Sister Michelle Christine North: MERRY Everything & HAPPY Always!

So I kind of really sort of loved this week! It is fun to see the fruits that are finally starting to come from all of the work that Hermana Leavitt and I have been doing here in our whitewash sector. We have been looking for those investigators everywhere and for a while it just seemed like it wasn’t meant to be, but we kept at it and this week we were able to teach some new loves and see MIRACLES. Aren’t those just the best? Yesterday, one of my favorite missionary experiences happened. Hermana Leavitt and I went on splits with two girls from our ward because, get this, we had too many appointments to go to between just the two of us! At the end of the day, we all got back together and talked about all of our citas in detail and it was easy to see that the Lord was with all of us and He truly gave us some miracles.

The first cita of the night was with a reference that the elders passed over to us. Her name is Lidia Santa Maria. She is about 60 years old (even though she only looks 50) and she is a mom of 3 sons. Her hubby passed away only 3 years ago and over this time she has found herself drawing closer to God in a way to be close to her husband. When we started the lesson, we talked a lot about the importance of prayer and the tool it is in our lives to be able to have a relationship with our Father in Heaven. What surprised me the most was after we invited her pray, praying with the heart and not recited prayers; she told us that she already was doing that. This only surprised me because she is Catholic. Then she said, “I have grown up Catholic my whole life, and l love what I have learned from going to mass, but the only thing that I don’t agree with is reciting prayers. I find it boring and if it is boring for me, can you imagine how boring it is for the Lord. I love to ask him for things and I know that that is why he wants me to pray.” I couldn’t help but smile and my companion, Melisa aka Hermana Ramirez, and I both looked at each other absolutely touched by her words. So because she was already actively developing her relationship with the Lord, we began teaching her about the Atonement and the blessing that daily repentance brings into our lives. There was a scripture in the Bible that kept popping into my head throughout the entire lesson. I didn’t remember where it was, so I brushed it off the first couple of times that I felt like we should share it. Right before we were about to end the lesson, I felt a HUGE prompting to just open my scriptures and attempt to find it. In that moment I knew that it wasn’t just me that wanted to share the scripture with Lidia, but that Heavenly Father knew that she needed to hear it. I opened up my Bible and there was the scripture, I looked right at it. Matthew 11: 28-30,“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” As Lidia read the scripture, a big smile came on her face. It was perfect. And thanks to that experience, now I will never forget the reference. Before we left, she put her hand over her heart and said, “I am so grateful that you guys could come today. I felt something really special.” I know that the Lord is so aware of each one of his children, even when it’s something as small as helping them to find a scripture.

This week we are going to be celebrating the independence day of Chile. The Chileans go all out for this holiday. The actual independence day is on the 18^th but the festivities last all week, which mean that it is going to be really hard to find our loves- they are all going out of town and drink like crazy (I’m nervous for that part). In fact, our golden investigator, Marco, was MIA all week. He called us last night when Hermana and I were planning and he told us that work has been crazy and that this week he is barely going to have time to breathe with all of the gigs that they are playing at. After I made him promise me that he would not drink or do drugs, I told him, “Make sure to read the Book of Mormon everyday. Even if it is just one verse.” And then he said, “Okay North, but can you please read me a verse right now, because I’m so tired.” Ha ha. That was a fun mini lesson that I got to share with him over the phone.

I hope that you guys can find some things to make you smile this week like I did.

“A merry Heart maketh a cheerful countenance.”- Proverbs 15:13

Have a great week! VIVA CHILE.

Xox, Hermana North

p.s: It's official, Cecilia (my love from San Miguel) is getting baptised in 2 WEEKS!!! This news could not have made me any more happy. She is just so great. And this is so right. Also not like I'm counting down or anything but in 3 weeks is General Conference aka Missionary Christmas

picture 1: Our fridge on P-days make me so happy to look at! YUMM.