Sidney's Subconscious: There Can Be Miracles, When You Believe!

Hey hey hello my loved ones! I hope you are all smiling! I thought I would share a few experiences with y'all.

sometimes we leave little notes to passers by :)

Last week we saw our next door neighbor out in his yard. We stopped to chat with him. Turns out that he grew up in the church, but left after he divorced his first wife because of the way people treated him and things that they said. His second wife was against the church, with a similar story- she also left because of things that people said and did. So they never went back to church. She passed away a year ago and he has really been struggling without her. He is an older man, and is just fine taking care of himself, but he really misses her terribly. The next day, we came by and sat in his driveway on some camping chairs and just talked. We learned all about is life, his family, and he told us that he still believes in the church. He believes everything it teaches, and he still prays, but he has never gone back to church. We talked to him about the importance of the sacrament, and that the only way that we can partake of that blessing, which renews our promises that we have made with God, and makes us clean from the mistakes that we have asked forgiveness for, the only way that we can do that is to come to church. We invited him to come to church, and he said maybe. When Sunday came, we scanned the room, and sure enough, he was there!!!! We were so excited!!!! So many people were greeting him, saying how nice it was to see him there. It had been thirty years since he had been at a sacrament meeting. My heart was so full when I saw him take the sacrament. He cried the whole hour. It was awesome. So often we are too afraid, or too comfortable in the place we are. All we had to do was give him the opportunity to make a change, and he came! Miracles can happen if you act!

We are also teaching an investigator who's wife is a member. They have a crazy story. They were married, divorced, and then married again. He went to jail, and was there for 12 years, and half way through, his wife and oldest son met the missionaries. They decided to be baptized, and when his son called him in jail to ask for his permission, that was the moment that the spirit touched his heart. His wife had even had a dream of them together, wearing white, in the temple! She knew that they had a future together, and that it was bright! When he was released from jail, he started meeting with missionaries. Meeting him today, aside from the tattoos, you would never believe that he had done time. He is so kind, so loving, and it is incredible to see the change that the gospel of Jesus Christ has made in his life! We had nachos with them on Sunday, and his wife's mom and grandparents were over as well. We taught a lesson on the word of wisdom, which is God's law for our health. He was addicted to many things, but he can see the change in his life since he has been clean. He says that he is a real man now. He is dependable, not only to his family, but to himself! While he was talking, his grandmother-in-law reached over and held his hand. To see this woman show love to a man that has caused her granddaughter so much pain and sorrow, that was true Christlike love. She knew that he had changed. She knows of the truth of this gospel, and she wants it for him just as much as she wants it for her own family. We are so excited for him to be baptized, and to start on his journey to follow Jesus Christ!

M&M, Candy's sweet cat!

Last week was Sister Bartnik's, as well as Candy, one of our recent convert's birthdays. We celebrated on Saturday night by making a cake and watching a movie together. We watched Ephraim's Rescue, about the Martin and Willy handcart companies. It is such a great movie, all about having an open heart, having faith in the power of God, and the miracles that still happen in our day. Candy is so wonderful, she is so much fun to be around. She is mentally handicapped, but she has the most hilarious sense of humor and love of life. We said a closing prayer, and when I finished, she said "Oh I just got one more thing to say, Jesus Christ, bless my missionary sisters that they will have everything they'll ever want and that they'll be safe. Amen!" Her love is so sweet! We never stop laughing when we are with her.

The weather has been warming up and spring is bringing out it's blooms! We were having too much fun taking pictures with the flowers.