"Strange Things are Afoot at the Circle K"

Ok so I'm breaking tradition a bit cause this week's title is a movie quote, not a song lyric. But I couldn't resist. (and if you're not familiar with this line, go watch "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" 😉)

Sometimes, random miracles happen at the Circle K. It's just what happens when you're a missionary.

You probably won't remember this, but a while back I wrote about a guy we met in an apartment complex, and it was the worst street contact I've ever done. I talked to him and as a last resort just gave him a Book of Mormon. It was rough. Well then, Sister Larson and I ended up running into him the very next day! It was wild.

Well the story continues and gets wilder. A few weeks ago, we get this referral from one of the elders. He told us he found this guy on Facebook who was super into motorcycles and that he was in our area. This elder had left Albuquerque to serve somewhere in the mission, so he passed this guy's info onto us. As I clicked on the link, I was shocked to see that same exact guy I had ran into months back who was fixing his bike when these two "weird" girls (aka me and my companion) tried to teach him about the Book of Mormon. All along, he was talking to yet another missionary and I didn't know it.

But we faced another problem. When I had met the guy, his phone was outta commission. So we still had no way of contacting him even with his number and Facebook. Which brings us to the Circle K.

We had to pee and change to go to a lesson after we had done some service, so we decided to stop at the Circle K. While Sister Larson was in the bathroom, lo and behold, guess who walked in. This same motorcycle guy!! It was crazy! Yet again, we were able to have contact with him and found out that he got a new phone. I don't know if I explained that well at all, but it was so shocking and now we have a way to contact him. So ya, a missionary miracle at the Circle K.

Now Circle K miracle pt. 2 ... Sister Larson likes to forget to tell me how much gas we have, and on our way to a lesson we discovered we had like no gas. So of course, we stopped at the Circle K. I'm was sitting in the car avoiding the cold while Sister Larson pumped gas. I closed my eyes for a few moments and looked up to see my awesome companion talking away with this lady (talking is her strong suit). To be honest, even after a year on my mission, I still really struggle with starting up conversations with random people. But the spirit nudged me to get out of the car, and to back up my comp.

This lady was so sweet! Just so down to earth and kind. We told her about the Book of Mormon and baptism, and by the end, we got her number.

God has a plan for each of us, and he will place us in the path of others who need us. You don't have to be a missionary to see these miracles! There are people all around you who need your help in someway. We just have to look up.

It seems we've been teaching the "plan of salvation" to pretty much everyone this week, and it has been amazing to see how their eyes just shine after learning it. The "plan of salvation", also called the "plan of happiness", answers the questions of where did we come from, why are we here on earth, and where are we going. It changes lives.

This week, two special moments stick out in my mind from teaching this. One for our friend Margaret. She's struggled with believing in the existence of God because of all the hardship she has faced in her life. But with the death of loved ones the past few months, her heart has softened and she is begging for any small glimmer of hope that she could see her family again. Her eyes lit up as we told her that she really could.

Then, I had the opportunity to teach the "plan of salvation" to David's mom. David is someone I helped find on exchanges in January. He's the guy who got baptized after a month of us meeting! Ever since, he has been trying to help his family see the joy of the gospel, too. I was on exchanges again, and David invited us to eat dinner with him and his mom. After we ate, he left and came back with this cute little box, which contained a kit for the plan of salvation visual. He wanted our help to explain it to his mom.

AND - His mom LOVED it. She loved that God wants to give his children as many chances as possible to accept the gospel. She loved that through holy temples, our ancestors can accept baptism even if they didn't get the chance to do it in this life. I'm not kidding when I say she was glowing. This stuff changes lives.

I know this stuff is true. If it wasn't all true, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't give up mom hugs and Kekeli kisses and sister movie nights for something that wasn't important. God is in the details, and he is all over this work of teaching and ministering. Jesus Christ's gospel means everything to me, and I love seeing it slowly mean everything to the people around me.

Don't forget that Jesus loves you,

Sister Wallace

Pics:

1. Sister Cota (Alicia) ♡♡

2. One of Sis Larson's past comps going home!

3. We got Bahama Bucks and my shave ice fell over :(

4. Our friend James at church!

5-7. We went on a snowy hike for our Monday pday