Every once in a while, a missionary shares an experience that gives a glimpse into the world of a missionary. I think they would be comfortable with me sharing it here.
It especially shows the GREAT value of senior couples!
"My spiritual experience this week comes from yesterday when the Atkinsons came and worked with us. We visited one of our recent converts, Sister X and we bore our testimonies and had them bear their testimonies as well. Sister X has 8 kids, is in her 40's or early 50's and was baptized just 3 months ago, and has experienced a lot of persecution since then from family members and friends because she used to be very devoted in the Catholic church. She's gotten close to giving up a few times, but has continued to push on and yesterday she even gave a talk in sacrament meeting, and did a great job. So during the lesson with her, she told the Atkinsons about the persecution and how hard it's been, and they bore really powerful testimonies and got all of us pretty teary-eyed. And then Sister X bore her testimony and said that she couldn't explain how, but she felt so much happier, less prideful, more at peace, and closer to God because of the church and that she knew that it was true.
At the end as we left, Sister Atkinson gave sister X a big hug, and Sister X just started sobbing and thanking sister Atkinson, and Sister Atkinson told her, "I know how you feel. I'm a mother too, I'm here for you," and they stayed embraced for a minute or too, and the spirit was so strong. It was amazing to me that Sister Atkinson, an American in her 70's who could speak barely any Tagalog, could connect so powerfully and lovingly with Sister X who comes from a completely different background. When I saw them hugging, I could have thought that they had been best friends for years, but they had only met 20 minutes ago. So what was it that united them so strong in such a short time? I think that answer is the pure love of Christ, which can be manifest in us if we work for it, pray for it, and strive to show it to others. And I know that as we continue to try to develop our charity, we'll see miracles around us.