Tender Moments!

May 06, 2021

Tender Moments!

Wow, friends, just so many tender moments this week and I'm here to tell you all about them! First, I have exciting news! This past week we found out there's a sister that got called to serve here assigned to learn ASL!! Meaning I won't be the only one! Whoooo. I'm sad that she will come my very last transfer in September:(. Though I can't help to be grateful because I know it was inspired. Her coming means my deaf friends can continue to learn more about God and this gospel. How could I not be happy about that?!

Yesterday we sat in the teaching center about to have a lesson when we got the sad message asking "can we reschedule?" from our friend. We were pretty disappointed, but thankfully that morning we had made a back up plan to go out and talk with people on the square. As we sat at our computers though I thought that maybe we could just stay working on our computers or even just do half and half. Though as these thoughts ran through my mind I had the strongest impression that we needed to go out to square and we needed to go then. I just couldn't shake the feeling. I turned to Sister Davis and asked what she thought and she expressed that she felt the same. So with little delay we got up, abandoned our stuff, said a quick prayer, and made our way out. We knew we were looking for someone we just needed to find out who. As we rounded the tabernacle and far off in the distance we saw a guy sitting on a bench all by himself. Without communicating to one another Sister Davis and I just walked straight to him. We made small talk but soon learned about his life and the difficult things he's been through. We were saddened though hit by the Spirit again by what he soon told us. He said, "I've been sitting here for about 10 minutes and I didn't think anyone would come up and talk to me... but then you guys came." Friends I'm so glad we did. When we asked if there was anything we could do for him he told us that he didn't want to be a bother but if we could stay and talk, he just did want to be alone. So stay and talk we did. About an hour and 40 mins later we said our goodbyes. As we walked away we both couldn't help but think what would've happened if we didn't listen to the promptings of the spirit. Just being with someone, spending time and bearing another's burdens if only for a time brought peace and happiness to us all in that sweet tender moment. I love that we can be instruments in His hands to lift those around us.

Today we also got to watch a baptism! It was for our sweet friend Nadia. For the past little while I have been joining some other missionaries and interpreting their lessons into ASL for her. The baptism itself was so beautiful. One of her friends spoke and at the end said that she would then share her testimony to the best of her abilities in ASL. It was so so sweet and the spirit was just so strong. It was such a tender moment and we just felt so lucky to watch and be there to witness such a sacred experience and support her.

Last, this past Sunday we met Lianna and her mom on square! Lianna was probably about 8 years old and though she was shy at first by the end she was such a talker! They weren't members of our church, but were followers of Christ. We learned this as Lianna exclaimed that she has her own Bible! And though her mom didn't speak much of religion Lianna couldn't stop! At the end of the tour she told us that her favorite story from the Bible was when Christ visited with the children one by one. She then stopped and said "what do think it'd be like to live at the same time as Jesus?" We smiled and began to think but before we could even answer she told us that if she lived back then she would "try to stay with Him and go with him everywhere He went". I loved this so much. Her love for Him was so pure. So what about you guys? What would you do if you lived at the same time as the Savior? Would you hold on to Him and follow Him wherever He went?

God is good!
Sister Mac 🤟