HOLA <3
Well hello, hello, hello! Another week gone by!
This week was a pretty interesting week! Hermana Lopez and I are trying to work harder to find new investigators and lift up the area. This Saturday, we are hoping for the baptisms of L and J. L wasn't able to be baptized last week because her mom wanted to be present. She doesn't live with her mom and it was really stressful trying to get a hold of her. But, she called us this week and we were able to talk to her.
We found some great investigators this week! A family of 5, but the father sent us a message last night saying basically, "Thanks, but we're going to go to a different church." It was really sad because we know the blessings that they are going to miss out on. But, perhaps in the future, they will open their doors again to the missionaries.
We also found a couple and their sister. We talked to the sister, N, in the street one night and she gave us her brother as a referral. The night we went to meet and teach her, we met her brother C and his girlfriend Cl. Cl is from Seattle and she's so awesome! They are all great and have a desire to live a better life. We really feel the spirit when we testify of the forgiving power of the Atonement. I love this work!
This week, I received another confirmation that the Book of Mormon is true. I'm not sure what happened, but maybe everyone was having a bad week because there were a lot of really rude people that did not accept us. One night, I was feeling pretty discouraged. I was trying to think of all of the blessings that we had seen that day to lift my spirits, but the only ones I could think of were material blessings. And in the end, they aren't what will make me eternally happy. This made me realize that perhaps my perspective is wrong. I was looking to the world to make me happy. As I realized this, I grabbed a Book of Mormon we had on a table for guidance. I opened the book, looking for an answer... And I found it. The pages fell open to Alma 26 and this is part of what I read:
1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?
2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?
3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.
4 Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.
5 Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.
6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.
7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day.
This was an exact answer to what I needed. We need not look to the world for answers. We must look up. The Book of Mormon is true. If we trust in God and look to Him for our happiness, it will be found and it will be found in God's perfect timing. I love this book. I would give my life to defend it because it's true. If you have not read it, READ IT! That's where we find the answers! This gospel is true and the church of Christ has been restored. I love this work. It truly is the work of the Lord. There is only true happiness in the Gospel. I testify of these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hermana Whitman