Happy Father's Day Papi!!!!! You are the
absolute best and I love you to the moon and back!!!!
This week we were going to meet with one
of our investigators who wants to get baptized, but can't yet because
supposedly her boyfriend that she's living with doesn't want to get married and
he wasn't interested in the Church. We had never met him until this week, when
we knocked on their door and he answered. She was sick, so we asked if we could
have a lesson with him and his kids and at first he said "No, I'm going to
take a shower." So we started having a lesson with the kids instead, and a
few minutes later he came back out and actually listened. He was paying
attention as we talked about the Restoration and he really seemed interested.
After walking away from that lesson, we were both in shock with the miracle
that he actually listened to us. I really truly hope that in the future we will
be able to meet with both him and his girlfriend, and that they will be willing
to get married and baptized soon.
On Friday, Elder David F. Evans of the
Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke to us missionaries, and we all got to
shake his hand. He is so cool! I loved his message so much. He spoke about
repentance, and about how we as missionaries should teach people how to repent.
That's so true, because usually as missionaries, repentance is just a quick
principle that we teach in lesson 3, but it truly is central to our purpose,
and during a baptismal interview, people should truly feel like they have
repented of their past sins. We need to put so much more emphasis on that all
the time. I don't know how to describe it really, but they way that Elder Evans
explained it just made so much sense and I think every missionary in this
mission may feel like I do, that we've been preaching repentance wrong this
entire time. I'm really hoping to be better at that since it's so central to
our purpose.
I also liked that he said investigators
should always start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning, so that they
can understand the story. And 1 Nephi 1 is a great chapter because in the first
few verses it talks about prophets, prayer, and reading a book to feel the
Spirit. That's a perfect chapter for people to read after hearing about the
Restoration. Also, he challenged us to challenge our investigators with long
reading assignments. We used to only give out a chapter at most, but we try to
assign multiple chapters now. President Eyring said that "We should read
long enough to feel the Spirit, and then a little more." That is so
brilliant!!
I have another awesome story that
happened this week: So we went to visit our recent convert Mabel, who is 21
years old and she just barely got baptized like last month. We've been wanting
her and her sister to come with us as we visit investigators, and Mabel finally
said yes. She took us to her friend's house, and she thought of this friend
Marisa because one of her friends just passed away. So we went to visit
Marisa and at first it was obvious that she felt kind of awkward, but as Mabel
shared her testimony, that helped Marisa open up to us. We taught her about the
Plan of Salvation, and Marisa didn't know that after this life, we will still
have the same personality, and we're going to be with the people that we know
and love. We're excited to work with her more, and this just goes to show that
members really are so crucial to missionary work. If Mabel had not come with
us, then it probably wouldn't have gone as well. She is so awesome!!
My companion has also been really good
at asking everyone for referrals, and we've received so many of them ever since
that zone conference with Elder Evans. No, pues wow. Seriously, he motivated us
to be much better missionaries than before. He is the bomb!
I know the Church is true. I know that
my Savior lives and that He loves me. I'm so grateful for the chance I have to
grow in my faith in Him while serving Him as a missionary. I'm thankful for my
Heavenly Father who has given me everything and now I get to feel the love that
He has for His children. I love the Gospel so much and it truly has blessed my
life more than anything else.
Love you!!
Calilis, you will be such an awesome
District Leader!! Being a leader is such a great opportunity to serve your
fellow missionaries and to love them!! You will do so great!
K'mouse!!!
So the sister in this picture is Hna
Villareal, and she is seriously the best ward missionary ever. She is always
willing to go out with us, and she's given so many referrals. She is fearless!!
