Tender Mercies

This week was really hard. One of those weeks that you never forget, not necessarily in a good way. It seemed like every lesson we had and everyone that we came in contact with rejected us. We had a lesson with a young man who was interested in learning, but when it got down to it, he said he really doesn't have a desire to change. He had so many questions and kept firing them off, but we answered them all. By the end of the lesson we were exhausted. Then, we met a woman who is 90 years old who is not a member. She has met with missionaries so many times, but just doesn't feel like she needs to be baptized again (she was baptized in two other churches). Her son was baptized, but he continues to tell her that she has lived a good life and that Heavenly Father will understand. I can just imagine her husband on the other side shaking his head, wishing that his sweet wife would recognize the truth. Her life has been prolonged and so many missionaries have come by, trying to help her. Of course we would never force her to do anything, but it was so sad to see her reject the blessings of the gospel. Then, we had a lesson with a lady who has been less active for 18 years. She finally told us that she doesn't want to come back to church, and that she wants to check out the Baptist church. She had even been through the temple. She says that she will be with her husband again, but she fails to realize that temple covenants are predicated upon our obedience. It was so sad to see her reject the things that she once learned. Then, we met a woman who is not active and is afraid to come back to church because she doesn't want to jeopardize her relationship with her husband. She said that she is happy where she is. 

I know that it sounds like a lot, and I hope I don't sounds like i'm complaining. All of this happened in one week, and it broke our hearts. It was so hard to see so many people turn us away. We told them how much we care and love them, and called them to repentance. It was so hard to hear them say no, to say "I'm happy where I am". They don't even know what they are missing, and they are too afraid to change. 

But this trial was given to us for a reason, to see if we would stay strong. To see if we would continue working even through the hard times. Luckily through all of this, we have continued to meet with the young boy who is getting baptized! We brought him to a baptism so that he could see what it was like, and we had the most incredible lesson with his family last night. He is worried that he isn't ready to be baptized because there are certain commandments that he isn't ready to keep. It was such a small thing that was worrying him. We let him know that satan is working really hard on him. He doesn't want him to make this step, and to have the help and companionship of the Holy Ghost. When his dad heard this, he began testifying that what we were teaching was true. This is the dad that was once Jehovah's Witness! He said "Why wouldn't you do this? You want to live a good life, to be a good person. Why wouldn't you want help from the Holy Ghost in your life?" We asked him if he would like a blessing to help him to feel peace, and the sister that joined us for the lesson called her husband to come and give him a blessing. After the blessing, the whole room was filled with the spirit. Even dad was speechless. He said that he could see his son in the same position, giving a blessing, when he is older. Hermana Duff and I were nudging each other the whole time. We could not believe how far his dad has come! It was so incredible to witness the power of the spirit. Our Heavenly Father is truly mindful of each of His children.

Then, today, we were able to have lunch with a couple I taught in Hyrum! They are the BEST and I was so grateful that they came all the way down to Ogden to see me. 

love these guys!

I know that our Heavenly Father is mindful of us, and he gives us trials to strengthen us. It reminds me of the Mormon Message called The Will of God. No matter what we are going through, it is all part of our Father's plan for us. I am grateful for the hard week that we had, because I saw how I could get through it with His help. It also made the good moments that much sweeter. 

I love you all and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman   

All You Need Is Love

happy valentines day to us!

Happy late Valentines day to you all! I hope it was a wonderful day full of love and happiness. Unfortunately for us, not many people were home because of the long weekend and the holiday. BUT, we didn't give up. We heart attacked a few people that we love and appreciate (cut out hearts and covered their front door with words of love). It was awesome later to hear their responses. I think i'm going to make it a Valentines Day tradition! There is one lady who we met a few weeks ago who goes to another church, but we visited with her and she is SO nice. Her husband is deployed and she just recently moved here, so we knew she could use some love on Valentines Day! We heart attacked her and she texted us, saying it was "one of the most thoughtful, caring, meaningful things" someone has ever done for her. She was so grateful! It felt so good to make people smile and to feel loved. 

I was able to go on exchanges in my first area and I saw Jackie and Randy! I worked with Jackie and helped her to prepare for baptism. She is doing great. She prints out the lessons before every Sunday and studies them so she is prepared to participate! It filled my heart to know that she is still strong in her desire to learn and grow in the gospel. 

love these two!

We met a non member family while tracting in some apartments. They were hesitant at first to even listen to us, but by the end we were in their home, testifying of truth, and they made a return appointment! Something that I have found that is so important is that we need to be real with people! We need to let them know that we love and care about them, and we need to talk about the gospel with them as soon as possible! Especially for us in door contacts, because we only have a few seconds before they have made up their mind! If we speak of the gospel, then the Holy Ghost will be able to bear witness to them, and if they are prepared and open, they will feel in their hearts that it is true. 

I love this gospel. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that my Heavenly Father loves me, and that my Savior Jesus Christ loves me so much as to suffer and die for me. That is true, eternal love. When we feel of that love, it changes our hearts, and it can carry us through even the darkest of times. I want everyone I meet to be able to experience that love!

One of the most heart-wrenching mormon messages i've seen is called Enduring Love. It is such an example to me of the power that true love can have to unite us together. Grab some tissues before you watch it!

I LOVE you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

Ok, by babes, I mean those ranging from 4-14. It is incredible to me to see how powerful and pure the testimonies of the youth are, whether they are members of the church or not. We had many eye opening experiences this week!

Smalls was baptized this week! It was a wonderful service, the spirit was so strong. Everything went smoothly and there were so many people there to support him. He even bore his testimony after he was baptized. He said "I feel really good, and i'm really glad that all of my sins are washed away." We are so excited to see him progress in the gospel. He has such a sweet spirit. 

We taught the nine year old boy who has been coming to church with his eighty something year old neighbor. Turns out he has been coming for a whole year! We taught him the restoration and invited him to be baptized at the end of the month. He is excited! Then we went to church with him on Sunday and he bore his testimony in front of everyone! We went to dinner last night and the family's son said "A boy in my class is getting baptized at the end of this month!" Turns out it is the same boy that we are working with! He is already spreading the word to all his friends.

At another sacrament meeting we went to on Sunday, the first person to stand up was a four year old girl. You could barely see her head over the pulpit! She started off by saying, "I know this is a little bit weird..." Hahaha! But she went on to talk about Jesus Christ, his birth, life, and death, the restoration of the gospel, and many other things. Finally she was prompted by her mother to finish. It was the cutest thing! How awesome that this little girl had such a knowledge of the gospel. She's going to be an awesome missionary!

little star!

We went to a part member family's home and were serenaded by a little boy. You should hear his version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". It sounded like "Frito, Frito, Wittow Star". He was so excited to have us there. 

This week reminded me of the scripture in Alma chapter 32, verse 23: "And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned". 

Listen a little closer to the words of the sweet young spirits around you. They just might have the answers :)

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

Song of Redeeming Love

This week, like most weeks, was good and trying! Haha. But we are still staying positive. We are trying to help the stake realize that there is so much potential, but because we are so new in the area, we need their help to find those who have been prepared by the Lord. It can be frustrating, sometimes we feel like we're not making any progress, but then miracles happen! 

We had a great lesson with Smalls last week. He really is ready to be baptized. He is such a sweet soul and we really think that it will help his whole family, especially having the priesthood in their home! We are excited for him!

We also met a whole family who are not members. Their son, who is nine, was invited to church by their 80 something year old neighbor. He has been coming for quite a while! He said that when his neighbor had heart surgery he prayed that she would be alright, and she was! He just had a few questions about the sacrament and about fasting. Then he said "Yeah, i've been thinking about getting baptized..." And we said hey we can help you there! He is such a sweet boy. When we came in he was wearing a basketball jersey, then he ran out of the room. We started talking with his family and he came back wearing a button up shirt! Had to get presentable. His family is really nice. The dad grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, and said that it really caused a lot of trauma for him and religion. But he asked a lot of really good questions and we cleared some things up that he had been wondering about. He told us that we are lucky we have such strong belief. We told him that we could help him get to that point as well, if he would be willing to learn and have us teach them all. He immediately said "No, no thank you. I'll have to decline." He wants answers directly from God. He has a hard time trusting the interpretation of other people. We tried to tell him that the way he will know if what we are teaching is true is through prayer, but I think his past experiences have really made things hard for him. We asked if we could come back and teach his son, and he said "Yes, please do. I want my children to have the faith that you have. Maybe i'll be around and ask you some more questions." So we'll see how it goes!

I had a really cool experience last night. We shared a video called "Lessons I Learned as a Boy". It is a beautiful story of two young boys and a simple act of kindness. As we watched it, I realized that the music in the background is the same music that was in the introductory video we showed for the temple open house! I immediately was taken back to those days. All of the emotions and memories came flooding back. It amazed me how powerful that simple song could be, what a strong effect it had. I paid no attention to it during the open house, but hearing it over and over, it sunk into my subconscious. Then, in a new situation, the same music brought those feelings back to my remembrance. I can't help but think that the same thing will happen when our Savior Jesus Christ will come again. In the Book of Mormon in the book of Alma, chapter 5 verse 26 it reads "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" The sweet song of His voice calls to us, and we will recognize it if we have been obedient in this life. I have felt that change of heart, and my heart continues to change every day. 

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling! And singing!

xoxo

Sister Boman