This week? 18 ltms!
We taught 23 lessons this week. I was ecstatic. This is how it’s
supposed to be. Finding, teaching, (and then this transfer) baptizing.
Life is so good.
I'll try to explain some questions y’all might have.
The A Family's baptism has been delayed because their kids are
still in Mexico. But as soon as they get back, the family will be getting
baptized!
Amelia and Leo are gonna get baptized soon. They just need to make
enough money to pay for the wedding dues.
So that's that.
Transfer doctrine.
Elder Anderson: aqui [here].
Elder Ledezma: aqui.
Elder Reiley: in Mexico! He left like an hour ago. :( It was really
sad. I almost cried. He's a good elder and he's gonna do great things.
Okay. I don't have too much time so here's the week!
MONDAY! It was a pretty normal day. We found out that Elder Reiley
might be leaving soon but we didn't know when. It was too bad. At night we
taught a few lessons. Not much to report.
TUESDAY! In the morning we went with a few members to eat pupusas [a
traditional Salvadoran dish, thick corn tortillas that are stuffed with cheese,
beans and/or pork]. They were super good. We also had agua de ensalada [water
salad], sounds gross but it is sooo good. We had a good time talking with the
members and trying the new foods. Afterwards we had a lesson with a new
investigator named Percy. He was a nonmember referral actually. So that was
pretty neat. He was super interested. Some highlights of the lesson: “I love
talking to you intelligent, educated guys. Come back soon!” that was in the
middle of the lesson. Then he said, “We are going to keep meeting until you all
become Catholic, or I become a Mormon” and then he said, “I'll read this book.
I believe what you say. I want to know if it’s true.” That was a cool lesson. He
was super open and ready to ask God about the things we taught him. That night
while we were street contacting we talked to this really nice woman until she
found out we were Mormon (we talked for like 10 minutes). Then she turned from
nice to mean super fast, said we were a scam and that she didn't want anything
to do with us. We taught Amelia and Leo that night and Presidente Rincon came
with us (our branch prez) it was a really hard day for both of them and
Presidente was perfect. We gave a really powerful blessing to Leo. It helped
him a lot.
WEDNESDAY! Quote from the journal “they are all such good days.” We
taught Gissel (the daughter of Ameila) a lesson about the LDM [Book of Mormon].
It was a good one. She said that she was gonna read and pray that night. She
gave us some sandwiches (more on that later). We went over to a less active
member's house to teach them a lesson. He started the lesson by asking, “Where
is the archaeological evidence of the Book of Mormon?” In my head I was just
like uggggh no.... but it was good. We talked about his questions and where
they came from and about a few museums and stuff. We told him that the most
important evidence was the witness from the Spirit that it is true. He said, “yeah,
I know - the evidence doesn’t matter, I was just curious. The only thing that matters
is following Jesus.” That was cool to hear. Later, we went to dinner. By this
time I was feeling a little sick. We sat and the member fed us sooooo much
food. We walked out to go home and I was like “elders we gotta move because I gotta
go.” I opened the door and knew that there was no way I was going to make it
home, so I booked it back to the house. Another quote from the journal, “I
DESTROYED HER BAÑO! A DEMON WAS LET LOOSE.” I did. It was bad. Those sandwiches were worse than the stuff I drank
in the MTC. Fast forward to later in the evening. Gissel tried to drop us but
it turned into a really powerful lesson and she committed to be baptized. The Spirit
was super strong. We would say stuff and ask questions and she would look at us
and say, “That makes sense. Okay, okay.” It was cool to watch her completely
turn around. She had a doubt about 1 Nephi 4. We testified a lot and she felt
the Spirit and she said, “I don’t understand it all, but I know I don’t need
to.” That was cool.
THURSDAY! District meeting was pretty powerful. I was feeling really
sick but the Spirit did all the work. It was about working with members. The
night before we had committed Gissel to read and pray. We went and followed up
and she said that she was feeling stressed and sad and she prayed for peace and
she felt a calmness come over her. That was pretty cool. She also prayed for
the strength to move on from her father's death and she said that she felt like
she could. She opened up and shared a lot of really personal things with us. She
said she wants to be baptized to wash away all the bad things she's done.
WE HAD SUCH A GOOD LESSON WITH THE As! IT WAS SO AWESOME. They
shared spiritual experiences with fasting, (They wanted to fast to get a firm
answer from God that this is the path He wants them on. As they got together
and said a prayer, in just stating why they were going to fast, all their
doubts were answered and they felt the Spirit testify that they were doing the
right thing. Brother A said from that moment that he knew. He had no doubts.)
prayer, and the atonement, (Brother A didn't feel like he could keep
going. He was tired and sad at work and he didn't want to keep going and he
didn't want to come to the lesson because he was too tired. So he decided to
say a prayer and it completely changed his day. As he put it, “My tiredness was
taken from my and in its place I felt happy.” he knew that it was God who gave
him the strength he couldn’t find himself.) and with revelation (That day he
was thinking about questions to ask us. That day we prayed to know what to
teach. We answered all his questions before he even asked them. That was super
cool.). They know the church is true.
They said, “As soon as our kids get back we are going to get baptized.” SICKKKKK.
FRIDAY! Today rocked. In the am we dropped Elder Reiley off at the
mission office to go to the consulate to get his visa. Elder Ledezma and I taught an amazing lesson. We taught this family
a lesson like 6 weeks ago and ever since then they have been reading and
studying and learning everything they can. They told us about all the “coincidences”
they have been seeing since the lesson. We were going to tell them that they
aren’t coincidences but after they finished telling us like 5 experiences the
man said, “You know what? I don’t think those are coincidences. God is telling
us what He wants us to do.” They got super excited as they started to feel and
recognize that God has been preparing them to accept the gospel. We taught a few more lessons. That night we got back with Elder Reiley and
we were street contacting and we talked to a self proclaimed baby Christian. She
was so happy. She was beaming as she told us about her decision to follow Jesus
Christ. It was cool. It brought her so much happiness. She wasn't ready to
increase it but it was still cool to talk with her. Her husband was super hard
and tried to bash with us like at every turn and things we said. He wasn’t
happy. He was kind of a Grinch and he was drunk. Elder Reiley and I were
walking and trying to find new people and it started to MONSOON! Dry to drenched
in a matter of moments. Trees blown over, streets flooded. “Horses and a guy on
fire” - name that movie. Then we had a good lesson with Amelia and Leo.
SATURDAY! Sweeeeet day. This morning we taught Percy and brought a
family from Peru to his house. (Percy is from Peru.) and they turned out to be
friends already! They hugged and everything. That was pretty cool. So we had a
bomb lesson with him and he said to Elder Reiley, “By the time you get back
from Mexico, I’ll probably be baptized.” We hadn’t even invited him yet. So that was
pretty cool. We went right after to teach Amelia and Leo and instead the lesson
was focused on Amelia’s son who got baptized a few years ago. He’s an atheist
now, but Amelia and Leo and Gissel (3 investigators) just testified to him and
it was so strong. Gissel, who used to be opposed like 2 weeks ago, said, “Kiwi
(his nickname) you need to open your heart and want to know if He is there. You
can’t be closed and get an answer. It won’t come all at once but you will get
there. You will feel Him.” That was incredible.
SUNDAY! Elder Reiley and I taught Gospel Principles. It was pretty
good. It’s way different than teaching the missionary lessons. We had a great lesson
with Martha. She wants to be baptized and she’s going to do it in October when
her family is coming to visit her. She was getting excited. She also gave Elder
Reiley a hug, his face when she did was priceless. It was super cute. She’s
like a grandma. He promised that he'd bring his kids to come see her and she
almost started crying. It was adorable. Then we went to a lesson with Amelia
and Leo. Leo finished reading the LDM and said, “I'm going to start over and
read it again because I know that it’s one of those books that you have to read
again and again and you always will get something new out of it.” It almost
brought tears to my eyes. Then he also said things like, “1st marriage, then
baptism, then sealing, then celestial kingdom”…. then “as long as I live a good
life, and am clean from my sins, I can die happy because I know what’s going to
happen after”… and then finally “Now I fully trust my Father in Heaven. I’m
ready to be baptized.” It was so wonderful. Their fam made Elder Reiley a banner
that was super cute. Amelia gave Elder Reiley the biggest hug ever. It was even
funnier than Martha bc she wouldn’t let go.
Okay that’s all the time I have, it’s been such a good week.
I love you all so much. :)
Sam
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