Icebergs.

My friend Jacob said in his email this week that he had an "iceberg moment" with his companion, and I really liked it, so I'm adopting it for the topic of this email. We, too, had some good iceberg moments here.

The biggest was with Raechel, a girl that I've been working with since New Kent. She missed her first baptismal date a month ago and has been super reluctant to set a new one since then. We have been really struggling to understand why, because she is completely ready. One hundred percent. Inside she has lots of different concerns and questions, but she only lets about an eight of them show, and the rest she keeps hidden (just like an iceberg). Finally, though, we got to see most of it. A big part came during an impromptu lesson about the Atonement. Then we met again, with just us and her, and talked more. We were able to resolve a lot of her concerns, and she seems to feel more comfortable now. So exciting.

Another was with was with our investigator, James. We have been meeting with him for the past month or so, and he has been really struggling to understand our doctrine on the Atonement. Works vs. grace, justice vs. mercy, etc. Finally this week we had a lesson with him in the Williamsburg chapel, and it went so well. The Spirit was strong and a lot of it seemed to click with him. At one point he stopped and said, "Wow. I guess you believe a lot closer to what I believe than I had been thinking." In his case it was really our doctrine that was the iceberg, and he that had to uncover it all. But it finally worked, and he should be coming to church this week.

We also had a powerful exchange with two of our sisters. All of them have issues. We all do. It's just asking the right questions to figure out what they are. It takes relying on the Spirit, which is really exhausting, but so worth it.

So, I guess the point is, patience yields results, and the Spirit is wonderful.

Love,