So do you remember the kid I mentioned named Garett? We met him at Forums and didn't really think he was interested but then he came to church! And FHE! Alrighty.... well, he is the main source of my inexplicable happiness this week! Here is a timeline so it will make more sense :)
May 2nd - That Friday that we met him was.
May 3rd - He came to church FHE
May 4th - He came to FHE and totally ROCKED at ultimate frisbee!! he was the star of the night!
May 10th - When we actually sat down and were able to have a lesson with him for the first time. His first lesson went GREAT!! He has never been to church before coming with us, and he has almost zero religious background! His only knowledge of Jesus Christ was "that he died... and that he walked on water". Crazy! As we sat down and explained how God is our loving Heavenly Father and that the fullness of His gospel has been restored to the earth, Garett seemed to understand, not fully but with childlike faith - incredible. At the end of the lesson, we testified of the Book of Mormon and asked him if he wanted to know for himself if the book was true? His response was, "well.. I think I should find out if God is actually there first." Yeah, I guess that is a pretty good place to start ;)
May 11th - He came to church for the second time! While at church he volunteered to drive people to the service project the following Saturday... this kid is amazing!!
May 12th - He came to FHE! That night after FHE, he texted us and said, "Hey! I read the first book of nephi and embarrassingly I'm already a little confused. Could we set up a time for me to ask some questions?" ...of course!! Sister Moss and I (being the unfaithful/lame missionaries that we are) assumed that he meant to say "chapter" instead of "book".
May 14th - we arrived to the lesson to discover he really had read the entire first book of Nephi!!! He had so many questions, little things like what does the word "gentile" and "abominable church" mean? He also wanted us to explain all of chapter 20 & 21 because he couldn't understand them at all ( they are Isaiah chapters so we didn't understand them very well either!). He had really been studying the Book of Mormon! It was so incredible!! We asked him how his experience had been when he prayed to know if God was there and he responded, "well, I didn't get a warm feeling in my heart or anything like that.. but it was like I just gained the knowledge somehow that I had always known he was there! I just didn't know that I already knew!" HE IS RECOGNIZING THAT HE IS RECEIVING ANSWERS TO HIS PRAYERS!!! HE IS SO AWESOME!! Then he shared with us how he really liked Nephi and how no matter how many times his mean brothers bound him up, he always forgave them right away when he got free. So awesome.
May 15th - We met with him again to teach him the 1st half of the Plan of Salvation. We had given him the commitment to read 2 Nephi 1 & 2 in preparation. When we asked if he read, he responded, "yeah! Chapter 2 was a game changer!" ...uhh... we froze a little bit, unsure if he meant in a positive or negative way. haha Then he continued, "it answered the biggest question I've had - if God loves us then why isn't it all happy and good here, but it said in the chapter that there has to be both sides, good and bad, to actually have happiness." AH!! He said that if it hadn't been 11:30 at night when he read, he would've called us! But instead he just prayed and got a few answers he needed! At the end of the lesson we committed him to be baptized... and HE SAID YES!!! GARETT IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON JUNE 7TH!!!!! :D
May 17th - In the morning he came to the branch service project - cleaning up a highway! It was so fun! Really cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us!
Later, we met with Garett at a different location for this lesson and he is the coolest person ever because he didn't think he was allowed to park there since he didn't have a permit, so he walked 30 minutes to come to the lesson!! He said he had to use google maps and it was taking him all sorts of crazy places - down little trails and through "no trespassing" areas, through fields, etc. We were all in total shock that he did all of that just to come and he was STILL on time!! After describing all of that to us he said, "yeah, google maps is the great and abominable church!" HAHA we all died laughing.. :) This was probably my favorite lesson with Garett so far! He told us how he loved 2 Nephi 9: 21 which says, "he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam." Garett shared with us how for some reason in his mind, Christ always assumed the role of a "slave driver" in a way, but because of the Book of Mormon and specifically that verse he now knows to think of him as truly the Redeemer. :) He said that as he has read and is learning about Christ, it just makes him want to learn more and more about Him and the Atonement! Later that night, we got a text from him saying he had finished the 2nd book of Nephi :) Oh my goodness family... this kid is incredible.
May 18th - He came to church for the 3rd time :)
I could go on and on about things that he has said and accomplished, and the incredible, valiant spirit that he is!! In one of his lessons, he said how he feels so lucky that we talked to him out of all the people coming out of the library that day.. I hope I will be able to convey to him and to all of you the strength that my testimony has received because of his righteous pursuit to know God and to know truth. This gospel is true! I know it so strongly and I can never say it enough!! I love you all so much and I cannot wait to give you an update next week :) LOVE YOUU!!!
Love,
Sister Walborn
p.s. Pictures: 1) Sister Moss and I with Garett at the service project!! 2) Sister Wade, Sister Moss and I :) Have a wonderful week!!!
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