Hello Family,
Well, today has been a very
emotional day for me and quite a sad one. I just said goodbye to my dear
friend I told you about earlier this week who had a seizure. She was
sent home from her mission today. She has to have 6 months of no
seizures to be able to come back and doesn't know right now that she
will. My heart is seriously broken for her....I can't even hold back the
tears now as I type. I am struggling for understanding right now....it
had been 3 years since her last seizure, she was prompted to go on a
mission and she followed the spirit...she prayed so hard to be able to
get through her mission without any seizures and 2 weeks into it she had
one...even though it was less than a minute long, they said there are no
exceptions, and she had to return home. Sister Kunz is my hero...she
has been so incredibly strong today and I think I was crying more than
she was! She fasted and prayed all day yesterday, and said that whatever
happens happens, and if she was going to be sent home then there must
be a reason. There are many missionaries who come here because they are
told to or because it is expected, but she came because Heavenly Father
prompted her to. She wanted to be here more than anything. She said they
would have to pull her by the hair to get her to leave! I hugged her so
tight and told her that I admired her so much. Her strength, her
testimony, her trust in Heavenly Father. I told her that we know we are
here to be proven and to see if we will do all that the Lord asks of us,
and she did. If anything she has proven her faith in the Lord and His
plan for her. He knows He can trust her. I told her how much I had seen
her grow in just 3 and a 1/2 weeks and how I KNEW she was going to
change her family's lives when she got back because of the knowledge and
testimonies she had gained here. The Lord must have needed her to
experience the MTC and all that has happened here for a reason. I told
her how thankful I was for the day that I got to spend talking with her
while she recovered from the seizure and how I knew we were going to be
friends forever and considered myself lucky to have met such an
amazingly strong woman. We laughed and quoted some of our favorite lines
from "Friends" and we all put our Pioneer dresses on and walked around
the MTC and took pictures by the Joseph Smith statue, so that she could
get a little Mormon Battalion experience...since she won't be headed
there with us on Tuesday. Again, I couldn't believe her strength. She
was smiling. She said she'd come see us at the Battalion. We took a
picture in front of the map of the world and instead of pointing to San
Diego...she stretched her arms out and said..."the whole world is my
mission now!" As much as I'd like to think I'd be that positive...I
can't imagine I would be. I know I shouldn't share the hard parts of my
mission...but this is all that's on my mind right now...and I felt I
should tell the world of this amazingly strong and faithful Sister.
Please say a prayer for her today....while she hid her hurt, I know if I
were in her shoes...the next few days would be very hard to handle. So
from the bottom of my heart, please pray for her to be comforted.... I
know the Lord has a specific plan for her and I KNOW He will bless her
for her exceeding faithfulness! Seeing her go through this and being
sent home without a choice has made me so incredibly grateful to be here
and I feel that I have no right to complain or slacken or waste any
minute...and I only want to work harder now, and keep taking care of my
health, in honor of her and those who long to be here and serve the
Lord, but because of circumstances are unable to. I thank my Heavenly
Father daily for this opportunity of a lifetime.
So now that my make-up is smeared all over the
place...I will try to tell you a few great things that happened in the
past couple of days.
So I started my Visitor's
Center training on Wednesday and it all began with a trip up to Salt
Lake City to Temple Square. We got to take a little tour and have a
guest experience! I LOVED IT!! I usually just walk through Temple Square
and don't really do much because it's always so crowded. It had been a
long time since I had been inside the exhibits. It was a beautiful,
cloudy day. We started by going to the Christus exhibit. It was
incredible to walk in those doors and immediately feel the spirit. It
was tangible. And as I ascended into the great room with the stars and
world all around and stood at the feet of the Christus my heart
swelled...it felt so big like it would burst. We talked about what the
Savior meant to us. We went to the foot of the Temple and talked about
what that meant to us and what it had done for our families and to
imagine what it must have been like for the pioneers to have to leave it
all behind as they were driven out of their cities. We sat in the old
tabernacle where they use to listen to Brigham Young speak and we each
bore our testimony of what it meant to us to have a prophet today. It
was all so awesome and made me so excited to get to San Diego. Then, we
all sat in a room and met the director's of all of the church's
visitor's centers and learned about how powerful they are in missionary
work and how special and unique we are in being called to serve. They
told us lots of awesome things.... Of all the missionaries called to
serve, we were the faces the Lord chose to represent His church. Of all
the amazing exhibits and videos they have at the Visitor's Centers, we
are the best exhibit! We are the one's who can talk with the guests and
teach by the spirit and adjust the tour and the messages to their
needs!! I never would have thought of that! The church has some pretty
amazing exhibits! Also, the Mormon Battalion Site...out of 181 tourist
destinations in San Diego, is ranked 4th!!! Even above Sea World!!!! How
cool! We're more exciting than Shamoo!!! Ha ha! Oh and crazy
random...one of the director's was my Home Teacher and good friend at
BYU! Brother Tanner Kay!!! That was crazy to find out! He has the
coolest job ever! We also learned that as Visitor's Center sisters we
spend some time doing referrals....those awesome cards you fill out at
the Temple?? = ) Yeah I call those numbers and take phone call from
people who see commercials and what not and want to learn more! We also
spend a lot of time teaching the gospel over online chatting...crazy
huh? Like when people are researching on Mormon.org and want to know
more...they can chat with a missionary! Apparently it is the number one
way people discover the gospel and decide to be baptized! Over 1,000
people a day ask to chat with a missionary...and that's after they weed
out those who are just playing around. And they are from anywhere in the
world!!!! Crazy crazy crazy cool!!!! So here's a thought...in my
Patriarchal Blessing it says I will bring strength and comfort to many
of my brothers and sisters throughout the world....and when I was called
to serve in San Diego I was like...."hmmmm...welp I guess it's not
yet." But I was wrong! I really will be teaching and bringing hope and
joy and comfort to people ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!! I am sooooooo
excited!!! And also! We are some of the first sister missionaries to
start being trained in all of this! Wow...I am a
Pioneer...literally...lol ; )
So one final super cool story....so we were trained on
how to do the chat and everything and my companion and I were really
honestly NOT wanting to do it and we were thinking it was so weird and
that others must think it is weird to do on-line...but you'll never
believe this. So we finished training and had some time so they
said..."OK, go online and accept a chat and start teaching." We were
like "WHAT?!" As we did my heart started racing and I think all the
blood flushed out of my face...I was so nervous....a name popped up...
"Michelle" ...we accepted the chat and she said, "Hi, Ralynne how are
you today?" And then no joke her next words were, "I am interested in
being baptized and was wondering what the steps were, if any, to be able
to do that." Sister Madsen and I looked at each other in utter shock and
said, "No WAY!!! Yer kidding!!" Ha ha! We thought it was unreal! We
asked if she had been able to meet with the missionaries and she said,
"No, but I just signed up for them to come to my house and meet with
me." Again...YER FULL ON KIDDING!!!! She said she hadn't grown up going
to church but that her husband was LDS and they had been going to his
parents ward and she didn't ever want to until her husband told her
more. She loves the principles she knows about so far, especially that
of families being sealed in the temple together forever. She also said
she wanted her husband to baptize her and asked what needed to happen
for him to be able to do that. Finally, she asked if there was a
beginner's study guide to reading The Book of Mormon!!! OH MY GOOFY
GUMMIES!!!! Talk about the field being white and ready to harvest!!!! We
answered all her questions and I bore my testimony to her of the
blessings that will surely come to her and her husband and she keeps
following this path and her heart's desires to be baptized! And we also
invited her to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon because it
explains a lot...and to pray for help to understand as she reads and
promised that she'd receive that blessing. We also gave her some links
to True to the Faith to read and write down any questions she had! We
have another appointment with her on Monday! I flippin love this!!! It
was such a testament again that the Lord truly does prepare the hearts
and minds of the people....and when they are ready they are ready...and
it's our job to find them!!!! Here I come!!!
Pretty amazing!!! You have a huge part in this work as
members! You are wonderful examples! You can help the seed be planted!
Your example will help spark that desire in people's hearts! And as we
read in Alma 32 if they will but "desire" then faith will begin to swell
within them...that desire will turn into a seed, that seed will take
root, and soon a tree will be bringing forth good fruit!
I love my Father in Heaven, I love His plan and know it
truly is for our greatest happiness and joy! This is right and this is
true!
All my love! Next time I write you, it will be from San Diego!!! Woo hoo!!! Look out! Here I come!!!
~Sister Riggs
xoxoxoxoxoxo
