwise. Put that to the test, pray everyday and have examples and miracles in your own life that help you know that your Heavenly Father knows you by name. He knows what you're going through and he will answer your prayers. Keep the faith, push through just a little longer. He wants us to grow but he will be there to support us step by step, day by day. I know this to be true.
In my studies this week I also read this from an article our mission president wrote for us: "Your path may be thorny because of the opposition of the adversary. Don’t get discouraged in the face of opposition. Gospel truths will never go unopposed. Opposition is one of the signs of the true Church. When a standard of certainty and clarity is held up, it will be attacked. There are no neutrals on the battlefield. If it is from God, then Satan will oppose it. It is a badge of honor to be mistreated, persecuted and reviled. If Satan opposes you, be happy for you must be doing something right."
I know that this is true as well. Satan knows that the closer we come to Christ the closer we come to eternal life and the more he fights us. On my mission I have learned that every time I set it in my heart to be a little better and be a little more obedient, life gets a thousand times harder!! The only thing that helps me get through it is knowing that I'm doing the right thing. The life of a follower of Christ is hard, but it is worth it. There is nothing on this earth, no car, no hand bag, no position in a law firm that is of greater value than eternal life with our families in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. Think about that when life gets hard. When Joseph smith was in liberty Jill, the lord told him that his afflictions were just but a small moment and if he endured them well, he would have eternal life. I know that is true. Keep pushing through! :) you can do it. Even if I don't know your circumstances right now, Christ does. And because he died for you, you can over come every obstacle in life and achieve eternal life.
I hope you all have a good week! Thanks for you prayers! I love you all and I'm keeping y'all in my thoughts and prayers :) keep the faith!
Hermana Rebekka Kunz
Illinois Chicago West Mission
July 2014 - January 2016