Power of prayer :)

So it's MLK day, meaning the library is closed, meaning I'm on an iPad
using the church's wifi to try and type all my emails. And I'm slow at
this touchscreen keyboard thing. It's kinda like texting entire
emails, actually, :p so this one will be pretty short. Also if there
are a thousand run on sentences, sorry, the period and coma are too
close to each other.

So we're teaching the Spanish bishop's nephew. We got a call from
him that said, "I gave him a BoM, he's already past Alma, and he's
expecting you guys now." We had a really neat lesson with him, it's
not everyday you get a first lesson where they pretty mush already
know everything you're teaching is true. He's had a lot of really neat
spiritual experiences with both the Bible and the BoM, and he's
getting really excited about God.

We had our third lesson with Aria. And she told us she was actually
already baptized. When she was eight. "But we never really went to
church and I did not know what was happening, so I'd actually really
like to do it again." Haha! So that's pretty golden, right? :p so we
explained to her that she didn't need to be baptized again and talked
about the Sacrament and she was really happy. So last time I said it
was as if she'd just been waiting for missionaries to show up; she
literally was, haha. She was excited to come to church, but hasn't
been able to make it because of some family problems. It's been really
fun to teach her about Christ and His Gospel, though. It's like a
treasure box for her.

We had a neat doorstep lesson with a teenager the hermanas used to
teach, but he totally speaks English, so we get to teach him now. We
talked about how he just takes life one day at a time, and he felt
like he'd done pretty good for himself. He didn't really feel like he
was looking for God. He didn't need the extra help or strength right
now, didn't see any reason to involve Him in his life right now. We
talked a little about prayer and how God loves us and the blessings
that come from having Him in our life. We asked him, "do you think
you'd be able to pray?"

And he said, with a smirk and a shrug, "yeah, I'm capable of it."

Okay, yeah, we know exactly what that means, and that's not an
acceptable answer! Haha. He was really hesitant to commit to praying.

So we were going to end that lesson in a prayer, like we always do,
and we invited him to pray. He was nervous to, so we offered to go
around and each of us say a prayer, if it would make him feel more
comfortable. We each said a really simple prayer, and after a little
hesitation, he said a beautiful, humble, powerful prayer. It was so
neat. At the end of it he said, "wow, that felt really good." Then he
started asking more questions. How often do I pray? Do I need to say
the words out loud? Does He hear all my prayers? How does He answer?
Before we left he said, "I think I want to try that again tonight." IT
WAS SO COOL.

That's as much as I'm able to type....love you guys, thanks so much
for your prayers and letters and notes of encouragement! I still have
the little cards I got from Christmas hanging in my desk. I still love
being a missionary! :D God is real and He loves us, and Christ is our
Savior, and it's so exciting to get to be here to tell people that!

Love you all

Sister Stratford