Dear Family and Loved Ones,
Wow! What an incredible and miracle filled week! I have received answers to
prayers and have truly felt the spirit in great abundance throughout the week
and my heart is just filled with gratitude for the many tender mercies of the
Lord. I am constantly reminded again and again that this truly is HIS work and
He is so involved in our lives....if only the whole world would allow their eyes
to see the many ways He tries to manifest to them that He is there. I will be
honest. I have been feeling a little dulled lately as far as my ability to feel
the spirit. I have felt I have been doing all the things I have done before to
feel and be entitled to it's guidance...but I wasn't feeling and it was
making me pretty sad. I also had been praying about a few things and not seeing
or getting answers. I was feeling a little discouraged at the fact that while I
have been praying and awaiting answers, other's prayers, including my
companions, seem to be answered so immediately. I went on exchanges with my past
companion, Sister Rasmussen, and let her know how I was feeling about it all.
She suggested that at the end of each day I write down one way my prayers were
answered, and then she said a beautiful prayer on my behalf, to be able to
feel....well, the next day, Thursday, had to be one of the greatest days of my
mission!
It began with a wonderful district meeting in which my district leader,
Elder Blair, gave a beautiful and powerful lesson on the meaning of the
Atonement. As we watched one of the new Bible videos from the Life of Christ, my
prayer to feel was answered. All I felt was warmth and love...a love
for my Savior and love from Him. It seemed to consume me from head
to toe. Chills, a warm burning in my chest, and tears I could not stop. I
stopped and soaked it in...and oh how sweet it was to know that the comforter
was with me. That lit me up! Afterward we went to the Grossmont College Campus
to set up a booth and invite students to institute and to take DVDs, pamphlets,
and Books of Mormon if interested. As we were setting up our booth I saw a young
man sitting and eating a salad....he was football player in stature ; ) ... and
since I know a lot about eating salads (wink wink) I struck up a conversation
about it. Justin was very nice and open and he said, "Oh yeah my Aunt and her
whole family just became Mormons." We were so excited! We asked who his aunt was
and came to find that it was the Holyfield family that had
all just spoken in our Stake Conference session on Sunday about their
conversion and how the gospel has blessed their lives. Coincidence? No way Jose!
Heavenly Father! He took a couple things and we mentioned the branch and all the
YSA activities and we told him we'd tell his aunt we met him. He said, "Oh, I'll
tell her tonight at dinner. I am over at her house all the time!" So guess who's
house we are going to be hanging around?! ; ) Sister Patterson and I looked at
each other and said, "Well, our prayers for Heavenly Father to send someone
prepared to hear the gospel to our booth have already been answered!" We also met
a girl named Mandy who is Christian and was very interested in learning more.
She talked with Sister Patterson while I was talking to a cute engaged couple
who were both handicapped (melted my heart)...but I complimented her guitar
earrings as she walked away and asked if she liked music. She said she loved to
sing and was sad the college didn't have any programs she could get into with
that. I told her I sang for Disney and she was blown away...it was a great cliff
hanger and a way to say, "Yeah, I'll tell you more about it when we meet with
you!" = ) Then later I went to the Mormon Battalion. I was sitting on the porch
talking to a man who likes to sit on our rocking chairs and watch the sunset. I
was waiting my turn for dinner too and I looked up the street and saw 3
African-Americans crossing the street...and we all know how much I love
them....so I immediately felt I needed to go out to the statue to meet them and
invite them in. I loved them in an instant! I invited Cherry, Harvey, and Ranae
Randall in for the 2,000 mile journey. I was suppose to go eat dinner but I felt
really strongly that I was suppose to, and I really wanted to take these great
people on tour. I prayed Heavenly Father would sustain me and my blood sugar
through the tour. We had a couple of minutes before we could begin so I was
going to sing my "On the Road" song and asked if they liked music...Cherry said,
"Oh yeah we do! He's a professional singer!" Found out he and Cherry are
ministers from Dallas, Texas and he sings gospel music professionally. I told
him about my background and they asked me to sing, so I told them that perhaps
after the tour we could do a little exchange. Well, it was just me with the 3 of
them on tour so needless to say it was one of the funnest tours I have ever
taken. They were so into it. I stopped to say a silent prayer during the tour,
and prayed in my heart: "Heavenly Father, I love these people so much and I am
so thankful to be able to take them on tour. They have such strong faith, and
believe everything I have been sharing with them so far. I don't know that there
is anything I could say to them that would strike them...but I do feel that I
should sing for them. Help me to know what song would touch their hearts, and I
pray that as I sing thou wilt make me an instrument...that through my voice and
my countenance, they might feel the spirit in a way they never have before and
in a way they will recognize is right and true..." Well at the end of the tour I
asked Harvey to sing. He said he was too tired...so I asked if I could sing and
they happily agreed. The song that had come to mind was "How Great Thou Art" and
they said it's always a good one. I sang the last two verses. As I thought my
body was going to com-bust and I felt chills everywhere and strength in my
voice....I knew my prayer was being answered. Tears glistened in their eyes and
they were so engaged in that moment. It was incredible to experience. Afterward
Harvey was stunned. They clapped and he asked if I had professional recordings
out and that if I didn't, I needed to. He said, "You just sang for the 3 of us
here with so much heart....that's all I felt from you was a love for God. So
many people sing for entertainment today, and we need more voices like yours in
the world...that help people feel." He then decided to sing for me = ) He sang a
bit of "How Great is Our God." It was SO good! I loved it! I just had to capture
this moment on camera so I asked if he knew "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and if I
could record us improvising a duet! Well, the video clip I sent says it all. It
was SO FUN! I haven't sung like that in 16 months and it felt so good!!!! I
could have soared 50 feet in the air! Ha ha! That's what it felt like. I don't
even know where that voice came from...we were both so full of joy after...just
smiling and saying thank you and he told me we should just record a gospel CD
together. After was even better....they wanted to pray for me so of course I let
them. Cherry prayed and spoke of how they were just wandering through old town
doin' this and that and they just thought they'd wander up the hill to see what
this buildin' was all about and they had no idea that what they would find was
me....she said I was an angel in their lives that night and had been blessed
with a beautiful gift and talent. They prayed that the doors of opportunities
would open for me and that the Lord would reveal His plans for me and how He
would have me use my voice. It was one of the sweetest, most convicted prayers I
have ever heard = ) The whole time Harvey was chanting some, "open the doors
Lord, open 'em now!...yes Lord" etc....While I ran to give him a copy of my CD,
I had them watch the Alex Boye Mormon Message because I knew he would connect to
it. He loved it and wanted to buy his music. I gave him my CD and he told me it
meant the world to him and that he would use it in his devotionals as he
ministered and that they would watch for me after my mission = ). It was
seriously one of the top 5 greatest moments of my mission! After they left I
finally got back to eat dinner at 8:15...after the adrenaline left me I crashed
and zoned from the spiritual high. But I was so grateful the Lord sustained me
and I was able to follow the prompting to take them. They said they believed
100% there was a reason they met me that night.. I agreed = ) Gotta love
it!
We had another answered prayer with a recent convert who has been
struggling. He has an absolutely terrible home life and struggles with
depression. We haven't known how else we could help him, but we had a special
prayer for him while planning and asked what more we could do. The thought
"Primary Songs" came to mind....I didn't know why, but as I talked it out with
my companion I remembered that he has mentioned a few times that he loves to
sing...just in passing. So we decided to teach him of how Heavenly Father shows
His love for us and we read scriptures in between. It was like a
sing-along-lesson! We started with nature - "My Heavenly Father Loves Me", the
scriptures - "Book of Mormon Stories", the prophets - "Follow the Prophet", and
through Jesus Christ - "He Sent His Son"....his whole countenance changed and he
was beaming. The spirit was felt so strongly too...we all had to stop after we
sang the last verse of Book of Mormon Stories (which is about the Savior and I
feel like I've never sung before) because we all had tears coming to our eyes.
After the lost song he just said, "I have no words to express how I feel right
now." So I told him to just feel and he began to cry. We committed him to sing a
hymn or primary song every day, either to start, or as a tool when he felt down.
We left that lesson with such a sweet spirit in our hearts and in agreement that
we ourselves needed that lesson. Wow! Seriously! What would I do without music!
It's even what helps me be able to be a missionary!!!
Another investigator we have been praying for for about a month was Alicia.
We met her and had her pray out loud for the first time and she had cried
because she knew it was true in that moment....that was our only lesson with
her. We were struggling for her to keep and make her appointments and she wasn't
coming to church but we would see her at many of the activities. We have been
praying and praying almost every day to know what she needed and what we could
do to help. Well, Heavenly Father took care of that for us. We got a call from
her Thursday night telling us she wanted to be baptized and had gotten an
answer! We were excited to meet with her the next day and hear how. She had gone
to institute and they had an amazing lesson about the Atonement. Later that
night she went home and prayed and wrote out stories and analogies she was
thinking of and just knew it was right. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and
set her date for October 12th! We talked throughout the lesson about each piece
of the plan being a gift. A few weeks before when we first planned to teach her
the lesson and we were thinking of a fun commitment. I looked at a gift bag I
had and said, "What if we cut up the questions and scriptures about the plan of
salvation into slips and put them all in the gift bag and have her pull one out
each day and study that element of it?" Again that was a few weeks ago....but as
we handed it to her and explained it she started to cry because she said that
the other night when she was writing analogies, one that came to mind was with a
window and God handing all these gifts to her through it.....(well it made sense
to her! = )....she said, "I haven't told anybody about that!" I promised her
that it was a testimony that Heavenly Father knew her and her heart and her
thoughts!!! She was blown away....AND they brought another friend to that very
lesson and she wants to start meeting with us too! She said we made it sound
really interesting! = )
OK, I am out of time now, but the last great miracle was Kelsey's baptism!
She was soooo happy! Just listen to the video clip of her amazing testimony of
prayer. It says it all! She also did this completely on her own...no family
there to support her or even be at her baptism...no friends from before...but an
entire branch that loves her so much already....when you know that, it makes her
testimony tug on your heart strings. In her confirmation blessing, she was
promised she would be a light to her family through her example. Wow! What an
amazing week! What amazing truth! What amazing work!!!
Love you with all of my heart!!!
Love,
Sister Riggs
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| Me with the Randall's! |
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| Kelsey's Baptism |
This is a clip of Kelsey's testimony at her baptism. She bore a beautiful testimony
about Prayer and it touched so many lives that were there...people were in awe.
She is just 18 years old and so incredible and I thought it would be neat for
you to hear her story! = )
