Chapter 16: How God Answers Prayers

            I think I testify almost every day that God answers prayers because He loves us. However, how He answers prayers seems to be different every time, but he definitely answers them. . We had a goal to find 1000 new investigators as a mission this month, and we did it! I have no idea how that worked out, but through God anything is possible. It’s incredible, but I think our mission is going through a time where God is testing our faith. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the Hermanas say, "I am not normally one who cries, but...." and they proceed to tell everyone why the mission is really hard for them right now. I don’t think anyone is an exception to this. Everyone is having their different struggles that they are trying to overcome. Our trial: Francisco. He officially hasn’t been in contact with us since the day he called to tell us he was going out of town for the weekend. He missed church, and he won’t answer our phone calls. I can’t help but think what could have possibly gone wrong. Everything was working out so great, and then nothing. We pray for him constantly, and we know he is having prayers given for his sake around the world. It was really hard to not see his smiling face walk into the chapel with his marked Book of Mormon in hand this week, but God gave us a tender mercy I think to help ease the wound a little bit. Feily. Our cute 16 year old from the Dominican Republic. We called her to see if there was, by some miracle, a chance that she wanted to come to church with us this week. I could hardly believe my ears when she said of course! We went to pick her up, and she was there! Bright eyed and ready to go, we walked to the church together. The Second Counselor in the General Relief Society’s son finished his mission, and she came to pick him up, and ended up speaking in church! It was really awesome to be able to meet Sister Reeves (although, I was trying not be jealous...haha) Then, it was crazy. Since it was the fifth Sunday, they wanted the third hour combined with the adults. So, the Young Women President asked us to give the lesson. Well, we were a little disappointed because we wanted Feily to have the opportunity to experience young womens like it should be. Oh well, then when we got there it got crazier!! They wanted to take all the laurels out to have a meeting, and that left our investigator and one other girl. So, we frantically thought of a lesson we could teach (it was supposed to be about supporting and honoring the Priesthood and include the Restoration. You know, why not do two in one?? Then randomly, the other girls came back in. It was kind of a mess, but I hope she was able to feel the spirit. Apparently in the second hour, she bore her testimony, so she is really great!! I am excited to see how she accepts the gospel. She is coming to a baptism that we have today, and then we are going to teach her afterwards. I strongly believe that baptism is the best lessons that you can ever have with an investigator! Also, I think something that I have learned is how to truly have a relationship with God. My prayers have become so much more sincere once becoming a missionary--I have learned that you can’t live without them! I was having kind of a rough weekend, and I was praying for just something little to brighten my day. And of course, the answer was very obvious. We went to a member’s house to have dinner, and guess who was there?? Archie!! Yes, my favorite Filipino said he found out where we were going that evening, and wanted to be the one to do the honors to cook us a meal. It brightened my whole day! He has so much love for the missionaries. So how does God answer prayers? Through other people. Last week I mentioned that we were going with the bishop to see him give a blessing to a less active member, and it really was so touching. She was so happy that the Bishop would think to come to her home instead of just the missionaries. (Sorry Elders, the Bishop won out this time.) She was touched he would think of going to help her, and it was an answer to prayer. Again, prayers are answered through other people. I feel like every time I feel like I don’t want to do something, or I missing home, someone shows up in my life to put a smile on my face. And I got an added surprise of having Hermana Benson come stay the night with us so she could pick up her DNI card for Spain! It was so nice to be able to catch up with my CCM companion and hear about the work in Bilbao. I am ready to start this week fresh and see what it can bring. We went to a Zone   Conference and Hermana Pace said my favorite thing, "If you are happy, please alert your face. Nobody wants to join a church full of grumps!" So, my goal this week is to smile more, and just enjoy these next months that I have here. Well, I better get going, I have a baptism to sing for tonight...I wonder how many different arrangements people can find for these songs! I love to do it though. If I can’t speak the language, at least I can sing it! 

Hermana Hopkins