Another stellar week in the books. Tuesday we taught a somewhat mentally not all there old man who asked us the same questions he asks us every time we go over. He is less active and has some weird philosophy's on religion haha. We decided to tract out a random apartment building we don't know much about and met a woman named E. who is not a member. She said to come back Wednesday cuz she'd like to learn more, but she wasn't there when we tried back. We will keep tryin!
Tuesday night we split, elder Brink taught K. who is still solid to get baptized Saturday, and I taught N. (Filipino lady). She has such a strong desire to learn and do what's right! We put her on date for April 23rd and is looking solid for that date!
Wednesday morning we taught a less active lady outside her house in the beautiful weather and committed her to come to stake conference. Not sure if she did or not yet. Then we had lunch with a ward mission leader, then taught J. and his wife. J. is a member, just inactive. His wife is not a member. J.'s problem is that he loves deep doctrine. Advice to everyone: stay out of deep doctrine, especially if you don't have a testimony of the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. It just drives you crazy. J. is literally crazy. So yeah that's something we're trynna fix. Wednesday night we taught N. again. She loves the plan of salvation and is still solid for the 23rd! After N. we taught an inactive lady in the apartments who has used the excuse of being sick for the past 9 months. Lame excuse... We shared elder christofferson's video 'daily bread: pattern' (which I love, it's in the Mormon messages, watch it) and invited her to church. She said she'd try, and we asked what would be keeping her, then she said her health. We talked for a minute and then shared my favorite scripture (3 Nephi 13:30-34) and promised that if she came, the lord would make it possible. She said that scripture has been on her mind and we got a solid commitment out of her! Our ward mission leader offered a blessing and she gladly accepted. As we were leaving, we get in the car and he just looks at us and goes "wow, is every night this spiritual with you guys????" And it kinda took me by surprise... And I realized that, yes, it is. Being a missionary is the best. The lord puts us where he needs us when he needs us to be there.
Thursday we set up a ton of lessons with both non members and less actives. Always good to have lessons set up! We taught J., a 9yo recent convert who has too much energy despite his mom never letting him have sugar. We have been trying to get him to read a chapter a week from the Book of Mormon but he struggles with that cuz he's pretty busy. The good thing is that he read it a year ago and remembers exactly what happened. No joke. We talked about 1st Nephi chapter 4 and he told the whole story without having read it in a year. Crazy. We then taught B. (nm) D. (Nm) and C. (LA).We've been trying to figure out how to get B. more interested (at the beginning she made it VERY CLEAR she was not interested, that she was just there to support D.). But, we taught them the plan of salvation and put D. on date for the 23rd. We didn't feel right about asking B. to be baptized so we didn't. As we were leaving she comes up to us and says "the 23rd is not gonna work" and we're just thinking 'crap, she doesn't wanna let him get baptized' but she tells us they just remembered they'd be camping there. Huge relief. So we said we'd figure out another date at our next lesson Sunday. Fhew. Then we taught a less active in the richest home in our stake. She is so awesome. Her husband passed away a couple years ago, and he never had his temple work done. Her uncle did it but they haven't been sealed, and that's her goal. It's going to be really cool to see her progress toward the temple!
Friday a lot of lessons canceled. But we still got a lot done, talked to a lot of people and got referrals and set up lessons. We taught A., another less active man with mental health issues who wants to get back to the temple. Saturday K. got interviewed for baptism. Stoked! That kid is so happy to get baptized! (see pic) then we taught KD and talon who are ready to get baptized as soon as their mom gets outta the hospital. Then we taught J., a 40 year old inactive return missionary who loves the gospel more than most active members. His only problem is the motivation to get to church. Lame excuse.
Now Sunday. Wow. Ok. So we had stake conference in the morning, and elder Durham of the quorum of the 70 presided. We got to meet him and talk to him for a bit which was cool. Meeting general authorities is always a neat experience to see how normal they are and feel the immense spirit around them. After that, D., a recent convert we've been working with, received the Melchezidech priesthood.
Then we rushed and ate a quick lunch, then went to a lesson with a less active lady named K.. We needed a member to come with us since she is a single lady, so we called one and got him to pick us up and take us. When we get there we sit down and start talking, and it turns out the 'random' member was her bishop a while ago when she was going through a bunch of trials. We were able to share a message to strengthen her, and she asked for a blessing from the member. It was so spiritual to know that everything fell into line as guided by God.
Then we taught M. (?), a non member from India that married a member. Both of them are completely active. His problem is that within Hinduism, it's basically your religion to adopt practices and beliefs from different religions. So he struggles to commit to one. We will help him see the truth in the restored gospel tho! Then we shared a quick message with W., an excommunicated man who is active and wants to come back. He said it completely answered a question he has been prayin about for a long time.
Then we taught B., C., and their 9 year old boy, D. again. So we went in and talked for a bit, and discussed the baptismal date. B. said that because of some court things with D. and his real dad (not Cory) they were gonna be going thru a lot and wanted to push the date back a couple months. Dang! But we explained how having the gift of the Holy Ghost would help him through those trials. We expected her to argue, but she just paused and then said that makes sense. Sweet. So we decided that May 14th would be the best date for him to be baptized on. Then we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked B.what she thought about the gospel and she opened up. We found out she was raised LDS but her parents never let her get baptized. After talking a bit more we just said 'the gospel is for families, and we want you to have the opportunity to be with D. and C. forever through the restored church' and then invited her to be baptized despite our fears. She didn't say anything for like 10 seconds (which is scary cuz this lady shows no emotion) and then she looks at D. and goes 'what do you think D.?' And he says "Hmmmm, I think YES! I believe in God, and I believe in Jesus Christ!" And wow, the spirit just smacked all of us like a railroad tie. We truly all felt the presence of the Holy Ghost in that moment. Then she turned and said 'well it looks like D. and I are getting baptized on the 14th!' We were so excited! Such a miracle, the simple, short testimony of a 9 year old has the power to bring the spirit strong enough to have the converting power of God himself. We are so blessed to be here!
Speaking of being here, Today we found our about transfers. Elder Brink is getting transferred. He is switching places with... Elder Fehoko! So he is going to be with elder Mestre in draper and Elder Fehoko is my new companion. I'm excited!
Love
-Elder Ray
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| Elder Brink and bikes |
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| Last Pic of the District before Transfers |
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