One day Perla said to me,
“I miss being able to serve, God.”
I responded, “Perla, you can serve God right where you are now.” She said, “No these women know about God in their heads, but not their hearts. They don’t care about him.” I said,
“Okay then, we will pray that God will work in these woman’s hearts, and we will pray that God gives you a way to serve him in here.” So we prayed and I left, the next time I came to visit her, she had a present for me. She gave me a New Testament. In the front she wrote, “Elizabeth, be strong and courageous…because the Lord your God is with you.”
About this time, the Chief had been giving me some specific truth’s to share with the women. I wasn’t really excited about speaking, but I really having been trying to be obedient to share what God has given me. So I agreed to speak the next time we went to the prison.
When I began to speak, I held on to Perla’s words of encouragement, “Be strong and courageous.” As I spoke, I could see the Lord working in the hearts of the women. The words the Lord gave me to speak, started unlocking things their hearts. Afterwards, I walked up to Perla. “Perla, the Lord is doing things in these woman’s hearts, you need to pray for them and help them. The Lord is answering our prayers.” She nodded and we left it at that.
As we continued to visit the prison, the women continued to be open and responsive to the Word. We have been having a lot of fun, visiting them, talking to them, praying with them, teaching them. Last week, Sarah taught the women how to share their testimonies. Then Sarah asked the women if they would be willing to share their testimonies. Perla looked at me, and said,
“Elizabeth, my heart is going to pop out of my chest.”
I said, “That is a good sign, it means that God wants you to share your.”
“But, I am scared.”
“That is ok, be strong and courageous, the Lord will give you strength.”
“Come hold my hand.” So I go sit by Perla, hold her hand, and pray for her while she stands up in front of everyone in the entire ward. It was the most amazing thing, she was so nervous I could feel her shaking, she was sobbing the entire time, but she stood up and spoke what God had done in her life. In that moment, I was so proud of her and I knew that our father was even more proud of her.
Perla and I had a similar fear, but the Lord gave us each other so that we could courageously share his truth.
For some more background on this story read, “Be strong and courageous Part 1”
