Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Dear Family, (10/26)


    Last Monday we were on shift at the VC and this family from our ward brought in another family from our ward where the husband isn't a member. It's a bit confusing but the Dennis Family brought in the Davis Family and Brother Davis isn't a member. We had briefly met Brother Davis before and he seemed very cold towards us. Sister Perry and I had no idea what we were going to share with them but we both felt that we should't put the attention on him. We decided to create a normal family home evening environment and so in the Christus room we sat on the benches, sang a primary song, had an opening prayer, and then had an amazing discussion about the Savior. We played the narration and you could feel the spirit settle on everyone like a thick warm blanket. We asked everyone what they felt as they listened to the words and Brother Davis said that the word that just came to him over and over was "Believe" we were stunned because I thought that was such a powerful word. After that we went into the theater and watched "Because of Him" and "God's Plan for the Family" and by the end of these two movies everyone was in tears. I cannot describe to you the spirit that was in that room. Brother Dennis (who home-teaches the Davis family) stood up and bore his testimony and he was pretty emotional. He bore the majority of his testimony in Maori which was the coolest thing to hear. I love the maori language and I think it is so beautiful. At the conclusion of Brother Dennis' testimony, Brother Davis looked at him and said "Kia Ora" which literally means "be well" or is the maori way of saying thank you. I could tell that his heart has softened so much where the gospel is concerned. Sister Perry and I both felt not to push anything so we ended the lesson with another prayer. After the prayer the families stayed at the VC and they looked around talked, and laughed and Brother Davis' entire continuance changed. I consider this a miracle. He may not be ready to get baptized next week but because of the lesson he took a huge step closer towards accepting the gospel. 

    I came down with a bad cold starting Friday night. I thought at first it was just allergies because it is spring here but we were on shift at the VC and as the night wore on I just felt worse and worse. As we were preparing for the next day Elder Hawkins explained that Saturdaymorning we had a group of 100 primary kids coming in and that we needed to be prepared for them. After hearing this one of the other sisters that we were on shift with asked if we wanted to switch shifts. I thought about it and it sounded like the best thing to do so we switched. When we came in for out shift Saturday night we found out that a man from the Church Area Office in Auckland was coming down to screen Meet the Mormons in preparation for the Area Presidency to watch it and because we were on shift we would get to watch it too! I was so excited but I felt really bad a the same time because the other sisters had switched us and then they wouldn't be able to see the movie. I was so happy that we got to watch it though because it was so good! I loved every minute of it and it made me even prouder to be a mormon. If I hadn't been sick I wouldn't have been able to watch the movie. I count this as a tender mercy. 

  That is pretty much my week. I love and miss all of you! Have a great week!

Love, 
Sister Simkins

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