Dear Family:
Please please tell Lucero congratulations for me! I'm so proud of her! (Allison's friend Lucero Barrera from our ward was called to the Provo Spanish-speaking Mission.)
Thank you thank you for the clothes! I haven't gotten them yet but I'm super excited. Hermana Prince's mom sent us a GIANT package full of vegan junk food. I know. It truly does exist. And it's delicious. We've been eating pretty well lately, but these dang holidays keep getting in the way.
We had interview with President this week and they went great! He's really pleased with the work we've been doing. The elders that they put in our branch apparently talked about how we've set a really high standard..which definitely felt good. I can't stop thinking about how glad I am for Vanessa and Raz! (Allison's cousin Vanessa eloped with her boyfriend Raz last week...we are all very happy for her!)
President also made it sound 99% sure that I'll be leaving Palmdale after this transfer's over. I've been missing the valley and being with so many missionaries, but I really love the members here and we've found some INCREDIBLE investigators this week.
I've been feeling lately like there was someone (or maybe someones) that we needed to find, so Hermana Prince and I have been trying to be more prayerful about contacting and finding new investigators this week. Maybe it was just borne of my frustration that most of our investigators stopped progressing, but in my head there was a tall thin man that was waiting for us to find him. We had met a nice couple last week named Augustin and Maria and, despite the husband's immediate wall of "I'm Catholic and I plan on dying that way" they were very welcoming and seemed pretty open. They came to English class, really liked it, and then we got to teach them about the Restoration. They had really great questions that were actually quite telling of their true attitudes and interest. At the beginning of the lesson, Augustin asked "Why do people change religions? Why do they feel so insecure in the traditions that they are raised in that they betray what their parents teach them? " but then a few minutes later he asked "why are there so many religions? Shouldn't there be just one if there is one God?" A little later, they commented on how their priests come in, give mass (or however the correct grammar would be in English), and leave. They said "That's been fine for us for years, but I'm starting to feel like those repetitious traditions aren't filling me spiritually." They opened up to us SO much, expressed concerns, asked hard questions, answered hard questions, and showed a lot of faith. They recently went through some pretty trying experiences that have brought them a new perspective on life and they are seeing that they want more answers about God and life than they have previously been afforded. They're an AMAZING couple and we're praying super hard for them. Their in-laws that they live with are very closed to other religions, so we can't teach them at their house. Please pray that they'll by touched by the spirit and the Book of Mormon!
Also, we met a lady last week named Magda...She's super sweet and has been church-hopping for a long time. unfortunately, she seems pretty skittish of churches now. We met with her yesterday and asked if she had read the pamphlet we gave her. she said "No, I read the book, but not the pamphlet" Wait.....we asked "you mean the Book of Mormon? What part did you read?" "All of it. It's not that long. And I was having trouble with some of the words...why didn't you tell me about the index? That's like half the book anyway"
Magda read the WHOLE BOOK OF MORMON! We asked how she felt about it and if there were any particular parts that had touched her...also if she had prayed about it. She answered vaguely, and said that she already knew it was true and didn't feel like she needed to pray about it, so I shared my testimony of the Book of Mormon and as I told her how I felt when I prayed--that Heavenly Father was telling me that I needed to read and apply the things in that book to every day of my life, she began to cry and said "That's how I felt too!"
We explained how the Book of Mormon is the convincing evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the church he established is the church of Jesus Christ again on the earth and how this church has the authority to baptize in His name. We then invited her to be baptized, to which she said "No. I was baptized Catholic when I was a baby." Oh. ok. Let's re-explain. Apparently we left out something. We're going back tonight to talk about the restoration again. Please pray that she'll not be afraid of coming to church and understand why baptism by the correct authority is necessary!
Also, we briefly met a man named Oscar last week, and had our first lesson with him last night. At one point, the things he was saying, combined with the feeling in the room, the way he looked, and different thought processes brought about a HUGE bout of deja vu and I realized that that moment had been in one of my dreams last week. Crazy? yes. Tender mercy from God? Also yes. He told us that he didn't particularly feel like he knew how to pray, so we taught him and prayed with him. I felt so privileged to be able to teach this great man how to speak to his Heavenly Father and to recognize that God hears him. Man alive. It was SUCH an amazing feeling.
I'm probably forgetting a million things, but I'll hand write them. I love you more than all the tumbleweeds in Palmdale!
Hermana B
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