Worldwide Broadcast

January 30th, 2017

This week we had a worldwide broadcast for every missionary, led by General Authorities in Salt Lake City. It was so good! Elder Bednar in particular, never ceases to amaze me. The things that he says are so simple yet so profound and wise that I'm always like, "Why didn't I think of that before?" He talked about how each principle of the gospel should be tied together, for example, baptism shouldn't be taught as a separate principle but we should teach it in context with the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. He also said that a testimony comes from the heart, and not from the mouth. It's not what we say it's what we are. And success is something that is given to us. Some of the other things discussed were that we need the Spirit with us to be more persuasive teachers, so by simply doing things like partaking of the sacrament, helps us to be better teachers since we are inviting the Spirit into our lives.

The new missionary schedule was quite a change, and I'm a fan of it! I was never a fan of planning at night, since once we get home all I want to do is change into my jammies and relax. But I especially love that the new schedule really focuses on the doctrine of agency. Instead of us following a strict schedule, we can choose how we use our time, and it'll definitely help us to be more adult and manage our time wisely. I love it!! And of course, I can't complain that we have 2 more hours of preparation day!!! 

This week we taught a less-active woman Hna Cruz and we met her daughter, Fatima, who's like 18 years old. I really liked Fatima a lot, because even though it sounds like she doesn't go to church, she still believes in the same standards we do. She just started college and she isn't a fan of people drinking and what not. We read Alma 22 with them, hoping to help Hna Cruz to recognize how to receive answers to her prayers, and it definitely helped Fatima out a lot, too. 

We also briefly visited a less-active family, and when we first knocked on the door, the really young primary-aged children answered the door and they were so polite! They let us in, and they offered to serve us water. I was like, "I want my kids to be like this!" Aw man, Hna Maya and I seriously cannot stop thinking about our future husbands and families, and the elders accuse us of being "trunky" (ready to go home). I'm not ready yet!

We had interviews with President Palmer this week, and he talked about how Family History is a great tool to use to spark people's interest. That is something that I've heard a million times, but most missionaries (myself included) forget to use that tool when we're out talking to people. But yesterday I finally decided to hand out lots of family history cards, and it went pretty well! People are more willing to talk to you if you don't start out with religion right away.

I love you I love you I love you!!!!!

Hermana Aburto