October 1, 2007

New transfer, and it's starting to roll! Our district has had a few rough spots this past week and over the entire transfer last time, but the work is going forth. Nothing is going to stop us from getting our 4 baptisms this transfer (except for their agency of course...). I've resolved that no matter what happens, I won't let any little thing get between my companion and I because the Lord commands us to be one, in everything. I've been blessed!

Now I know why the missionaries stress member presents, it's because they are amazing! We can't have any success without at least a third testimony (1 Corinthians 13:1- refers to a third companion, either the Holy Ghost or a member's testimony). This past Sunday, a miracle happened. My companions, Villa and Raleigh, have been working relentlessly with this less active family, the Ruiz's. The father was out of the church for at least 11 years, as well as his wife. They got them back to church! He was worthy to baptize his 11 year old daughter Briana yesterday, it was a wonderful sight to see. A wayward father found his way back to baptize his daughter and to right the ship once again. It was a testimony to me of the great value of this work, working with investigators and working with less active and part-member families. His testimony, in the two times we've asked him to accompany us, has made a huge difference. He testifies, and as soon as he does, the Spirit floods the room. It is been a pleasure and a fulfilling experience both times that he's come with us. As my comp says, it's like having a third missionary with us. He is just that powerful, that faithful, but humble. He has been immensely blessed for coming back to the Church. What made it better was that we sung "Be Still My Soul" in Spanish (without practice), and it brought the Spirit into the baptismal service. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to bring the Spirit into the service...and it is definitely one of my favorite hymns of all time.

Please send e-mails to the Yahoo account because MyLDSMail has been acting strange recently, and I can't read e-mails today :-(

I am getting new glasses sometime this week, and a member who works at the place is going to fit it for me when we stop by her house later this week...I am so fortunate to be here with amazing members. I can't stop using the word 'amazing' because I can't find another word to describe them and the work they're doing for us missionaries. It is stunning, awe-inspiring, and humbling. It is a great blessing to see the difficulties they've had and are going through, but to see their faith in the Lord and in the Gospel is incredible. They forge on, like the pioneers of old, to persevere until the end. They were prepared for these last days, there is NO doubt in my mind after being here for 7 weeks. And, they feed us every night. What a sacrifice for them! A great blessing for us! How do they do it?!

Back to Hno. Ruiz. We invited him to visit the Saenz family, who've been investigating for at the most a decade. It's really sad to see that, and every time I think about it I get angry at the other missionaries. How could they let the mother go almost a decade without having a testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God? How dare they! I know she has her agency to believe or not, but how could they have ignored that doubt for so long? She's distracted sometimes (yes), preoccupied with other things (of course), but how dare they not teach her or try to resolve her doubt about Joseph Smith. My companions agree with me, and we assume, that the previous missionaries were only over there to talk to her daughters in recent years. We have our work cut out for us. When Hno. Ruiz came, I was a bit apprehensive because she always gets distracted and such. When we taught the first lesson, the Spirit wasn't very strong. TV going on in the next room, she's kinda wandering from topic to topic (she loves to talk a lot, no exaggeration), then Sandoval asked Hno. Ruiz about his testimony about family. He bore his testimony, then BOOM! it was as if the Spirit bulldozed through the room. I was in shock, seriously. Wow. We continued to teach and ask questions to see if she understood, and we asked questions to Hno. Ruiz about prophets and Jesus Christ's Atonement, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was just an infusion of the Spirit each time. I was amazed, surprised, shocked, taken aback. It is an experience I can't forget. The mother, Norma Saenz, couldn't deny the Spirit was there. No chance at all. We bore our testimonies, and rushed home. I know that if members go out with missionaries, they bring a power, and insight, that we can't. We brought Hno. Moreno out, he sacrifices a lot to go out with us several times a week, and he brings a different take. Hna. Yolanda Rosa Murillo, a Pentecostal youth teacher, wasn't receptive at first. But as time went on, she's been willing to listen to us. So we bring Hno. Moreno (took a day off to help us missionaries) and he testified about baptisms for the dead, when that wasn't even a part of our planned lesson...and the Spirit was with us all. I loved it! I was thinking, 'how the heck did we get to baptisms for the dead...and look what happened!' Sometimes you never know what you'll be prompted to teach about. So we went on, testified, and right before we left Sandoval extended the invitation to be baptized, and she accepted! She has potential, she really does. We'll see what happens in the following weeks. The power of member present lessons is truly something I'll have to appreciate more.

I haven't had a family home evening as a companionship as of Saturday, so we joined Villa and Raleigh, and it went really well. So we had our own, actually two in two days. We brought Finding Faith in Christ over to a less active's (Rodriguez-Merino) home. It is a great movie about Christ, and it is a great tool to bring in the Spirit. They were moved by the Spirit, both of them, and we testified of the sacrifice and Atonement of Christ. Then, we shared some scriptures with them, and put it plainly that they have to go to church because of their covenants and the punishment for not renewing the covenants. They didn't come to church yesterday. Before that, we watched The Restoration with a referral (Juan Patia) and his family. His daughter felt the Spirit (the First Vision always brings the Spirit), but the father is very pessimistic towards religions. So he tried to chase the Spirit away with false accusations and Sandoval shut him up with 'well if you want to know for yourself you pray about it' and that was that. His daughter is a potential, but he needs a lot of work on his part to have faith and stop being a pessimist. We'll see what happens with them. Then yesterday night, we walked into an appointment late after the baptism of Briana Ruiz to a sort of less active family (Jarquin's). I had no idea what we were going to teach, and I even asked Sandoval before we walked up to the door. He said we'll see...that is not what I wanted to hear! Then, we sat down, chatted (the father and mother are less actives, daughter is an RM and active, two other children fence-sitting less actives) about Asians because I'm one of the only Asians that can speak Spanish and all that funny stuff. The father is hilarious. He makes me laugh a lot, and I don't even understand a good amount of it I just catch bits and pieces of it. But, it's still funny to me. Sandoval said that we're going to talk about the Holy Ghost, and I was kinda shocked but didn't really matter because I had no idea what's going on anyways and this usually is the case with our less active work. No big deal. It was powerful. The parents bore their testimony of personal revelation, as I did and Sandoval did. It was great. Apparently one of the births of the children nearly went bad, since her water broke in a C-section and then it all drained out and the baby didn't come out...but all was well in the end due to prayers of faith. Scary! I bore my testimony about the sniper attacks, that the Lord preserved me and my family so I can serve a mission, so I can be in California right now. It got their attention, because they remember that event, but to see a person testify of how bad it was, it really helped change the tone of the meeting. It was a great family home evening. I can't wait to do more!

We gave a blessing yesterday for a non-member, a friend of a powerful member Hno. Islas. His child back in Mexico is sick, and he wanted comfort. I bear testimony that a blessing brings the Spirit powerfully and quickly into our lives, and as Sandoval blessed him, I knew that God exists. I knew that He cares about us. Every single one of us. He loves us and cares for us. I love the mission. This non-member has potential, how much, we'll find out soon.

I know that Christ lives. I know that the Atonement applies to everyone, and that it has saved me from my sins. I can take the Sacrament every week to renew my covenants and be cleansed. I know this is the work of the Lord. I don't want to go home. I won't be disobedient. I won't, I can't, deny the Spirit. He is as real as a human being, and I love when the Spirit is in our presence. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Pres. Hinckley is a prophet of God. The work will go forth boldy, nobly, and independently!

...No toil nor labor fear...happy day...All is well...

Godspeed! I love you all, and miss you so much!