This week was one of MIRACLES! I started the week with a goal that for the entire week that I would only give prayers of gratitude. In the beginning it was really hard cause I would catch myself asking for things and would have to back track and start my prayers over and just give thanks cause you`re always just in the habbit of asking for certain things like for your family and investigators, etc. But I thought it `d be a great way to show my gratitude to the Lord for being in this sector, it was a rough start, but we are starting to see the fruits of our hard work.
We did our usual 2 exchanges this week, first with Hna.Thomas who used to be in this sector. She`s like a good luck charm, whenever I do exchanges with her I have an awesome day! We were able to put some more investigators with a baptismal date and find some good new people including a newly wed couple of evangelicals who are so tough! They have their doctrine so mixed up and are so set in their ways it`s difficult to teach them the restoration because they don`t understand the apostasy and that prophets communicate with God face to face, but I`m ready with some bible verses for next time!
Then we got a call from the office, turns out someone who recieved a temple pass-along card from us ACTUALLY called the number on the back and asked where the temple was in Chile and has a lot of problems in her life right now and wanted us to visit her. It was the ONLY time one of the atleast 100 cards I give out weekly worked, woohooo!!! So statistically speaking 1 out of every 5000 cards given out gets us a referal, haha!
Also there was an earthquake during our district meeting, that was fun, and it drizzled the other day!!! I miss the rain so much, I just want to hear a thunder storm and I`ll be happy :) We`re moving into fall so the weather is cooling down and is a bit weird, but a good thing for missionaries!
Now the low-down on our progressing investigators:
David, Carolina, and Benjamin are our golden family who are progressing towards a baptismal date for March 16th. She didn`t go to church last sunday cause she felt bad she didn`t have a skirt and wanted to go appropriately dressed to show respect for God, so this week she bought a skirt and we went with the whole family to Stake Conference! We had the amazing opportunity to participate in a regional conference only for Chile by sattelite and they talked about mainly the importance of families, eternal marriage, and obeying the law of chastity. David and Carolina aren`t married and we taught her about the law of chastity this week but David was at work so it couldn`t of been more perfect cause it was JUST what they needed to hear! She said she`s always dreamed of being dressed in white and having a wedding and that her and David had plans to get married that didn`t follow through but that they still want to do it and are gonna talk about it! Woohoo!!!
Then we have Ricardo, who we feared was going to turn into an eternal investigator because although he would get baptized tomorrow if he could, he isn`t married to his baby-momma either and so he can`t. This week we had a special lesson with him and his partner who is less-active, Gloria, and taught them about charity, the pure love of Christ and how even though they are going through a rough spot in their relationship they can fall in love again if they first love like Christ did. That friday we took them to the temple and got a tour from the sister missionaries. We were able to take them in as far as the lobby where the recommendation desk is at and as the temple doors closed behind us it was evident we were no longer in the world. I haven`t been inside the temple in almost a year, we`re only allowed to go in April as missonaries, but when I stood in the lobby amidst the silence and the soft organ music playing in the background the sweetest sensation came over me and it was as if I was back home after a long long time. My eyes teared up as the spirit reconfirmed to me that this was the literal House of God, I could feel His presence, and the memory of the covenants I`ve made therein and more that I will someday make to my eternal companion overwhelmed me. Having to wait 4 more months until I can go back inside is killing me!!! Ricardo and Gloria felt something special, too. They said they felt as though there was more people surrounding them although it was just the 5 of us the 2 sisters and the brother at the desk, and we bore testimony that the temple is a piece of heaven on earth, that the ordinances there are for the living and the dead and that the veil between us and them is very thin within the temple walls. It was a special day for all of us, one I`ll never forget. Later that week Ricardo also assisted the Stake Conference, upon hearing the broadcast given by several Elders of the 70, one of the primary general leaders and Elder Cook of the 12 Apostles on marriage and saving ordinances he came upto us and said "this week I`m going to the registro civil and I`m gonna pick a date for Gloria and I to get married." It was as if a bomb landed in the room, Hna.Ireland and I almost shouted for joy! We`re going to see him tonight to work out the details on what they need for the civil ceremony! So looks like my goal for 2014 of marrying an investigator so they can get baptized was also the will of the Lord and we`re going to have 2 weddings in march!!! YEAH!
Lastly, after the saturday session of the conference a girl came upto me and introduced herself as Paula the girlfriend of one of the YSA age men in the stake. She said we had visited her mom and as she described to me where she lived I remembered having contacted her mom one day knocking on doors this week, we had set an appointment and passed by several times with no luck, but something kept telling me to keep trying and in fact we had passed by that evening just before the conference! Then she pronounced the most angelical words any missionary would die to hear "I want to be baptized!"...wait-what-when?! "as soon as possible!", okay can we come over today?! Hahahaha! So crazzyyyy!!!! We set an appointment, she has the required assistance for sacrament meeting so we literally just need to teach her the discussions and dunk her! I told her to pick a date for herself, usually we pray about and challenge them to prepare for a certain date, but her circumstance is special so I thought it`d be more special for her to get baptized on a sunday of her choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment