Subject: The Miracle Town
My friends and family,
What
a wonderful
week!!!!!!!! I strived with everything that I had to stay focused on
being a missionary, but as soon as 6:00 am rolled around this morning, I
couldn't sleep anymore. I was SO EXCITED to hear about State
Track!!!!!! =) My little brother is a stud muffin and I am so proud of
him!!!!!
Nauvoo is as wonderful as ever and I have some
miracles stories to share! One experience this week was EXCEPTIONALLY
miraculous.
Yesterday three men walked into
the Visitor's Center and I quickly discovered that they were visiting
from ITALY! They were going on a wagon ride and then planning to leave
shortly after. As soon as I looked at them, I felt a little push of the
Spirit. I just felt like I should tell them I went to Italy, so I did.
The senior sister that gave them tickets told them about the Women's
Garden and said she'd show them where it was. I felt a little frantic,
like we needed to take them on a "tour" out there, but the sister just
walked them over and pointed. Then they left for the wagon ride!!! I
watched the clock like a hawk so that I would know when they were back
and expected to be in the garden. Sister Cloward was with me and as soon
as I saw the wagon come back, we walked toward
the garden. Time never seemed to go by so slowly!!! Fifteen minutes
passed and everyone seemed to be loading in their cars to leave. Where
were the Italians!!??
I asked Sister Cloward if we could walk to the end of the garden and just look around to see if we had missed them. We walked all the way to the back.... NO SIGN of them!! I was beginning to feel a sense of urgency. In desperation, I asked Sister Cloward if we could kneel down and say a prayer. So out in the garden, skirts, dirt, and all, we knelt down to plead with Heavenly Father. I said the prayer and told Heavenly Father that we were ready to open our mouths and teach truth to these men and that we had faith they would still come if it was His will. I prayed that he would please help us find them, or that He would bring them to us, according to our faith. I said amen, we stood up, turned around, and twenty feet in front of us, these three Italian men were walking toward us. OH MY GOODNESS. "Wow, Heavenly Father, that was amazing!!!!"
There had been no signs of them for 15 minutes after the wagon came back, we knelt down and prayed, and then they were basically placed at our feet. We greeted them with big grins. Two of them were probably in their 50's and one in his 30's. The youngest one spoke English pretty well and said, "Hey! How long ago did you go to Italy?" We talked briefly about Italy and then he (Fabrizio) asked if both of us were Mormons because he had some questions. He started off with, "Tell me how Mormons are different from all the other religions." We jumped right into the gospel conversation and he had a lot of good questions. I absolutely LOVED it. We had to break everything down into VERY basic English and make sure he understood, then he would translate to the other two in Italian. Somehow, it came out that his uncle had died, and after years without any religion, Fabrizio started desiring religion in his life again. We asked him if he thought he would see his uncle again, and that brought us right to the Plan of Salvation. He was very involved in the conversation and it was incredible!!!
As Sister Cloward and I switched off explaining, I would pray with all of my heart while she was talking that he would be able to know that we were speaking the truth and that we would know what to say. Sister Cloward is like a rock. She is just so dependable and strong. When I start to feel like I need to spiritually recharge and pray for a second, she just comes right in with the next perfect thing to say or explain, and I just know she's going to be there when I need her. She speaks up and she does everything with love- she's a really, really good teacher. He said that his friends agreed with everything we were saying. After an hour and a half, we invited him to keep learning in Italy. He seemed surprised that we had missionaries in Italy, but he AGREED TO MEET WITH THEM!!!!! We told him that it would be much easier for him to learn because they speak Italian and we could keep in contact until the missionaries got to his home. He filled out a referral card and words simply cannot express how I felt. As we were talking with him, it was as though I could see the Rome Temple behind him. I could see his potential and I could almost see him in his ward in Italy. Sometimes when I'm talking with people, I know that they need the gospel in their lives and that they'll be baptized, but when I looked at Fabrizio, I just knew that he was going to be a strong member. I am learning more and more how to listen to the Spirit and discern. I also gain more and more faith in Heavenly Father's perfect knowledge and plan. During my first few weeks here, I would have asked myself how in the world do three Italians end up at the Nauvoo Visitor's Center, but now I expect them to come and I make sure that I am ready every single day to do and say whatever Heavenly Father has planned for that day.
I asked Sister Cloward if we could walk to the end of the garden and just look around to see if we had missed them. We walked all the way to the back.... NO SIGN of them!! I was beginning to feel a sense of urgency. In desperation, I asked Sister Cloward if we could kneel down and say a prayer. So out in the garden, skirts, dirt, and all, we knelt down to plead with Heavenly Father. I said the prayer and told Heavenly Father that we were ready to open our mouths and teach truth to these men and that we had faith they would still come if it was His will. I prayed that he would please help us find them, or that He would bring them to us, according to our faith. I said amen, we stood up, turned around, and twenty feet in front of us, these three Italian men were walking toward us. OH MY GOODNESS. "Wow, Heavenly Father, that was amazing!!!!"
There had been no signs of them for 15 minutes after the wagon came back, we knelt down and prayed, and then they were basically placed at our feet. We greeted them with big grins. Two of them were probably in their 50's and one in his 30's. The youngest one spoke English pretty well and said, "Hey! How long ago did you go to Italy?" We talked briefly about Italy and then he (Fabrizio) asked if both of us were Mormons because he had some questions. He started off with, "Tell me how Mormons are different from all the other religions." We jumped right into the gospel conversation and he had a lot of good questions. I absolutely LOVED it. We had to break everything down into VERY basic English and make sure he understood, then he would translate to the other two in Italian. Somehow, it came out that his uncle had died, and after years without any religion, Fabrizio started desiring religion in his life again. We asked him if he thought he would see his uncle again, and that brought us right to the Plan of Salvation. He was very involved in the conversation and it was incredible!!!
As Sister Cloward and I switched off explaining, I would pray with all of my heart while she was talking that he would be able to know that we were speaking the truth and that we would know what to say. Sister Cloward is like a rock. She is just so dependable and strong. When I start to feel like I need to spiritually recharge and pray for a second, she just comes right in with the next perfect thing to say or explain, and I just know she's going to be there when I need her. She speaks up and she does everything with love- she's a really, really good teacher. He said that his friends agreed with everything we were saying. After an hour and a half, we invited him to keep learning in Italy. He seemed surprised that we had missionaries in Italy, but he AGREED TO MEET WITH THEM!!!!! We told him that it would be much easier for him to learn because they speak Italian and we could keep in contact until the missionaries got to his home. He filled out a referral card and words simply cannot express how I felt. As we were talking with him, it was as though I could see the Rome Temple behind him. I could see his potential and I could almost see him in his ward in Italy. Sometimes when I'm talking with people, I know that they need the gospel in their lives and that they'll be baptized, but when I looked at Fabrizio, I just knew that he was going to be a strong member. I am learning more and more how to listen to the Spirit and discern. I also gain more and more faith in Heavenly Father's perfect knowledge and plan. During my first few weeks here, I would have asked myself how in the world do three Italians end up at the Nauvoo Visitor's Center, but now I expect them to come and I make sure that I am ready every single day to do and say whatever Heavenly Father has planned for that day.
Sister Dransfield and I were upstairs in the Call
Center and quickly we were back down on the Visitor's Center floor. With
only a few seconds of being there, from across the room, Sister
McKnight yelled my name. This man wanted a tour about Nauvoo. For some
reason, he looked familiar, and I was a little bit flustered. He was
kind of abrupt and rude, and I could tell this was going to be an
interesting experience. Sister Dransfield joined us as we headed toward
the Joseph Smith's First Vision statue. The man was spouting off doubts
about Joseph Smith, the gold plates, men speaking with God, and what we
believe. I said a prayer in my heart that we could melt him down and
that the Spirit would teach and touch his heart. I thought that it was
very interesting what came up. We were very careful not to get into a
Bible bash and strived to address him with love and get to the soul
behind the man.
As we continued trying to understand and love him, he said, "Ok, I am going to tell you something that I have never told ANYONE before. Because I probably won't ever see you again and for some reason I feel like telling you. "Many years ago, before I was married, I was having an affair with a married woman in Colorado. I was riding my motorcycle and decided to stop and take a rest. I laid down in the grass and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I saw something that you probably won't believe. I saw the face of Christ sketched in the sky. It was like a sign that He was telling me not to go to Colorado to meet up with this woman. But my body told me otherwise, so I ignored Christ and went any way."
I thought it was so interesting that he told us that. It led to recognizing good and evil, etc. He then made a statement that "you could look at anyone long enough and think that they had a halo over their head". I didn't quite agree and said that I've looked people in the eyes before and knew that they had evil intentions, but that there are people that you can look at and know they're a good individual. I then asked, "What do you see when you look in OUR eyes?" He responded, "Well, you are so confident in yourself, full of assurity, seem close to God...like you really do talk with Him. You seem ....proud of what you've done with your life...and I want that assurity, but I just don't have it." "We can tell you HOW you can have that same assurity for yourself." We tried to help him fill out a referral card, but he said he'd come back later. "You two have given me a lot to think about. I'll be thinking about this conversation for a long time now." We had testified of God's love, life after death, and the Atonement. He kept asking, "What if this is as good as it gets? What if life does end at death?" Sister Dransfield and I held strong to our testimonies and bore them with confidence. That man left a different person that he came in. I could see a change of countenance and his heart was softened significantly. I have never had my heart so intently set on touching a stranger's heart. He came in stubborn and full of doubts. Because of those doubts, my testimony came out very strong and sure. I do not allow myself to doubt or question what I KNOW. Sister Dransfield is so amazing-down to earth, real, has a great sense of humor, happy, valiant, beautiful, and perfect. I LOVE teaching with her!!!
As we continued trying to understand and love him, he said, "Ok, I am going to tell you something that I have never told ANYONE before. Because I probably won't ever see you again and for some reason I feel like telling you. "Many years ago, before I was married, I was having an affair with a married woman in Colorado. I was riding my motorcycle and decided to stop and take a rest. I laid down in the grass and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I saw something that you probably won't believe. I saw the face of Christ sketched in the sky. It was like a sign that He was telling me not to go to Colorado to meet up with this woman. But my body told me otherwise, so I ignored Christ and went any way."
I thought it was so interesting that he told us that. It led to recognizing good and evil, etc. He then made a statement that "you could look at anyone long enough and think that they had a halo over their head". I didn't quite agree and said that I've looked people in the eyes before and knew that they had evil intentions, but that there are people that you can look at and know they're a good individual. I then asked, "What do you see when you look in OUR eyes?" He responded, "Well, you are so confident in yourself, full of assurity, seem close to God...like you really do talk with Him. You seem ....proud of what you've done with your life...and I want that assurity, but I just don't have it." "We can tell you HOW you can have that same assurity for yourself." We tried to help him fill out a referral card, but he said he'd come back later. "You two have given me a lot to think about. I'll be thinking about this conversation for a long time now." We had testified of God's love, life after death, and the Atonement. He kept asking, "What if this is as good as it gets? What if life does end at death?" Sister Dransfield and I held strong to our testimonies and bore them with confidence. That man left a different person that he came in. I could see a change of countenance and his heart was softened significantly. I have never had my heart so intently set on touching a stranger's heart. He came in stubborn and full of doubts. Because of those doubts, my testimony came out very strong and sure. I do not allow myself to doubt or question what I KNOW. Sister Dransfield is so amazing-down to earth, real, has a great sense of humor, happy, valiant, beautiful, and perfect. I LOVE teaching with her!!!
This DARLING family came into the Visitor's Center
and I immediately fell in love with them. The dad had just graduated
from dental school and they were moving across the country. The mom and
the children all had beautiful olive skin. I just absolutely adore that
mom. The youngest little boy was trying to climb up on the statue of
Christ and touch his feet. Instead of reacting like some parents I've
seen, she just scooped him up in her arms and sat down at the feet of
Christ. She hugged the little boy and said, "Do you know that I love
Jesus?" She loved the little guy and talked about how much Jesus loves
him. I LOVED seeing that precious little moment. That the kind of mom I
want to be! She reminded me of my own mother.... who taught me with
love. Mothers really do change the world.
Monday night, I was in the Call Center. (We call the
individuals that were referred and invite them to meet with
missionaries). It's probably the most difficult thing for me because I
can't look into the people's eyes. There was one referral from a grandma
who referred her granddaughter's boyfriend. haha I talked to the
grandma and got the inside scoop on Dan, and have been trying to call
him for two weeks with no luck. I sat down and the first person I felt
like I should call was Dan. So I called...and he answered his
phone!!!!!!! I talked with him and he AGREED TO MEET WITH
MISSIONARIES!!!!!! I was so excited about that! It's really tricky to
call strangers on the phone and help them accept strangers into their
homes, but Heavenly Father has people prepared. There is going to be one
happy grandma this week!! WOO!!!!
Sister Coyne and I were sitting outside on the steps one evening, and I saw my FIRST LIGHTNING BUG ever!!!!!
We
sang in Sacrament meeting last week and it went really well. The
fireside is this Sunday and everything is really coming together. I just
have to add that the Atonement makes the difference in my life in soooo
many ways. I have had very little time to practice a piano piece that
is really challenging, but somehow, as I've strived to be diligent, the
piece has come together. It really is a miracle! I am so excited for
Sunday!
Elder and Sister
Terry (the temple missionaries that I LOVE) are going to meet us in the
temple today to do sealings. Elder Terry found me at church on Sunday
and asked me if we would be the children and they could represent the
parents. I JUST LOVE THEM for inviting us to do that!!!!!! I am soooo
excited!!!!! They are both very special people and I love them a lot!
Later in the day, Sister Coyne and I are going on the oxen ride that
just started this week and we're going to cruise down town Nauvoo. =)
Transfers are tonight at 6:30 in the 70's Hall
(which was the first MTC back in the day)!!!!! Last year, everyone was
switched every transfer, so it will be interesting to see where we all
end up! I could be in Carthage for the next four weeks and if President
Gilliland follows the previous trend, I will have a new companion!
However... President is an inspired man and I know that he will do what
Heavenly Father knows we all need. I'm excited to see who I will be with
for the next month. I LOVE NAUVOO!!!!!!!!
I know I always say this, but thank you for all of
the love and support. It really means so much to hear from the people I
love and I am always inspired by the good people that have helped shape
me into who I am. Thank you, thank you.
Love,
Sister Heather Ripplinger
(P.S.
I realize that my paragraphs are not grammatically correct. I'm not so
much worried about that, but I just want you to know that I do it
because it helps me separate thoughts as I'm typing at the speed of
light.) =)
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