First of all, I am sorry my emails have been so long! I have decided
that I will summarize my week instead of writing what happened each
day :) then it will save your time and my time :) si? Happy day!
Let me update you on Camila. We went over to her house to teach her
about fasting (even though she has done it already),tithing and to
also review the baptismal questions. Let me just tell you this, she is
awesome :) she said she will keep the law of tithing, will fast once a
month, and pay fast offerings! She's just great. And guess what? She
passed! She's so ready for the interview and we cannot wait for her
baptism! She also told us about how she has talked to her mom about
her decision. She said she was scared to tell her. According to
Camila, her mom has a strong personality..and can be stubborn. But she
said her mom was okay with it and that she will be there for her
baptism :) how wonderful is this?! Like super wonderful!
We also visited a less active named Silvia. She's from Guatemala. She
was baptized when she was a teenager. She's the only member in her
family. When she moved to the US she started to go to our branch (this
was many years ago). She liked it and would attend at least sacrament
meeting because she'd work a lot. But then she stopped going. We
randomly went to see her once and she opened up to us. She told us
some of the reasons as to why she stopped going to church. Her mom
passed away along with a couple of other family members..in the same
year. She was very close to her mom. So Sister Keele and I talked to
her about baptisms for the dead! She said that she had heard about
that and that her cousin has been wanting her to go the temple with
family member's names :). So we set up another appt with her so we
could talk to her more about that. Two weeks later, we went back. We
talked to her about temples and the importance there of. But then she
opened up to us. She told us more reasons as to why she has stopped going
to church. She shared with us something that I think was very
personal..and we are ok with that because that means she trusts us.
Long story short, unfortunately she will not make it to the temple by
June 28th :( but she did say she will start coming to church :D but
she never came :(. It's okay though, we are going to visit her this
week and do our best to help her come back to church :).
We got two new investigators this week! One of them is named Alena :).
Alena lives above Eliana. So went to visit Eliana like we had planned
to do. But they weren't home..we called her and she said she forgot
and was grocery shopping with her family. Meanwhile, Alena has letting
us come in upstairs to hang out with her while we wait :). Then she
said, "well it looks like Eliana won't make it tonight, so why don't
you guys teach me what you were going to teach her?" We were like ya! We
didn't teach her what we had prepared for the Eliana's family but
we taught her the restoration instead. She
liked it! Had a few questions (like most interested people) and Sister
Keele was on fire! (not literally) but she just kept answering them
without hesitation and Alena understood a lot :) it was a good night.
So she asked, "when can you guys come back?" Woot! woot! She wants to
keep learning! We are so excited! She's so great! Can't wait to go
visit her again :).
Elder Nelson from the quorum of the 70s came to the mission and gave
us a wonderful talk. Him and his wife are just so nice and totally
look and are cute with each other :)! I love the way he treats his
wife..like a prince would treat his princess (cheesy I know but so
true). His wife talked about how we need to balance our emotional
side, physical side, spiritual side, and social side. She understands
that those things are hard to keep balanced in life not just in
the mission field but if we want to keep going..we've got to have a
balanced "wheel" so we won't have an "imbalanced" ride :) ok..she said
it better than I explained it haha but I forgot my journal where I
took notes so I won't be able to write it exactly how she said
it..sorry! Elder Nielsen talked about how it takes time to grow. Many
missionaries expect themselves to learn and grow in their 2nd or 3rd
transfer..and that is not how it works. Great things take time to
grow. Obedience plays a huge roll in this too. You can't be
disobedient and expect great things to come. He also talked about how
we need to learn the gospel first before we go out to preach it. The
Holy Ghost will help us but..it's kind of like taking a test..we can't
pray and hope for the answers to come to mind if we haven't
studied..it wouldn't be fair. He shared a cool experience before he
started with the topic he was assigned to talk to us about. He was
asked to choose where missionaries will be serving The Lord's mission
at. He was so nervous about this calling..even if it was for a day. He
got together with Elder Cook (from the quorum of the twelve apostles)
to do what he was asked to do. He has never done anything like this
before so he was sweating bullets. Two or a year and a half serving
The Lord is a life changing opportunity so..he was worried he was
going to send them to the wrong state or country! So Elder Cook
started: he did 10 names in less than 20min..Elder Nelson was left in
awe. Elder Cook asked, "are you getting this Elder Nelson?" Elder
Nelson's response was ummmm no. So the way they do it is by looking
at the picture of the girl or boy, they read a little bit about them,
they read what their bishop has said about them, and what their stake
president has said about them. They have a map right next to the
screen and with a pointer they'd point where the missionary will go.
The it was Elder Nelson's turn. He tried..he failed. He tried
again..and that time he got the country right but not the city :/.
Elder Cook told him that the spirit will tell him where the missionary
needs to go. After trying for a while a picture of a boy he knew
popped on the screen. He gasped, he said. Elder Cook asked if he knew
the boy, and he replied yes. After reading about this boy and what the
bishop and stake president said about him he calmly chose the place
where that missionary needed to be, and elder Cook agreed..and then he
moved on :). They do 320 names a day..how crazy is that?! I just loved
that story so much. Elder Nelsen shared more stories and taught us
more but this paragraph is getting too long. Just know he's awesome
and so is his wife :).
We had another opportunity to visit my aunt and taught her the
restoration. It went well! She had questions, and the spirit had
answers :). So remember how I mentioned we have two new investigators?
Well our other investigator is my cousin :). She came home after we
had finished the lesson with my aunt so we asked her if she would be
interested and she said yes! So we taught her :). Se liked it and said
she would be there next Friday for the next lesson..yay! They're
great! :)
Another miracle happened. Let me start with a little bit of background
though so I won't confuse anyone..including myself. Sister Keele is a
convert. Her dad got baptized when he was 14 years old but became
inactive when he was 16. When Sister Keele made the decision to be
baptized her parents were against it..so against it that her mom even
cried. They went to her baptism though, but they were still mad about
it. Her family decided that they were not going to help her when she
decided to go on a mission. She was heart broken, but worked hard to
save up money. Her departing day was getting close and she
still needed more money. She prayed and asked for help. One night she
went out to dinner with her family and her dad told her he was going
to pay for her whole mission. Wow, right?! Another thing, 6 months
after she joined the church she was at a mutual activity and it was
about family history. She went home that night and asked her mom if
she could help her with her family tree so she could do baptisms for
the dead, her mom got mad and said no. A week ago, I encouraged her to
try again, since her mom had changed a lot, maybe she will help her
with her family tree. So she asked her mom and her mom said yes :).
And what's even more awesome is that Sister Keele asked her mom if she
could explain to her what baptisms for the dead is. Her mom said sure
and we got to Skype with her and taught her the plan of salvation. It
was awesome!!!!!!! Not too long ago her mom wanted nothing to do with
the church and now..she let her daughter teach her (I did too..but
that doesn't matter as much). It was a neat opportunity. Sister Keele
said that she knows her mom felt something. I know it too..the spirit
was for sure there testifying to her about the truth. Sister Keele
asked her mom if she would want to learn more?..her mom hesitated and
we just told her to think about it and she said she would. What a neat
experience! Sister Keele and I have had the opportunity to teach our
families! Can The Lord be more merciful? :)
I will have the opportunity to teach my brother, his girlfriend, and
my dad over skype hopefully by next week. I'm so excited!
I called my dad again to see if the sisters came by to teach him but
he said they didn't. I was like ok. But I knew there was something
wrong. I wasn't sure what to do, so when we got to our apartment I
headed downstairs to my desk where my scriptures and everything I need
were at. I knew he needed to be spiritually lifted but I didn't know
which "tool" to use. So I prayed (best tool ever by the way) and next
thing I knew the spirit took over. What another neat experience. Words
just kept coming to mind and without thinking it twice I let them come
out of my mouth. He opened up to me and told me things that broke my
heart. He wasn't only my dad while I was on the phone with him but he
was brother Vasquez..another son of God who was in need of help. I
left him with a couple of challenges and promised him that as he does
those things he will find peace in life..and in his heart.
Brothers and sisters, The Lord is in need of our help. Actually, no,
He is willing to give us that opportunity to help. He knows and we
know He can do it himself but He wants us to be part of His marvelous
work so we can learn and grow from such a wonderful experience. He
wants us to feel that happiness we get to feel when we help others.
Don't we feel joy during and after we help our brethren? I think so
:). You don't have to be a missionary with a tag, you can serve
anywhere you are. And you can also serve in many different ways! Let's
be grateful for the love our Heavenly Father has for all of His
children..including you because you are His child. He is willing to
help us in any way possible, we've just got to ask and let Him help
us. In return, let's keep learning more about Him, communicate with
Him, serve His children, and follow our His Son's example. Let us all
be reminded that the atonement is there for EVERYONE. Jesus Christ
didn't suffer through all that He suffered for kicks and gigs..He did
it because He loves us and is really wanting us to use His Atonement
so we can live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. Please, let's be
kind and loving towards other people. Let's not judge them until we
know their story. Be a friend. Don't give up on others, including
yourself. "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;"
(D&C 18:10).
In the name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, amen.
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