Working with our main investigators is so amazing! They are all making huge strides and are progressing!
One family's 14 yr old son told us that he wants to get baptized so he can go on a mission and teach other people about the true church of Jesus Christ! How cool is that!! O mi corazon! :) Hermana Mitchell and I could hardly contain our excitement and joy. That is such a miracle! This is a boy who in the beginning didn't even really know if there was a God and now he knows the truth for himself and he has the desire to share it with others! That's a miracle! He and his family have such strong testimonies and they are so ready to make their individual covenants with God and be baptized! The mother's faith is being tested right now as she is searching for a new job that will allow her to attend church on Sundays but I know that the Lord will bless her for her efforts and that if she makes the commitment to go to church no matter what God will provide.
Another investigator we are teaching is doing great! His wife has been a member for about two years now and her dad is an inactive member and then there is her mom, who is also investigating the church. Her mother was almost baptized before but her other two daughters convinced her to not get baptized. We are really trying hard to teach this wonderful sister's husband, father, and mother so that they all enjoy the blessings of the gospel. There are many obstacles they are slowly overcoming and it is amazing to see them grow and make changes as the spirit softens their hearts! Reading the Book of Mormon has a big part in these changes!
We have another couple investigating and they continue to grow and are trying hard to put some things in order to get themselves ready for baptism.
One family's 14 yr old son told us that he wants to get baptized so he can go on a mission and teach other people about the true church of Jesus Christ! How cool is that!! O mi corazon! :) Hermana Mitchell and I could hardly contain our excitement and joy. That is such a miracle! This is a boy who in the beginning didn't even really know if there was a God and now he knows the truth for himself and he has the desire to share it with others! That's a miracle! He and his family have such strong testimonies and they are so ready to make their individual covenants with God and be baptized! The mother's faith is being tested right now as she is searching for a new job that will allow her to attend church on Sundays but I know that the Lord will bless her for her efforts and that if she makes the commitment to go to church no matter what God will provide.
Another investigator we are teaching is doing great! His wife has been a member for about two years now and her dad is an inactive member and then there is her mom, who is also investigating the church. Her mother was almost baptized before but her other two daughters convinced her to not get baptized. We are really trying hard to teach this wonderful sister's husband, father, and mother so that they all enjoy the blessings of the gospel. There are many obstacles they are slowly overcoming and it is amazing to see them grow and make changes as the spirit softens their hearts! Reading the Book of Mormon has a big part in these changes!
We have another couple investigating and they continue to grow and are trying hard to put some things in order to get themselves ready for baptism.
One miracle from this week we were not expecting..... we dropped one of our
investigators,because she was not keeping her commitments and
she was always bailing on our appointments but then out of nowhere...she
came to church! And she stayed for all three hours! That's huge because
a lot of the Hispanics only come for sacrament.
Also, this past week while tracting, we talked to a lot of people downtown. One man we talked to was telling us about Joseph Smith and I was shocked at the things he was saying about him. It's ridiculous how the world has twisted the life of the prophet Joseph Smith. It makes me sad to hear such things about the prophet and it makes me even more sad to see that people believe it.
The Prophet today, Thomas S. Monson, and the other general authorities truly were inspired by God to warn us to strengthen our testimonies of the true power of the priesthood and of Joseph Smith and of the restoration of the church for a reason. People in the world are going to come at us with twisted lies. They will go on and on about "facts" that they have found. They will try to convince you that your testimony- what you know to be true, is wrong. They will try to tell you that your perspective is clouded. But do not listen. They are the ones with the clouded perspective. They are the ones that contradict themselves.
So, even if you already have a strong testimony of the priesthood and Joseph Smith, pray for a stronger one. We want our testimonies to continuously be strengthened, not become weaker.
I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, called by Him to restore Christ's original church on the earth. I also know that Joesph Smith translated The Book of Mormon through the power of God. He was a righteous, faithful man and his name deserves to be respected.
"Praise to the man- Millions shall know Brother Joseph again."
I now know a little bit more about why people say a mission will be both the hardest and the most rewarding thing you could ever do. It's hard because we are constantly faced with people who are wanting to challenge our testimonies. They want to bring us down and pull us away from God. Every day we are able to experience some sort of miracle but also every day we come face to face with people who are deeply confused by Satan. Being a missionary gives you a different perspective of really living in the world and not being of the world.
Now even though we do run into many different kinds of people- some being nice and some...well not so nice, our job is not to judge. Our job is to love. Jesus Christ was the perfect example and He really showed us how to love others perfectly.
Awesome, I'm glad your having fun...
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