Sister Neel 1/4/22

 

(Happy New year!  I am sorry to get this out so late!  Thanks for all your love and support!-Jeni)

Happy new year yall!

It's been an insane week yet our experiences made it one of the best weeks of the mission yet! I will forever love watching the Atonement literally change people's lives in front of me. This is a gift I wouldn't have wanted to go without and am constantly blown away as people make leaps and bounds of progress. I'm growing. I'm learning. And I never want to leave North Carolina ;))♡

Ok you guys are you ready for the most wild week ever? The adventures of Sister Neel could be a movie let me tell ya haha

Vicki's miracle story:

We had a lesson with Vicki, a sweet elderly lady that has been put on date four times but taken off date due to major health concerns. We went over to the rest home and taught her a lesson based on a scripture in 3 Nephi 11. Only problem was she was so excited to see sister missionaries again she talked non stop for over an hour and a half. We finished up with a lesson on praying through Jesus Christ's name and moments later she got a knock on her door from her neighbor. Carol wanted us to come pray with a group of ladies for their manager who just found out that her mother had 3 weeks to live. We immediately walked to the office with our cute old lady clan and stood in a circle, holding hands and listened to Carol offer such a heartfelt prayer on behalf of their manager. Once the prayer was finished, we hugged their manager and offered her words of comfort. I turned around only to hear Vickii whisper to Carol, "We pray in the name of Jesus. Next time, include His name and you'll be blessed." I couldn't help but beam so wide. As we left, I felt prompted to hand the manager a Plan of Salvation pamphlet I had felt prompted to put in my bag earlier that day. I told her that this was one of the best gifts I could offer her at this moment and she embraced me with so much love. I'm grateful to have been there to support her through this. 

Kevin's Miracle Story:

We met up with Kevin in downtown Holly Springs at a coffee shop where we taught the Plan of Salvation. At first, Kevin was extremely confused why we would need to leave God's presence if we were already with him and what the purpose of this earth life was. He has gone through more trials in his life than any 19 year old guy should have to endure and struggled to not only forgive others but himself as well. The spirit was so prevalent in that lesson and filled my mouth with inspired questions or thoughts that caused Kevin to think deeply about the message we shared. You could see the gears turning in his head as principles made sense and then he asked out of the blue: "So...when can I get baptized? When can I serve a mission?" It took us all by surprise but the spirit flooded that small table and created an atmosphere of learning for Kevin as we embraced his desire to be baptized. He normally gets bad anxiety when it comes to reading scriptures but he began offering to read and break apart what he didn't understand. At the end of our lesson he told us he wanted to be in the celestial kingdom no matter what and would ask for work off each Sunday to continue feeling more of the Spirit. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited him to read the first few chapters as he prayed on the plan we had just taught him. As we walked him home, he wasn't the same guy that showed up to our lesson. He was completely humbled and closer to God despite the fact he had a hard time understanding why He would let Kevin go through these intense trials. What a miracle that was to witness!

Later in the week we met with Kevin again and taught him a lesson on prayer and the fruits of the Spirit. He said he had been praying to God and felt like no one was there. At the end of our lesson he offered to pray and gave such a meaningful prayer that brought us all to tears. He asked Heavenly Father to help him find his path in life and to enlarge his mind to better come to know what his spirit yearned to remember. He asked God to keep us as life long friends in his life and kept offering gratitude as he witnessed himself becoming a better man. After the prayer he said that was the first time he had offered a prayer from the bottom of his heart and really felt like someone was listening. What an experience that was!! 

Kevin even was able to come to church on Sunday!! We had his fellowshippers come and pick him up and waited to greet him by the chapel doors. The entire fast Sunday had testimonies based off of the Plan of Salvation and the realization that we really do have a Heavenly Father that KNOWS us. One man testified on the importance of knowing where to turn to hear God's voice. One way to do so and seek evidence of His reality was to look at your hands, look in the mirror and marvel at the reflection. We caught Kevin studying his hands and only a few minutes later wiping tears from his eyes as we sang the Hymns. Brother Roberts approached him after church to shake his hand and introduce himself. He bore his testimony on his conversion story and the importance of missionary work since he joined the church after hearing a sister missionary's testimony. Kevin noticed that Brother Roberts had been through a lot and asked him softly, "May I ask what you've been through?" Brother Roberts explained his trials he faced and later Kevin puts his hands on his shoulder and tells him, "Brother Roberts, you are a wise man and have lived many years of experience which I now have inherited. Know your efforts are not going unnoticed and I appreciate who you are." Our eyes all welled with tears as Brother Roberts became very emotional and gave Kevin a huge hug. He told Kevin to keep meeting with the missionaries and Kevin proudly said he had no intentions of giving us up. We then went into the second hour that was all solely based on the Plan of Salvation which then helped Kevin learn the lesson in a deeper meaning. Kevin made lots of new friends and kept thanking us for inviting him and looks forward to coming back to church next week!

Coles Miracle Story:

Cole is a beat as always. Reading 6 hours a day with his dictionary, church website, come follow me manual, pamphlets and study journals. He is gaining such a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and is absorbing more information from his studies than anyone I've ever met. He has such a contagious desire to learn and does it out of the person he loves that he's becoming as he studies Christ's gospel. We had a powerful lesson with him at the DuWors house on New Year's Eve! Cole connected really well with Brother DuWors and then we jumped into the rest of our lesson regarding the Plan of Salvation. As we went over each point, you could literally see the Holy Ghost working on him, enhancing his mind and allowing him to remember his commitment he made long ago to come to earth and learn of Christ's gospel. We brought up Priesthood power and the ability Cole had to receive this gift after he was baptized and Brother DuWors really dove into a deeper meaning of why we have Priesthood power. He studied Theology and is well versed in gospel truths that most don't know about. After explaining to Cole these thoughts and passing it back over to us to explain our desire to make it to the Celestial Kingdom, Cole stopped and started at the floor. His expression was intense with curiosity and he looked up with so much power emanating from him and said boldly, "I want to be baptized....and Brother DuWors, I want you to do it." There was a stunning silence in the room and everyone was brought to tears. Cole hadn't wanted to be baptized officially until he knew more about the gospel and until he met someone that he trusted to baptize him. That all changed in this lesson and he kept smiling to himself after we began discussing baptism again. We literally spent 2 hours teaching the Plan of Salvation and deeper concepts of baptism but every minute of that was worth it. We then moved into the other room and enjoyed a loud, laughter filled evening with the DuWors family. It was such a special evening and will forever be such a cherished experience!

Cole came to church again on Sunday and later attended the YSA ward to see if he liked it. While there, he was able to meet President and Sister Maurer and they wanted to join in on lessons with him! We then went to second hour with the AP's and introduced him to all of their YSA friends. He connected really well with the adults there and we plan to go back next week to prepare him for when he starts attending that ward. We then moved to the temple grounds and taught a powerful lesson regarding keeping our bodies clean like a temple and the word of wisdom. When we briefly explained what really goes in a temple, Cole was in awe and intrigued to go inside one day. It was powerful to promise him that he would. We taught the word of wisdom and invited him to go touch the temple and feel of the power of what being holy feels like. He was willing to drop a few of his addictions immediately, without question and better follow the commandments of God. Cole is so good at keeping commitments and is resolute in the decisions he makes. He wouldn't allow opposition to change this decision and was fixed in becoming a member of the church. I felt prompted to take a picture by the temple and do a then and now picture after he was baptized. I can't wait to see that glow!

Other than these amazing experiences, it's been a great week! We've had some lessons with formers that we felt prompted to stop by and visit unannounced which turns out a few had been praying we would drop in. We walk around everywhere, sun up to sun down we are on our feet grinding on finding and talking to anyone that comes within our path. We've seen so much success with former knocking and on the spot lessons with people on the street. I think Holly Springs is becoming more familiar with us because people keep commenting that they've seen us around ;)) We are grinding over here and are simply in love with the calling we've been given. Life is good! Here's to next week!

♡♡♡

Sister Neel