Week 2 Sister Baldwin and I were talking about how the transfer was going the perfect speed. Not painfully slow and not painfully fast. Well we jinxed it. This past week FLEW by! Before we knew it, it was over.
THe WA-TAC sets a weekly goal to help us push towards our goal of helping our brothers and sisters be baptized by the proper authority. This week was a good one. 2 New Investigators, 2 at church, 2 on date for baptism, and 10 lessons with members present. Sister Baldwin and I really took that to heart and we pushed it. We didn't end up with the 2,2,2,10 but we saw a lot of miracles because of it. Doors that seemed like they would have slammed shut stayed open. Countless people prayer with us. We passed out 19 copies of the Book of Mormon to people who seemed genuinely interested! It was so great to watch God at work.
My favorite moment of last week happened yesterday. Both our evening appointments fell through so we decided to street contact and talk to people. We approached this lady who was with her dog and asked her if she had ever met missionaries. She said she had and talked about how many of her family members had done missionary work. We realized she didn't catch when we said "from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" so we repeated it again and then a great conversation followed about how she had but she was really content with her faith and had a strong faith in Christ. It was such a powerful experience as we opened our mouths and you could tell the Spirit was guiding the conversation. We asked if she'd ever heard of the Book of Mormon and if she'd ever read one. She gave the typical answer about how she sticks with the truth and only reads the Bible. Then came the best part. As we testified of the Book of Mormon not replacing the Bible but merely adding a second witness to our Savior Jesus Christ telling her there wasn't a single page that didn't testify of our Savior and His gospel. Ending with one of my Favorite verses whether she felt it or not my personal testimony of the Book of Mormon was strengthened.
2 Nephi 33:10
"10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe inChrist; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words,for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good."
After a brief but powerful conversation she told us she had never heard about the Book of Mormon from such a perspective and then before we could even offer her a copy she asked if we had one she could read. It was so great! She seemed to really appreciate when we told her the Book of Mormon is evidence of God's love for His children, testifies purely of Christ, and stands as evidence that we are to read and pray about so we can personally come to the knowledge that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored exactly the same as it was established by Christ because it was brought back by Christ.
I think that's the part many people don't realize. Joseph Smith didn't restore (or found) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jesus Christ re-established his church to the earth because of His immense love for each of us. Joseph Smith was the tool our Savior used. Just like as missionaries we are the tool to share this message and as we can all be the tool to bless those around us.
This gospel is an amazing gift and if you have any doubts of its pure divine origin pick up a copy of the Book of Mormon and read about our Savior. Learn about His love for each of us. Then pray and ask God if it is His word. Then be willing to act on the answer you will get. You will come to learn of the Book of Mormon's true origin and come to realize that it is God's word and through that know that Joseph Smith was a humble farm boy called by our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ to serve as a prophet to bring about the last dispensation (time) before Christ returns.
I love this gospel. I am grateful for our Father's love to bring it back to the Earth. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is GOD's church brought back to the Earth for our benefit. Its not something you can just hear and accept its something you have to ask God. I have received my personal answer of this truth and I challenge each of you to seek the same.
Until next week.
Love,
So I forgot to tell you all. The Tacoma zones got to go to a Tacoma Rainer baseball game today. They're not the best team but being with the best missionaries was a lot of fun. More pictures to follow!
One more highlight of last week. The elders over the YSA ward knocked in our area and gave us a ton of referrals which they had scheduled appointments with for the majority of them. They accidentally scheduled to lessons for the same time & day so we ended up going on splits. Sister Baldwin went and taught a little 10 year old who is the daughter of a less active member and I went with our mission president's wife, Sister Blatter. Our appointment ended up cancelling after Sister Baldwin was already in her lesson so we tried a few potentials and ended up just street contacting. It was such a powerful spiritual moment as we got to bear testimony to 10 or so people within 45 minutes with the last hold a conversation with us for 30 minutes. It was so great and was a lot of fun to see Sister Blatter's twist on missionary work.
No comments:
Post a Comment