This week has been such an emotional roller-coaster! I would say it's been a successful week, though. It's hard to admit a lot of the time that you can have a successful week even when it seems like everything has fallen through or what have you.
We had a great lesson on Tuesday with one of our on-dates, Earnado. He bore powerful testimony of the power of the Atonement, and it's always so inspiring to watch his faith grow. When we committed him to going without the nicotine patches at the end of our lesson with him, he RIPPED OFF HIS PATCH right there in front of us, threw it on the couch, and committed to rely on the Savior. We were so inspired by his faith, and we continue to be inspired by his faith. The next day, we got a call from his home teacher that he had relapsed and had four cigarettes. It was hard news to hear. After some fervent prayers, we rushed over to their house. We were only able to talk to Paulena, his wife, because Earnado stayed downstairs and wouldn't come up. But we had a great conversation with her and have been able to help build her testimony and lift her spirits through our attempts in visiting Earnado.
On Saturday, we dropped by again and were able to watch "Finding Faith in Christ" with her. She so much enjoyed it, and we had a great discussion on the things she was taught by the Spirit. Upon being impressed by the Spirit, we asked Paulena if she would come downstairs with us to say goodbye to Earnado. In our companionship study that morning, the Spirit taught us about how the Savior would have done everything he could to minister to Earnado in his time of need, and we felt very strongly about making the attempt. Though our attempt was seemingly unsuccessful given that he didn't hardly talk to us or look at us, we brought the Spirit strongly as we testified of E's divine heritage and the love of his Heavenly Father and of the love his Savior has for him. We are hopeful that the things we left with him will have a lasting effect.
Something a sister said in one of our wards yesterday really stuck with me: "Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, it isn't the end." And she taught that those miracles are made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for that knowledge.
All in all, things are going well, and the Lord is pouring down miracles. Sammy is progressing very well toward baptism. We had a church tour with her and our ward mission leader, Brother Clements. She has been so prepared, and she bore her testimony about each of the things we taught her. We are so excited to continue meeting with her and preparing her to be baptized!
The Spirit is so crucial in this work, and I'm continually amazed by the things we accomplish when we follow it. He is continually leading us to people who need to hear the word. Through our continued efforts to be obedient and faithful, those people can be blessed by our message. I'm so grateful for that!
I love this work and am inspired by the Lord's hand in it. I know there would be no success without it. Alma 26:12 is one of my favorites in that it really is through the Lord's strength that we accomplish great things.
Hope all is well with each of you!
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"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen
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Nothing too exciting for pictures. Mostly because my camera's been on the fritz. (A sweet member let me have one of their old ones, so more pictures next week! Promise.) I just love how different everything is here, as far as weather and the climate are concerned. The weather around here has been awesome! I love it when it rains, especially since they always talk about how it isn't supposed to rain very much here. So... pictures of the clouds and rainbows and stuff.
Cloudy day in Washington: The clouds here are SO different!
The sunsets here are ALWAYS good.
First Washington rainbow
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