Hello Everybody!
Happy June! I can't believe
it...Summer is really here and it's crazy! Well, today was another day for
transfers! Guess what? I am STAYING! = ) And so is Sister Miller. She was 100%
sure she was going to be sent full-proselyting and my whole Zone thought I
would be leaving since I have been here for 4 transfers (aka-since
January)....I told them all I felt like we were staying and that I bet I had 1
more here at least and I was gonna to laugh when nothing changed...after today
I have some more points towards, "Sister Riggs is always right" ... =
) Ha ha. I am so happy to be able to stay in La Jolla. I know I have been here
a while but I love it and I love the people and right now I am in the middle of
so many investigator's journeys to baptism and I am so glad I won't miss it! I
am also happy to continue being Sister Miller's companion and learn from her
and be in the presence of her great spirit! It will be a wonderful Summer!
This week honestly is a blur and I
am not even sure what happened so I am going to do my best to share some of
what happened. We had a really incredible experience with Raquel, our sweet
investigator I have been teaching since I came here. She knows it's all true
and wants to be baptized but is holding back because of her fear of her Jewish
Father's disappointment, and losing that side of the family. We applied what we
do as missionaries...and that is, we practiced = ) We had her play her dad
first, and a member played her. They practiced the conversation of how it would
go if she told her father she wanted to be baptized. Then we swapped and she
played herself and we had another member play her father. Sister Miller and I
sat back and watched and listened and it was one of the neatest experiences for
me. I felt the spirit so strong in the room. Both of our members were inspired
and said and shared some things that Raquel really needed. Our members told her
they both felt if she went about it the way she did in our practice, that her
father couldn't help but see how much she loved him and how happy this made
her. Raquel herself was inspired as she tried to express her desire to be
baptized...she said some things that stood out to all of us and she said that
she would remember to say them! We love her so much and know that as she takes
this step of courage and faith that the Lord has so many blessings in store for
her.
We added a new investigator
that pretty much just proves Heavenly Father loves us...we got a call last
Tuesday night from a couple that worked at the temple. They said as they were
leaving they met a young woman walking around who had asked if she could meet
the missionaries, wanted to take the discussions, and attend the La Jolla Singles Ward....we just looked at each other and said, "OK Heavenly
Father! Thanks for just handing her to us!" We don't know what we did to
deserve such a blessing, but she truly is one of the sweetest most
tenderhearted people I have ever met. Her name is Katie, and she came to the
Temple that day because her best friend's dad (who is Mormon) was killed in a
hunting accident. Their family was in New Zealand and so Katie wanted to feel
close to them and do something for them. She thought the best thing was to
contact us and pray. This man was like a Father to Katie and she was like an
adopted daughter in their family. She is incredible. She came to church on
Sunday and said it was amazing how it was everything that she needed and even
said, "That's what always happens." She went to church and some activities
with her friend quite a few times growing up. She told us that many of the most
important people in her life, and who have touched her heart the most, were
Mormon, and she's finally ready to listen to what we have to say!
MIRACLE!
We taught our friend Jason (who set
a baptism date for August 3rd) at the temple about the Plan of Salvation. Jason
is such a gem. He is so hard on himself and truly wonders if he could ever be
forgiven. He feels that compared to other members of the church, he has done
way more serious things that can't be forgiven...isn't Satan just so mean? He
is always working to make us feel miserable and unworthy. One of my favorite
things about being a missionary...and normal human...is when I have to
opportunity to bear testimony of the real power of the atonement and of how our
Savior longs to forgive...how I have felt Him reclaim me...how no one and
nothing is beyond the reach of His atonement. I felt prompted to show him this
video and I want to attach the link for you to watch....
"There is no habit, no addiction, no
transgression..." Jason had tears in his eyes as he said, "Wow, that
explained it perfectly." I love helping my brothers and sisters realize
who they are and who's help they have available to them.
One more miracle I want to share
happened at the Mormon Battalion. After a tour, I started talking with a
couple, Stephania from Italy and Thomas from Germany. I started telling them
how much I loved their cultures and their languages...it lead to me talking
about my opera singing and my time I spent in Austria. I sang a line or two of
a little German aria and then of an Italian aria. We laughed and talked and it
was almost as if we became instant life-long friends! I went to the courtyard
with them to pan for gold and through our conversation, we ended up standing at
the water well for what I think turned into 45 minutes. Stephania was raised in
a very Catholic family (as most Italians) and Thomas was Atheist. That 45
minutes in the courtyard became a sacred, spiritual experience. Their questions
and beliefs about religion lead to me sharing the message of the Restoration
with them . I even recounted the first vision. I testified to them that even
though Thomas did not believe in God, and Stephania believed people created religion
to get money and to have a way to get through life...that I knew....I knew and
could tell them with all certainty that they were a loved son and daughter of
God. That God knew their hearts, that He knew exactly what they felt as they
stood there with me...the journey for truth that they have been on. I promised
them that they could no...that the world has no way to give knowledge of divine
truth, but that Heavenly Father has promised and provided a way for each of His
children to know for themselves...and all they have to do is have the faith to
get on their knees and ask. I exhorted them with all my heart to try that, and
to not give up until they got an answer. I gave them each a copy of The Book of
Mormon in their own language...what the neatest thing about it all was, that we
didn't want to say goodbye. I literally felt an ache in my heart. They inched
away slowly and kept looking back and I told them it would break my heart if
they didn't stay in touch through e-mail....they said I wouldn't have to worry
about that = ) I KNOW they felt the spirit in the time I was with them...I felt
it testify through me....and I know Heavenly Father has them on a path to the
truth!
I
read this powerful testimony by Elaine S. Dalton this week...and I add my conviction
to her words = ). "Today as a daughter of God, I stand as a witness that
He lives. Jesus is the Christ. He is our Redeemer. It is through His infinite
atoning sacrifice that I will one day return to live with Him—proven, pure, and
sealed in an eternal family. I shall ever praise Him for the privilege of being
a woman, a wife, and a mother. I testify that we are led by a prophet of God,
President Thomas S. Monson, and I am grateful for righteous men, whose
priesthood power blesses my life. And I shall ever be grateful for the strength
I receive through the enabling power of the Savior’s infinite Atonement as I
continue to strive to “act well [my] part.”
I love you, I love being a
missionary, and I love my Father in Heaven!
Your Servant in the Lord,
Sister Riggs
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| Stephania and Thomas at the Battalion...by the well = ) |
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| Making Sushi with our cute member Brittany (Friends...total look alike of Randa!!!) |
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| Zone Sports! Playin' Softball! Coach Riggs was having to with-hold her competitive genes!) |
