Hey. So this week rocked.
Monday night the spirit led us to a door I had almost given up on, so we knocked and J. answered, and let us in. J. is not a member, his wife M. is a less active member. A couple months ago M. was going through a rough pregnancy but got through it, a month ago J. was diagnosed with diabetes, and two weeks ago their 3 year old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, and they have found multiple other medical issues with her since. After being told this we testified to them that God has a plan for their family that allows them to be together for eternity no matter what happened. We taught them the plan of salvation, and invited J. to be baptized. He is on date for baptism on the 23rd of July. After that we saw A. who was doin great. Then we taught B. and M., two Evangelical Christians who weren't 100% sure what they believed (they kinda argued over their beliefs in front of us) and yet they still tried to bash with us and tell us we are wrong. Haha. Some people aren't ready to accept the gospel, that's all I gotta say.
Tuesday was another good day, after dinner we taught N. (my Filipino convert) who is so awesome! She is such a great spirit. After that we taught A. and A. and their family. Then we taught A.. He was so ready by this point! He asked me to baptize him and elder Kremer to perform the confirmation and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Wednesday we had exchanges, I left my area again and went into the Spanish area with the district leader, elder Jimenez from Ecuador. Haha he's a funny kid... The night was pretty hectic cuz we had multiple lessons in his area, and we also had to do A.'s interview, but it all went well.
Thursday morning before leaving the apartment I said the prayer and for some reason prayed that we could find an opportunity to perform physical service for someone that day (which I usually don't say). While driving to lunch we saw a lady whose car had died at the stop light and wouldn't start, so we quickly pulled into a gas station and parked, then ran over and pushed her out of the road into a parking lot. All I gotta say is man I'm outta shape. But I do testify that the lord wants us to serve, for "when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God." And so I invite each of you to pray for an opportunity to serve someone today, and then willingly jump on the opportunities that present themselves, and recognize the blessings that come from doing so! That evening we taught a few less actives as well as KD (the recent convert girl I baptized last transfer).
Friday was long, we didn't start proselyting till 3:30 or so. Right after weekly planning and lunch we went to the mission office to meet the new mission president! President and Sister Lansing. I'm super excited, they seem like great people. That night we taught A. one last time as a non member.
Saturday morning A. was baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Being in the water with him was such a neat experience, You know when you're at a park sitting on a bench watching kids play and you see a little kid jump off a swing and land flat on his face and you just can't stop smiling cuz it was hilarious but you don't wanna laugh out loud? Coming up out of the water, A. had a smile on his face just like that. Ear to ear "can't help it" smile. It was so cool! When we walked into the bathroom to change he just looked me in the eyes with the same smile and said "thanks man." It really was a killer baptism.
Sunday just everything fell into place. A. got confirmed a member and received a gift of the Holy Ghost, and all of his wife's family were there. It was probably the most spiritual fast and testimony meeting I've ever been in in my life. Right after A. was confirmed, his wife S.'s dad blessed Adam's two kids, C. and G. Also, B. (a less active I've been trying to get to church for almost 5 months) showed up with his family. After the blessings and sacrament, everyone gets up and bears such powerful testimonies! One of S.'s sisters gets up and bears her testimony, saying that she hasn't done that in over 10 years but had a voice nagging her in the back of her head telling her she needs to, so she gets up and bears her testimony on how wonderful the church's Addiction Recovery Program is. Which is exactly what B. needed to hear, given that he got out of the hospital a couple days ago detoxing from alcohol. Everything worked out so perfectly, I know God knows each one of us and had our lives laid out so perfectly, all we need to do is keep doing our best to live the gospel and all will work out. After that Ward we went to J.'s Ward, but they never showed. But we got a text from them that said they had to take their daughter to Primary Children's Hospital because she wasn't doing well that morning, and that they were attending a sacrament meeting there! After that we taught C., who is on date for baptism on the 23rd. And then just to top it off tonight we were able to take B. to an ARP meeting.
"My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength--that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life." -Elder Jeffery R. Holland.
Love
-Elder Ray
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| Elder Kremer and Elder Ray at A.'s Baptism |
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| Elder Kim and Elder Ray |
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| Elder Ray and Elder Hilsberg |
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| Pday Bowling |
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