3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
( Moroni 10: 3-5)
I had to start with this scripture
because no matter how many times I have my investigators read this, and I
explain it, They never seem to try it. So I am going to make this simple. If
you do your part by reading The Book of Mormon every day, then pray to Heavenly
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, and ask if what you read is true, you will
receive an answer though the Holy Ghost. It's very simple. This applies to
everyone, no matter if you have been a faithful member your whole life, or if
you have never even read the Book of Mormon before. This is the only way you
can truly know for yourself that the gospel is true. Because if the Book of
Mormon is true, then everything that comes along with it is true. Like that
Joseph Smith was a prophet, the priesthood is restored, and that The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church in our day. The
reason I bring this up is because 4 of our 8 baptism dates for this Saturday
dropped out. They told me they needed more time because they wanted to know if
this was the true church before they joined. So then I asked if they were
reading and praying every night to know if our message is true. And of course
they said no. Which was really obvious because if they were reading and praying
they would know that this is the true church. I was a extremely disappointed
for their sakes, because they where literally holding their key to salvation in
their hands, but still would not read it. But I kept my chill and invited them
to read and pray every day this week then to also come together as a family to
feast and read the scriptures and to also prayer together. I told them that if
they were to do this with a sincere heart, meaning that they will act on the
prompting they receive, that they will receive an answer. I literally carried
36 copies of The Book of Mormon from the capital to my little house in Villa.
We now have more copies of The Book of Mormon in my area then the whole district
combined. So trust me when I say I wouldn't have done that unless I have gained
a testimony of the Book of Mormon for myself.
Anyways, this is the run down of
my progressing investigators.
With baptism dates: Juan Luise,
Elias, Kati, and Karen will be baptized this saturday. Then Gabrialla and
Celiangy (mother and daughter) who didn’t read but are still willing to take
lessons and to eventually prepare for baptism, Germany (the daughters friend)
wants to get baptized but is going to wait until her friend is ready, then Yelianny
she wants to get baptized, passed the interview, and got her mom’s signature,
but then last minute her mom said she couldn't. We haven't been able to talk to
her about it yet, but if her mom does end up letting her get baptized, it can’t
be this week.
This week has definately been my
hardest so far. I literlly broke my glasses. Well I mean a sister did at the
MTC here this week, but I think that’s worse. We were there so we could meet up
with other missionaries so I could pee in a cup and stuff for my visa. And
while we were waiting, I decided to play some soccer. That was a mistake. This
sister from Utah, who is going to my mission totally ran into me and destroyed
my glasses. Anyways, that was a total bummer because my backup pair sucks. But,
I told the AP and everyone else to give her crap when she gets here. I also literally
travelled everyday this week, except Tuesday, for district meeting, exchanges,
president interviews, and my four week training program, which was fun because
I got to see my friends from the MTC. The Interview went well, we talked about
how to work with less-actives, because I found out my ward has over 500 less
actives. That got me really excited to work with the bishop and ward leaders to
bring them back. Then afterwards my comp and I went out to lunch with the APs.
So, I guess you can say we are pretty tight.
So just to finish off I would just
like to say to my 3 friends reading this, that I challenge you to read, ponder,
and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it is true. Even if you already
know that it is true. I know that if you do this, and are willing to act on the
prompting , you will receive an answer from the Holy Ghost. I know that God
loves us, and because he loves us he truly made it super easy to know for our
selves how to return to him.
I spent the day in the capital.
And its weird because it could literally be downtown San Diego or something and
you almost forget you are in a third world country. They even had a
KrispyKream.
My broken glasses. Featuring some
random kid from the MTC. They are actually worse in the front.
That's pretty much it.
Tell Caleb I’m proud of him and his choice to keep the Sabbath
day holy.
I broke my glasses. I have an extra pair, but they are ugly.
And now I don't have a back-up pair anymore. They are totally scratched; lenses,
frame, and all.
Sweet. I got your package and the fudge got everywhere. It’s
ok, but the same thing happened with the hot cocoa. So maybe you can just bag
everything next time. It was great though, thank you Mom.
Who was the elder who signed the little black reference
book? Was it Dad’s from his mission? Tell Dad I love it and I’m studying it
right now
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