Week 63 - August 9, 2021

Okay, y'all. 

Buckle up, hold on to your children, and get ready because this week was one of the hardest but best weeks of my entire mission. 

First off, when I say this week was a miracle, I'm not joking.

I've talked a lot about Musa in previous emails, because he is honestly probably my favorite person I've ever met.  If you haven't kept up with the whole story, here it is.  Musa and his two children, Faith and Muhindo, arrived in America about three months ago. They came to church the very first week they were here.  We taught them quite often, and they were super nice but thought we were crazy for asking them to be baptized.  One of the funniest things was that they laughed in our faces the first time we asked them to be baptized.  But with constant prayer and study of the Book of Mormon, their testimonies started to flourish.  They have continued coming to church, only missing church for the best reasons.  They have gone walking on temple grounds with their family in Utah. They studied the Book of Mormon as a family and carried it around with them everywhere.  The only problem was he felt like he needed to wait to be baptized for the rest of his family to arrive in the United States, so they could be baptized together.  We understood his wishes, even though it was hard to see someone so ready decide not to be baptized.

This is where the miracle comes in.  On Wednesday of this week, we decided to move our appointment with them to the temple instead of their home.  That, first off, was inspired.  As we left to drive to the temple, a prompting, clear as day, popped into my head.  We needed to read a very specific article from the August Liahona.  I told Sister John to pull it up and we read it as we drove.  As soon as she finished reading, the Spirit was able to tell me exactly what we needed to do.  I told my companion the revelation I received, and we went along with it.  We walked them around the temple, let them take pictures, and then sat down for our lesson.

We discussed the Second Coming of Christ and how every sign that leads to that is starting to happen.  We told him how the gathering of Israel is happening, and how important the work that we do as missionaries is. We then told him he is a part of that gathering.  We then read this:

"As the Book of Mormon teaches, “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God” (Alma 34:32).  Are we preparing?

What if the day of His coming were tomorrow?  If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow—through our death or through His coming—what would we do today?  What confessions would we make?  What practices would we discontinue?  What forgiveness would we extend?  What ordinances would we seek? What additional things would we do to fulfill our covenants?  If we could do those things then, why not now?  If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them." -Dallin H. Oaks

We emphasized the words, "Why not now," and promised to Musa that if he prays and decides to be baptized now, he will be able to receive the priesthood, which is God's power.  That power can enable him to receive blessings and work miracles in his family's life. He really took it to heart and prayed harder than he ever had before.

Two days later we went over to his home.  We asked him how things were, and he said, "I need to tell you something."  He immediately told us about how he prayed, and how he talked to his wife, and he felt like baptism was the right thing to do, he just didn't know when.  He said that eventually he received an answer. He looked at us and said, "Niko tayari kubatizwa," which means, "I am ready to be baptized."  The amount of happiness that came in that moment was astounding.  He wanted to do it as soon as possible, so we picked that Sunday to do it.  We only had a day and a half to plan his baptism, but it was amazing.

His baptism day was beautiful.  He was glowing, and in his testimony after he had received the Holy Ghost, he explained this story.  

He said it in Swahili, but in English, here is what he said.  "When I was in Africa, God kept telling me that when I moved to America, there would be something that I needed there.  I thought long and hard every day about what it could be, but I never knew.  But then, when I stepped off the plane to my new home in America, I saw these 4 missionaries.  2 boys and 2 girls.  They embraced me with love, and immediately became my friends.  The girls then kept coming back and teaching me about the word of God.  I am so grateful to have learned from them and grown my testimony of the true gospel.  God knew what I needed and led me here so that I could be baptized into his church."  Doesn't that just make your heart melt??

It was an amazing day.  I know that I was sent here to teach this man and his family.  They are some of the strongest people I've ever met and have a great faith in Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith.  I am so lucky to have been a part of this journey for him.  Now... next up, his family.  I'm so happy for them and grateful to God for allowing me to meet them.

Other than that, the reason this week was hard was because one of my closest friends in the mission, Elder Pitcher, finished his mission and went home to Canada!  We've been in the same district for 14 months, so it was hard to see him go, and it is nerve-racking knowing that I am now the most senior Swahili missionary, and it's kinda my job to run the show a lot of the time.  Church was stressful, and honestly it'll take some adjusting, but I'm excited to see what I can do!!  It'll put my skills to the test:)

Other than that, there's not any super big news.  Just normal missionary work stuff!  But, this week was awesome and crazy, and like my subject line says, I'm ready for a nap.  But, there's no rest for God's missionaries haha.  So pray for me lol.

My spiritual thought this week is based on two words.  TRUST GOD. 

He knows you.

He knows what He's doing.

Let Him do it.

Love you all! 

-sister copeland <3

Pic of the Week:

Sister Copeland with Betina baby :)