Hey Everyone!
Man, another
fast week this week! I can't believe that it's Monday already! I feel like I
was just here emailing you all! It's been a wild week! A lot has happened
lately so here I go!
Monday night
we had a very interesting and out of the normal experience. We got a phone call
from our mission secretary asking if we could go over to the UCI (University of California at Irvine) Hospital
and give a blessing to someone. It's in our area so we headed over there. I
guess a non-member who lives by one of our church buildings found President and
Sister Bowen and asked them to send missionaries over to give a blessing. We
got to the hospital and checked ourselves in as visitors. We went to the
elevator. As we exited the elevator, two women approached us and introduced
themselves to us. This was a little out of the norm compared to the other
blessings I've given at hospitals. We learned that the lady we were going to
bless was in very serious condition after having a stroke. She was rushed to
the hospital, and she was in a coma when we arrived. She was an older lady. Her
family all immediately came to the hospital. One of her daughters is a new
member of the church. She came directly from Mexico to be here with her mother.
She couldn't find missionaries out here, so her other sister, who is the sister
that got in contact with our mission president, knew about the need for us and
that's how we got there. We learned very quickly how serious the situation was,
and how much they were relying on the priesthood to help this woman. They said
they didn't want to pull the plug on her. We entered and saw this lady lying in
her hospital bed. I anointed her with oil. Then my companion sealed the
anointing and blessed her. I do not recall what he said in the blessing. I do
recall what I felt. I could feel the spirit very strongly. It gave me a feeling
of peace and of comfort. I knew that everything was going to be all right. We
prayed with them afterwards. They invited us back to pray with them. We did so.
They wanted us to come back again to pray for her. We called them on Thursday
to see if we could come over on Friday. One of the daughters said that the lady
had passed away just hours earlier that day. It was a very sad feeling for me but
I was also comforted because of the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. We had
shared this message with her family at the bedside of this wonderful lady. How
the family can be together forever. I know right now is a hard time for them,
but they want us to come over and share more of God's unique message we have
for them. We have their information and everything. They want us to come over
badly. It's so interesting to see how the Lord prepares the hearts of His
children to receive the restored gospel. I know they will accept it. I hope and
pray for this family that they may feel our love in this difficult time. The
peace of this plan will come to them soon.
We have been
on the search for people to teach! We found a cool new family. It's the Ruiz
family. Sisters from the English ward found them while they were knocking on
doors. They figured that the Ruiz’s would be better suited for the Spanish
ward. We went over one night and a lady opened the door and began to ask us a
lot of questions about what we do as missionaries. Such as: Where are you from?
How long do you do this? What are you going to do after your mission? How much
do they pay you? Things like that. We began to share a message of the
restoration. She told us that lately their family has been looking for a church
to join. She has four kids. Three of the four are married and have moved out.
They are looking for a good church to go to as well. We really hope and pray
that we can get teaching the whole family soon. The husband works a lot, but he
seems just as interested. So we are really excited to start teaching
them!
We also went
to a lady's home on Saturday. This lady we knew had been investigating the
church about two years ago. She was going to get baptized. For some reason she
stopped going to church and listening to the elders. We've wanted to go over
and try to teach her again. We've been trying so much for the past 6 weeks or
so. She's never ever been home. I was on exchanges with Elder Pace when we
decided to go over and see her again. She was home. We helped her carry some
groceries from her truck to her apartment. Soon I discovered why the Lord
hadn't put us in her path until right then. She told us the past weekend she
went to see her friends from Peru get baptized up in the Los Angeles area. She
said she had never been to a baptism in our church before. She really loved it
a lot. She felt a peace and tranquility. She now wants us to start coming back.
It was pretty cool! We are stoked to have her in our teaching pool now. She
already knows a lot and having recent convert friends will be perfect for her!
We really are
seeing a lot of miracles. The members are working great with us too. We have
about 10 referrals from them received in the past week. We are all very excited
in doing the work of God together. It makes me so excited! I love this work. I
know that this is His work. I know that Jesus is our Savior. What a great time
of the year to be able to remember His birth and help those who are having a
hard time. I love you all! I hope you have a great week! Can't wait to hear
from you soon!
Elder Dallin M. Ollerton
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