Hill City with Sister Witwer

We worked again in Hill City this week.  I like being in the small towns again, it feels more like the rest of my mission.  We found this Hispanic family in Hill City that let us come in.  It is a family of four girls and the parents.  They are all so cute! The mother doesn't speak Spanish, but the kids do.  So the 13 year old daughter translated while we taught.  She had questions about the after life, so we did our best to teach them.  Stephanie, the daughter, was so cute.  I asked her if she would say the closing prayer, she was nervous, but I had her repeat what I said and the spirit was so strong.  I just had a moment of recognizing how great my calling is.  I got to teach someone to pray for the first time in her whole life.  What a blessing it is to witness that.  She was so excited about it and said she would pray every day.  We have a return appointment with them this Saturday and I'm excited about it.

Sister Witwer and I taught this man in Hill City named Matt.  He is a very religious man and knows a lot about the scriptures, but doesn't attend a church anymore because he doesn't feel like he has found the right one.  He said something that really stuck out to me. It is simple, but very true.  He said, "You can talk about someone, even when they are not present."  He was talking about God.  How we can talk about Him but that doesn't mean He is there.  He said that is how he has felt at most churches, that they talk about Heavenly Father, but He is not there.  As I sat there and pondered about what he was saying, I reflected on many of the experiences I have had with the church and the feelings I had received.  I have felt Him there in so many meetings at church, conversations with friends, investigators, less-actives, and in my own personal prayer with God.  I felt the spirit even in that moment remind me of those feelings that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, our found in this church.  I was able to bear my testimony to Matt of those things and I know he felt the sincerity of my testimony.  We taught him about the priesthood and have an appointment with him this Saturday and I hope it goes well.  I am excited about it.  But what he said has really stood out to me. It has made me look at every lesson taught, to make sure we are not just talking about God.  I want to make sure I do all I can to bring Him into the lessons.