Miracles

G'day g'day!

(Sister Hatch and I practiced our Aussie accents this morning. We're still not very good.)

We have been blessed with the BIGGEST miracles this week! We met the most amazing family who we already love so much and can't wait to teach more! A couple of days ago we were GQing at the Plaza, which can be pretty hectic on the weekends because all the other GQers come out too. I was looking around for who to talk to next when I saw this young guy from across the way. When I saw him, my heart just jumped inside of me and I knew he was someone special! When I talked to him I found out that his name is Dylan, he is from Iran, and he and his family moved here about 6 months ago...and they're Christians! If you don't know, it's so rare and amazing to find Iranian people who are Christians, because it's so dangerous to be a Christian in their country. I told him about the Book of Mormon and he agreed to have us bring him a copy. His parents came over a couple minutes into our conversation and they said they were happy to have us over!

We went over the next day and brought a Book of Mormon in English and in Persian. Dylan speaks perfect English but his parents speak next to no English at all. When we came, we spoke with Dylan and his mom, Giselle. We talked about Jesus Christ and their conversion to Christianity, how they forsake their country and risked their lives to come here and be baptized. We spoke a bit about the Book of Mormon. Dylan would translate for his mom every now and then. When we said Mormon, Giselle perked up and listened more. We showed them a copy of the Book of Mormon in English and Giselle started talking in Persian. Apparently when their boat first landed in Australia, they were in a detention center for a while and Giselle spent some time in the hospital. One of the carers at the hospital was a member, and he gave her a Persian Book of Mormon to read. She read the entire thing while she was there! She loves the book! She says the stories are so easy to understand. When she finished it she loaned it to the other person in her hospital room to read, but she was discharged from the hospital before she could get it back. She has been looking for the Book of Mormon ever since! She asked her friends at the Persian church they attend, but no one knew anything about it. And then...here we were, showing them the Book of Mormon! She said she wanted to look for a Persian translation. So I pulled one out of my bag and gave it to her. She looked at the book like an old friend, and started reading it right then.

We invited them to come to church with us, and they were so excited to! On Sunday, Dylan, Giselle, her husband Sayed, and their younger son Amir all came. Even though Giselle and Sayed didn't understand much, they said they loved church! The ward was so warm and welcomed them. We hope to be seeing a lot more of them!!

It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father prepares His children, and how He leads them to His word! I know that this is God's work. He prepares people to hear the gospel and will always help those who want to follow Him! Especially those like Giselle who are brave enough to risk their lives and forsake everything to follow Him. It's such a blessing to be a part of this work.

xoxo Sister Larsen