Dear Friends & Family,
This past week has been the busiest thus far in the mission! It had been a while since I'd felt so stressed. Yesterday was full of errands and ubiquitious demands.
I suppose that I'll start with earlier in the week. We visited Jasmin and Herman last Wednesday. It had been a long time primarily because they had been busy. The husband told us that he (who had been experiencing a lot of emotional stress with the trials that his wife, who has cancer, is going through) read some passages from the Book of Mormon and decided finally to challenge the promise that we gave him that IF one exercises faith, true intention-to act on the answer, and a sincere and OPEN heart that he would receive an answer precisely when the Lord knows you need the answer.
He had told us previously that he was still waiting for it. We commit all of our investigators to ask God. There are a myriad of promises of this in both the Bible and Book of Mormon-Mathew 7:7-11, John 14:26, Moroni 10:3-5, 1 Nephi 10:19, etc........ Many more (those are some ones that I have memorized...trust me....and you know, there are many, many more in Revelation, John, Mark, etc...). Anyway, he told us that he tested it...felt like he was in a mess....went into the other room where his kids weren't crying or screaming, and asked directly in prayer. He said that he felt peace....weird because he had been stressed exceedingly. He told us that he hadn't felt peace like that in a long time. Also, Jasmin mentioned that the two blessings that she had been given before were followed by slight recovery. She's still sick-but according to what Elder Griener felt to say in his blessing and what he said to me afterwards, that according to her faith and God's infinite love and Will-She will be healed from Cancer. Can't describe how disappointed and sad I had felt before when I thought that we were going to lose them. Last Wednesday turned out really well. We have another appointment with them soon.
The husband who had previously been a little doubtful of us in the first place has received his ANSWER. We explained subsequently that that was his answer but to freely ask God and his testimony will grow. . We're going to ask them to select a date (because they both now know it's true) for baptism.
Gonzales family: We discovered that they need to get married before they can be baptized (we didn't know before). Apart from that, they're doing really well. The husband and two children still want to be baptized....it'll have to be delayed a little because of the marriage, ha ha. Ooops.
Also last week, our investigator, Erlin had us over. His 16 years old now and is the only member of his family who listens to us. The others have NEVER participated in listening to our lessons (also to note...he was the very first person that I had visited in New York-on my first full-time-Missionary day). Another miracle: one of his sisters and his cousin have joined our pool of investigators and listen to the message. That's not all-Erlin wouldn't come to church before: we managed to find him a ride with a family who has a son his age and seemed similar in hobbies. He, his sister, and cousin all attended church yesterday. He made friends with the young men also!
The day before yesterday, we went (my companion and I) to open up a NEW area. Amittyville it's called. We only have one family in the Spanish Ward who are even active in that area (they have to drive like 25 minutes to church in Bayshore). The first house we visited belonged to a former investigator a few years ago. Apparently she moved away because the woman that we encountered said that she wasn't her. She invited us inside only after discovering us to be Mormons. She argued with us for a while....and my companion (because I can't argue in Spanish let alone try to speak without making many mistakes) countered her several times. She told us that what were doing was wrong and that only the Bible contained scripture. Obviously she doesn't understand any history or theology or what's in the book of Timothy (all scripture is INSPIRED of God). we didn't want to leave without a prayer. I said it...and cleverly added nice things about the family and how we can live together forever. It was a nice and decently sized prayer. She told me afterwards to learn how to pray better than 'that'.
Chalyse: You're the soooo kind, loving, and smart. I feel that we're twins or something. :) I remember the fun days before and the fun days that WILL be after I return. You're the coolest! All the missionaries here bother me about writing you (especially after seeing the awesome calendar I have pinned on the wall) and I tell them that they can't because you're my sister whom I love and protect. I love you. Don't ever sacrifice diligence. Work as hard as you possibly can, set goals, remember that you choose what to think and how to react, use time wisely, and plan. If you do this, I promise that you'll succeed.
I wish that I had more time. I was going to e-mail both dads. I hope that you both still love me. I'll try to send letters afterwards (I've got to write to President Nelson too-I do every week-perhaps that's why he's kept me here...he knows what I need). Love you! Bye.
No comments:
Post a Comment