Dear Family and Friends,
Well, this week was interesting and I feel like it was the "witness after the trial of my faith" so to speak. I feel like every letter I write I say there was something difficult to overcome or something to push through, and this week was the same. The difference is that this week I learned why that is. I learned that tough times come to make us who we need to be and prepare us for the things that lie ahead. This week, I received the witness that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, it may not be in the way that we were thinking but He answers them, every single righteous prayer, he answers. I just want to share a few examples of how I learned that this week.
Tuesday we have service at the food pantry at the Spanish community center and so on Sunday we had asked for a ride to get over there. It was all planned and everything was fine until 11:00, the time we had to leave. Our ride canceled on us. We were in a panic. There are so many people that we get to share the gospel with over there and we help out one of our less active members as well and so that time is very important for us. Well, we said a prayer that we would be able to find a ride and we seriously asked everyone and their mom if they could give us a ride and everyone said no. Then we got the impression to call Hermana Bueno, she's a member of the church but she has been very less active and is just starting to come back and her husband is not a member. Right now she has a broken arm with screws and a metal bar coming out her arm and so we felt terrible asking her. But it was the right choice. They needed help with food and so they gave us a ride and were able to get some food at the food pantry, it was not only a blessing for us but for them as well!
Wednesday was terribly amazing. I woke up feeling like I was hit by a truck, I was so sick. And we had exchanges, and I was leaving! And I did NOT want to go. But then I prayed and I knew I needed to no matter how sucky I felt. So we got everything ready to go and we met up with our leaders and exchanged and then we saw the miracles. After praying and praying to find a lost sheep (a member who has fallen away) we found one and they live in my area. Would we have been able to find her without exchanges? Maybe, maybe not, who knows? But I learned that the lord is continually directing our paths. We go where He wants us to go, and say what he wants us to say as we follow the promptings of the spirit. He hears our prayers and strengthens us so that we can serve Him with all of our heart, mind, might, and strength.
Friday was a day where my prayers for a week and a half were answered in many different ways. I've been praying for the knowledge to know how to improve and for the strength to do it, the strength to be exactly obedient without worrying what my companion thinks. I was also praying for so,etching much closer to my heart. As I sat in the gym for zone training meeting, I was filled with the spirit as our leaders testified of how we could have the strength to overcome our natural man or woman and be who the lord needs us to be. And how we can have the strength to stand up for what's right at all times, in all things, in all places. And I received an answer as to how I can put every distracting thought away "on the shelf" as a wise man (President Fenn) once said. That was a tender mercy, to receive a witness to not only one of my prayers but two. To know that my Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to succeed and is willing and ready to give me the tools and encouragement that I need as I persevere and push through the trials I have.
Sunday I was able to receive yet another answer to my prayers. I was praying for someone to feel the desire to come unto Christ. Sunday Reyna Fregoso received the gift of the Holy Ghost and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The spirit penetrated the hearts of everyone in the chapel. What she was doing was right. We had a lesson with a part member family after that and Miguel, the non-member, said he wanted to be able to receive a blessing like Reyna had just received in sacrament meeting. My prayer was answered through someone else's actions.
I testify to you that the lord hears our prayers. He knows us individually. He cares for us and is waiting for us to ask for His divine help to make it through our problems.
While on our journey here below, beneath temptation's power
Through mists of darkness we must go, in peril every hour
Hold to the rod, the iron rod; tis strong and bright and true
The iron rod is the word of God; twill safely guide us through
I know that these lyrics are true. I know that our lives are hard for different reasons, some brought by our own choices, and some by the choices of others. I know that as we hold to the Book of Mormon and pray and plead with our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ we will overcome anything in our lives. "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). Please remember that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. He knows us individually. He hears our prayers and answers them. I invite you all to put this to the test. To pray specifically for the help to overcome a problem and live in the way that God can bless you. He will help. I've learned that this week.
Hermana Rebekka Kunz
Illinois Chicago West Mission
July 2014 - January 2016
Well, this week was interesting and I feel like it was the "witness after the trial of my faith" so to speak. I feel like every letter I write I say there was something difficult to overcome or something to push through, and this week was the same. The difference is that this week I learned why that is. I learned that tough times come to make us who we need to be and prepare us for the things that lie ahead. This week, I received the witness that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, it may not be in the way that we were thinking but He answers them, every single righteous prayer, he answers. I just want to share a few examples of how I learned that this week.
Tuesday we have service at the food pantry at the Spanish community center and so on Sunday we had asked for a ride to get over there. It was all planned and everything was fine until 11:00, the time we had to leave. Our ride canceled on us. We were in a panic. There are so many people that we get to share the gospel with over there and we help out one of our less active members as well and so that time is very important for us. Well, we said a prayer that we would be able to find a ride and we seriously asked everyone and their mom if they could give us a ride and everyone said no. Then we got the impression to call Hermana Bueno, she's a member of the church but she has been very less active and is just starting to come back and her husband is not a member. Right now she has a broken arm with screws and a metal bar coming out her arm and so we felt terrible asking her. But it was the right choice. They needed help with food and so they gave us a ride and were able to get some food at the food pantry, it was not only a blessing for us but for them as well!
Wednesday was terribly amazing. I woke up feeling like I was hit by a truck, I was so sick. And we had exchanges, and I was leaving! And I did NOT want to go. But then I prayed and I knew I needed to no matter how sucky I felt. So we got everything ready to go and we met up with our leaders and exchanged and then we saw the miracles. After praying and praying to find a lost sheep (a member who has fallen away) we found one and they live in my area. Would we have been able to find her without exchanges? Maybe, maybe not, who knows? But I learned that the lord is continually directing our paths. We go where He wants us to go, and say what he wants us to say as we follow the promptings of the spirit. He hears our prayers and strengthens us so that we can serve Him with all of our heart, mind, might, and strength.
Friday was a day where my prayers for a week and a half were answered in many different ways. I've been praying for the knowledge to know how to improve and for the strength to do it, the strength to be exactly obedient without worrying what my companion thinks. I was also praying for so,etching much closer to my heart. As I sat in the gym for zone training meeting, I was filled with the spirit as our leaders testified of how we could have the strength to overcome our natural man or woman and be who the lord needs us to be. And how we can have the strength to stand up for what's right at all times, in all things, in all places. And I received an answer as to how I can put every distracting thought away "on the shelf" as a wise man (President Fenn) once said. That was a tender mercy, to receive a witness to not only one of my prayers but two. To know that my Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to succeed and is willing and ready to give me the tools and encouragement that I need as I persevere and push through the trials I have.
Sunday I was able to receive yet another answer to my prayers. I was praying for someone to feel the desire to come unto Christ. Sunday Reyna Fregoso received the gift of the Holy Ghost and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The spirit penetrated the hearts of everyone in the chapel. What she was doing was right. We had a lesson with a part member family after that and Miguel, the non-member, said he wanted to be able to receive a blessing like Reyna had just received in sacrament meeting. My prayer was answered through someone else's actions.
I testify to you that the lord hears our prayers. He knows us individually. He cares for us and is waiting for us to ask for His divine help to make it through our problems.
While on our journey here below, beneath temptation's power
Through mists of darkness we must go, in peril every hour
Hold to the rod, the iron rod; tis strong and bright and true
The iron rod is the word of God; twill safely guide us through
I know that these lyrics are true. I know that our lives are hard for different reasons, some brought by our own choices, and some by the choices of others. I know that as we hold to the Book of Mormon and pray and plead with our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ we will overcome anything in our lives. "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). Please remember that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. He knows us individually. He hears our prayers and answers them. I invite you all to put this to the test. To pray specifically for the help to overcome a problem and live in the way that God can bless you. He will help. I've learned that this week.
Hermana Rebekka Kunz
Illinois Chicago West Mission
July 2014 - January 2016