MIRACLES

Freezing our butts off by the lagoon

Happy New Year family, friends, and others! I can't believe that it is 2018. That just doesn't sound right. Nonetheless, I am SO excited for the opportunities that this year brings.

This week was full of snow, winter gear (average temperature has been 14 degrees lol rip), knocking doors, candy, and best of all, MIRACLES! For real, this week has been so good. Lots of crazy experiences. Let's get into them!

On Christmas Day, after we finished emailing, Sister Moss and I were chillin in the clubhouse playing pool (I'm telling you guys, we are BLESSED here) and this lady came in asking if we knew where the wooden door wedges were. We said that we didn't, but if she needed help carrying things in we could help! We held open the door and help bring all this food in, she was telling us that all of it was for "Ed" and kept thanking us over and over for helping her. Once the food was all brought in, we resumed our game and eventually this Ed character shows up. The lady says "Ed, these are those nice girls I was telling you about!!" Jokingly, Ed asked "what are you guys, elves?" to which the lady corrected, "more like ANGELS!" Hahaha. Anyways, Ed thanks us for helping and said that we could come back at 5 if we wanted some food. We gladly accepted and showed up again later. We figured that it was like a holiday dinner open for all the residents, but no, we were so wrong. Turns out, Ed is the OWNER of the apartment complex that we live in and all the food was for a FAMILY DINNER that he was having. So there we were, eating crab cakes and filet mignon with Ed and all of his extended family. Throughout the night we would be talking to people and eventually they would just ask "So....who are you guys?" bahah. We were just part of the fam. And now we have an in with the owner, so we can pretty much do whatever we want. Just kidding.

One night we went knocking at this apartment complex. We did most of the buildings but didn't have very much success, so after an hour or so we eventually left. The next day we got a call from this random number, and it was the property manager of the apartment complex telling us to not come back, lol. It was the first time anything like that had happened to me, we both just thought it was funny. Anyways later that day we got an online bible referral and GUESS WHERE HE LIVED?? At the Cedar Run Apartment complex. He was in one of the few buildings which we didn't knock! The Lord really has a sense of humor, let me tell ya.

Dolphin mailboxes

This week we have really been focusing on building up our teaching pool, so we have been knocking and finding a LOT. We have been trying this method suggested to us by another missionary, to make finding more of a revelatory process. We pick 5 streets in an area and separate to pray about which 2 we should go to, and any that overlap we go to. We had TWO miracles in one night by doing this activity.

The first miracle occurred on Grassy Hollow. After taking this creepy snowy back road we ended up at the street we decided on, which consisted of some government facility, a Holiday Inn, and literally two houses on the street. We were laughing so hard and I was so worried that this was going to be another Mohawk Street incident bahaha. But luckily, it was so much better!! We knocked on the first house, and this cute Filipino woman answered the door and LET US RIGHT IN. That doesn't ever happen in this area!! It was honestly a #miracle. We talk for a moment and I read Mosiah 24:14 for her, she loved it. Afterward she even wanted me to read it again because she thought it was so beautiful. We start talking, and she told us that she has been going through a difficult period of adjustment, but that she knows that God has helped her through it. Then she told us that one of her best friends is Mormon, and his sons are on missions right now. She even gave us cookies and juice boxes which I know are irrelevant details, but it just made the whole thing that much better. She was so cute and I know that we were sent to her for a reason. 

 The second miracle happened later that night, on Hudson Street. We parked at the bottom of the road and began to pray. While praying, I asked to know whether or not this is where we should start knocking or if we needed to move up more. After the prayer, Sister Moss and I both felt like we needed to drive up a little further. We get out and start knocking, we weren't really having very much luck. No one wanted to talk to us. After probably 45 minutes with nothing, we were walking across the street towards the next house and we see a middle aged woman come out the back door of the one we were about to go to. We say hi, and start talking. She was wondering what we were doing outside in the cold, and we said that we were sharing scripture verses with people. She said "Good thing you haven't gone to my house yet, my mom would have wrung you out! I on the other hand would love to hear a scripture, but am about to leave." We kept talking for a second, and she told us that it was actually the first day she has been able to see her kids in 3 months. She has been struggling with addictions, was homeless for a while, and is about to go to a rehabilitation facility. We asked if we could pray with her, and she gladly accepted. Afterward she said that she really wanted to hear about what we had to say, and she really feels like God sent us to her for a reason. She said we were in the exact right spot at the exact right moment. It was seriously incredible


Anyways, there are really miracles everywhere. I feel so lucky to be a missionary and get to experience these miracles firsthand. I am also so excited for this new year. I am at a pretty unique situation that I know exactly where I will be at the end of this year....I will still be in New Jersey, preaching the gospel. I decided that this year is dedicated to becoming who God needs me to be. I can't wait for the adventures to come!

Love,
Sister Yocum