February 28, 2022: You're seasoned

 "You're a seasoned missionary" -President King

President King and Sister King are still unable to return to Alaska. So we had Zone conference and interviews online. President King inspires me. Between his wife having a tumor and running the biggest proselytizing mission in the world, he continues to have faith. Every interview we have had, he reminds me of the young missionary I was when I arrived at the airport. My pink dress and pigtails;) This time was different though. He promised me some things as long as I follow the Savior. He said, "Will you follow the Savior for the rest of your life?". Then he wept. He reminds me of the scripture, 3 Nephi 17:21,  when the Savior's heart is so full of love for the multitude, that he wept. 

"And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them". 

President King is the most selfless, Christlike man I have met. His love for each of his missionaries can only be compared to the love the Savior has for every one of us. Real men cry. I don't think I will be able to see him before I return home, which makes me sad. 

Monday evening, we were driving to knock someone's door when I saw a bonfire on the side of the mountain. As we passed, I said, "SISTER YOUNICA, TURN AROUND. THERE IS A BONFIRE!". She was like, "no. That's weird". I said, "YOU HAVE TO!!". She did a U-turn and we walked up the steep driveway. Two guys looked at us and invited us over. They talked about how hard it is to trust people nowadays and sometimes even God. They asked us to return again to share our message. 

It was late and we parked at Safeway to do some contacts. As I was dialing a number to call a member, I saw a man walking close to our car. I jumped out of the car and said, "HEY!!! Can we talk for a minute?" I explained who I was and what I was here to do. As I said the name of our church, he said, "JESUS? I LOVE JESUS! But I know little English. I speak Chinese". He looked at me sadly. I told him I would find Chinese friends to translate and he got excited. I asked for his number and he couldn't understand. I gave him a picture of Jesus and our number and he again exclaimed, "I love Jesus". We said farewell and got back into our cars. Then I jumped back out and ran towards his car. I simply explained that I needed his phone number to "talk Jesus". He gave it to me and again, felt so thankful for following a prompting. 

We walked around before a service project and I felt prompted to run to a guy with a cane who was waiting at the bus stop. His name was Ela! He said that we were shining with joy. I offered him a scripture study and he declined. Many people in Alaska are illiterate and struggle with reading. I offered him a message about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope it brings me. He accepted! Then we walked around, and met Edwardo! I greeted him as we walked by and he did a double take of us. I ran back up to him and invited him to church. He said he wants to come but only speaks Spanish. He was excited to learn more about the gospel but had to go. He gave us his WhatsApp and told us he wants to learn more. WOW. 

Yesterday, we drove by a Filipino man carrying groceries on the side of the main highway. I felt like we needed to stop but gave the excuse that it would be impossible to stop to talk to him because there was no where to park! We drove a little more and I told Sister Younica to turn around. I knew I needed to follow the spirit and if we didn't talk to him then, it would drive me crazy thinking about the missed opportunity. We parked far off and sped walked to him in our dresses. I yelled out a couple times for him to stop and he couldn't hear me with the noisy cars rushing by. But then, he stopped, turned around, and waited for us to catch up. I asked if we could join him on his walk. He accepted and asked if we were "Mormons". I explained the name of our church and walked with him for half a mile! He stopped walking and said, "I will give you my number to talk more". Then he started crying! He explained how he is scared for Ukraine. I explained how we have a message of hope because of Jesus Christ and he accepted our message. I offered a prayer on that busy street, and he looked at me after in tears. He looked at my name tag and said, "thank you. I am emotional". I am so thankful I followed the prompting to run after him even if it was SUPER awkward at first. 

Choose JOY,

Sister Rex

Pics:

-Northern lights 

-Blake's cookies 

-zone confrence