Is it really May?

 

May

May 4 

Is it really May? Where has the time gone? Are the Young Performing Missionaries (YPMs) really going to be with us this next coming week? Things that seemed to take forever last summer are happening so quickly.

It has been such a good week!!! Sister Cordoba is AMAZING. I love listening to her testimony. I love giving tours with her. I love how much she loves the gospel. I love our studies and I love spending time with her. She really has become one of my best friends in an incredibly short amount of time. As a missionary you love all your companions, but every once and a while you have those ones that make you wonder where you would be going or NOT going for that matter if you weren't put together. Her second day she gave a tour all by herself in Spanish!!! It was amazing and it was so fun because I was able to bear my testimony at the end in Spanish.  I felt to grateful that I was able to learn how in Washington. All the tours we have taken have been amazing. The spirit is so strong. We are completely different places in our studies which is amazing because we've been able to learn so much from each other. The Lord really does know exactly what we need, or who we need, to progress in this life. With things picking up so fast we are staying plenty busy. I am way behind in my letters. If you are waiting for one take comfort in knowing that no one else is receiving any either.

On Sunday Sister Cordoba and I gave 3 tours!!! Sister Cordoba did one of them virtually by herself and it was sooooo good. A man had come in from outside hoping someone would come take a picture of his family for him. We happily volunteered and then invited them back in to take a look at the Visitor's Center. They were so cool. They wanted a tour and I said that Sister Cordoba could take them. She looked at me like a deer in the head lights, but I felt strongly that she needed to take them.  As she walked over to the statue that depicts God the Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith in the grove of trees in 1820 I walked the other way to find one of the other visitors we had taken around the VC who had asked for a referral card. I handed him a couple and checked up on whether or not he had any questions, all the while praying fervently in my heart that Sister Cordoba would be given the words that she needed, that the spirit would bear her up, and that she could see a miracle. After a little bit I walked over to sit in on Sister Cordoba's tour. She was bearing her Testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. I realized very quickly that I had volunteered her to take a family who knew very little about the church. They were listening intently and I could feel why. The spirit was so strong. The man who seemed to be the leader of the group interrupted Sister Cordoba to say, "As you tell me about these things I feel this warmth rise inside of me".  Sister Cordoba picked right back up saying, "I know that feeling, That feeling is the holy ghost". She taught them about the God head and the Holy Ghost's role to bear witness of truth and then told them that the warmth they were feeling could be felt just by reading the Book of Mormon. The man who had identified the spirit's presence responded in a thirsting tone, "Really?" She asked them each to read the Book of Mormon when they left Nauvoo. He said that he would have to get a copy when he got home. She then said that we would actually like to give him one and he again said in an almost anxious voice, "Really? You would do that?".  The tour continued and so did the spirit. I got the copies of the Book of Mormon and had them ready at the end of the tour. When I mentioned to them that "I have those copies of the Book of Mormon for who ever would like one"  the man who had originally mentioned it came over to me saying, "I definitely want one! I'm going to to read it!". Another motioned to me that he wanted a copy also and when I stretched my hand toward him he almost snatched it out of my hands as if he thought that if he did not take it quickly enough I would change my mind. Both of them were so eager to keep that spirit they had felt with them. One of them filled out a referral card.  On it he thanked us for the Book of Mormon and expressed his gratitude for our testimonies. It was an amazing tour. It was a direct answer to my prayer. I asked Sister Cordoba to tell me more about the tour before I came  and after I left.  She went on to tell me that the spirit told her very early on that they were unfamiliar with the church and not members. When this happened she was able to find out why they had come to Nauvoo. They said that they had been driving down the road and saw a sign. They had never been here. They had never heard of it, but they felt as though they should pull in a take a look around. I had almost forgotten the way that the Lord prepares and leads people to Nauvoo. During Sister Cordoba's tour and after I felt so close to heaven. I knew so acutely how important this work is and how involved He is in it. Before they left Sister Cordoba was able to bear her testimony to them about the plan of salvation in response to some of the questions that they had.

All the tours we have taken together in Carthage have been just as spiritual. I could go on and on. This is a miraculous place. Miracles happen minute by minute.

I love Nauvoo. I love it. I love this gospel.  I love the Senior Missionaries and I love Sister Cordoba. I love this place. I had a moment a while back in the car. I was driving to Nauvoo.  I forget who was with me, but I was filled with a spirit of joy. I know that I will leave this place one day, but I'm am not sure how. Kicking and screaming I suppose. 

Today Sister Cordoba and I went to the temple. It was an incredible session for me. The last time we went as  Sisters I had a really hard time staying awake. This time I had no trouble. I gained more insight and more questions to think about. More concepts to mull over in my head.

Afterwards we met Elder Sandstrom for a handcart trek. It was a very spiritual experience and very unifying. It was neat to do with just the two of us and we both felt so close to those early saints. We talk a lot about the hardships they went through and the struggles they faced. We started and ended with Elder Sandstrom's testimony. It made the experience very sweet.

 

Sister Bailey

 

Please come to Nauvoo. This place can change your life for the better if you are willing to let it.

 

Alma 38:5