Tuesday, July 22, 2014

How Can We Live for Jesus Christ?

 
                                    Mexican Mug Shot
 
Que tal mi familia? Seriously, I just don't know where to begin. Another one of those weeks where I'm looking back and seeing how tremendously blessed we have been. The Lord is helping us see so many miracles! I think this is going to have to be another day by day letter, because I can't figure out how to summarize it all. So, here goes.

Lunes: Mercedes' birthday. They invited us to go out and eat with them, and it was so much food that was also so very delicious. We didn't have dinner plans, so it worked out perfectly! They are probably one of the funniest and most sarcastic families I have ever met. Love them!
  
                              Dessert for Mercedes' birthday
 
Martes: We finally got in with a potential that we have been trying to get in with for almost the whole time I have been here. We were in the area and saw her car in the driveway and stopped by. She had been out of town for awhile, so that's why we could never get in with her. She has visited with missionaries before. She told us that when she was younger she stayed with a Mormon family--she made it seem like it was a mission president and his family. She LOVED being with them and said she always felt so much love and peace and loved how they were always so happy. She wants her family to be like that. She told us how they always read from the kid's Book of Mormon that had pictures and she loved that book. She went back to Mexico later on and could not find it anywhere. From that time on she has been searching for a new one. We told her that we had plenty and we could bring her one and she was FULL of joy. She started tearing up and saying "I'm going to cry I'm so happy. All the good feelings from when I was with that family are coming back." That happiness my friends, is the reward for living the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was such a beautiful moment for her and we are so excited to go back this week and see the look on her face when we bring her the book!

Then we went to the Book of Mormon class at the church and one of our investigators showed up with his brother too! They think the church is so awesome and that what we do as missionaries is even better. For example, we told them we don't watch T.V. as missionaries and they said "Good! That's the way it should be! And the radio...you shouldn't listen to that either." We told them we don't and they were like, "No way!! That's so awesome!" We told them we would come by and teach them about how we got the Book of Mormon and also about the Plan of Salvation which answers the questions, where do we come from? why are we here? and where am I going? and they said "What?! You know that!? That's so cool!!!" So needless to say, they are excited to learn and we are excited to teach them!!!!

Miercoles: We learned how to make flautas and salsa! We are trying to learn how to make hispanic food so that when I come home I can cook for all of you. :) So for our lunch hour, we have been going to member's houses to teach us how to make their favorite dish, and then we share a lesson! It's been pretty great. Get excited! Also, today we taught a potential that has 10 kids! We love teaching families!

Jueves: We saw a less active member today that has just barely begun letting us in. She has been coming to church though, and was actually reactivated this week! It's such a miracle because she used to not want anything to do with the church, but for some reason she's changing. She doesn't open up very much, so we went into this lesson today praying for help to know how to help her. A miracle happened! She opened up to us more than she ever has before. She was telling us about how she has gone through a lot of difficult things in her childhood, and she was getting super emotional about it. I don't know what happened exactly, but the Spirit touched her and opened up her heart. I'm so happy that she has the desire to come back, I can tell that she feels so much happier.

Viernes: I was on exchanges with Hermana Hill! Love her so much, she is so sweet and is such a good example. She truly teaches with such power! We taught one of their progressing investigators who also has been having a really hard time opening up to them. We had an awesome lesson with him about the Spirit in conversion and that he really has been feeling the Spirit all along. I think a lot of times people just don't know that what they are feeling is the Spirit. It's so amazing to help them realize that. We shared with him the conversion story of Zeezrom in Alma 11-15 and at the end he started telling us about how he has changed and then asked "Could that be something like his story?" We were so happy and were just like "YES!! Yes that is part of the process of your conversion!" It was awesome.

Sabado: This day started off kind of rough. All of our appointments fell through, we were short on miles, and were at a loss of what to do. After praying, we decided to go contact a referral we had been given, Johnson, and we ended up teaching him the Restoration lesson. It was an amazing lesson. He really listened and responded to questions so well and when he prayed at the end, it was beautiful and so sincere. When he said "Amen" I looked at him and knew that he was feeling the Spirit. He had a look of contemplation/wonder and he said "I feel good. I feel really, really good." We extended a baptismal invitation and he accepted! He said, "Si, me gustaria hacerlo." (Yes, I would like to do it) We extended a date and he told us he would prepare for it, but he also needed to give it more thought. That was a miracle and the spirit was so strong! 

Domingo: The Hermana I was talking about on Thursday was reactivated!!! Yay!!

So yes, it has been a GOOD week. Sorry that my thoughts are so scattered in this email, but WE ARE SO BLESSED AND GOD IS SO GOOD!!! This week in studies I was reading about the parable of the talents in the New Testament and had some awesome revelation, a connecting of all the dots. In the guia in the Spanish scriptures I looked up talentos and part of it said "Se utilizo tambien como simbolo de algo de gran valor, como por ejemplo el Evangelio de Jesucristo." So a rough translation of that would be "Is used also as a symbol of something of great worth, for example the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Then I read the parable again with the cross references from the guia with the perspective of the talents being the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was eye opening! If we have been given this gift, we are required to share it! "...exercise thy gift...that thou mayest bring many to the knowledge of the truth..." (D&C 6:11) I'm so lucky that is what I get to be doing right now! I know more than ever before how important this gospel is and how many blessings we receive as families when we live the gospel. I know with more surety than anything else that Jesus Christ lives. He lives and He love us. He lives for us. How can we live for Him? By living and sharing His gospel.
              
                                      Hermana Hill and I on exchanges

Have a stellar week! Much love!!! (That's coming from Texas, where everything is bigger. So that's a lot of love)

Hermana Hoj

 

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