Family and friends, many many things happened this week. Where do I start?
First, we have transfers! To our surprise, I am staying in Montelimar for one more change and my dear Sister Lopez will be leaving the area. This will make it 6 months here in this area! Transfers are now going to be done on Wednesdays. We don't even know who our future companions will be or future areas! I'll be letting you know next week!
Our landlady, Z, is progressing. We gave her a Book of Mormon. She is very open to learning about the church even though she comes from a Jehovah's Witness background. She admitted to us that Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon were the two things that stopped her from coming to the church because she thought that we worshipped Joseph Smith, a common misunderstanding. She has loved the church activities she has been to and likes the hymns we sing. She told us this week that she has started reading the Book of Mormon and so far has no doubts or questions.
We found a young man this week named E. He actually contacted us. :) Sometimes people here, when they see me, start yelling things in English at us like, "Hello!" "How are you?" (A couple months ago, I was even told, "Hi! Will you marry me? I speak English!" ..It's entertaining being a "gringa.") But when we passed him, he started speaking to us in broken English. We stopped and talked to him for a little bit. We learned that he is learning English and we offered our help. This week we have helped him a little with his English and he has come to several church activities. He even introduced us to his mom. She was very nice to us, but wasn't open to our message about the Book of Mormon. E told us that he had read a lot of negative things about Joseph Smith on the internet and he thinks the church is a satanic cult so it surprised us when he showed up at sacrament meeting. SIDENOTE: The internet can be the best and the worst source of information. For those learning about the church, I suggest getting information from a viable source. This includes: 1. God, through sincere prayer. He is the only one who will never lie to us. 2. The church website: lds.org or mormon.org. 3. The missionaries. Our calling is to share with EVERYONE what we really believe. :)
D was confirmed on Sunday! We are very happy for him. He is now officially counted as a child of God. It has not been an easy week for him or for us. He has been desperately looking for work for a long time and has been applying for many jobs without avail. This week, a job offer came through. The only thing was that it required him to work Sundays. We reminded him of the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy. He was torn. He knew he had made a commitment to God and the church but was feeling desperate for work. He had had 2 interviews with them but the job ended up falling through. It was sad but we were grateful that he was no longer struggling between the decision. When the Lord closes one door, it's because He is opening one that is bigger. He will bless us for our obedience. That's a promise!!
Also, I received a phone call from the mission office this week and... they're already buying my plane ticket! Que barbaridad... my leave date is earlier than I expected it to be: December 30th!
This week I got a big reminder about the importance of faith and obedience. These two principles, although different, are very similar. Both should be carried out with LOVE. If we really love the Lord, we trust in Him (faith) and act righteously (obedience) with the confidence that He will guide us through.
I love you all!
How are y'all doing with the "What would a holy [person] do?" challenge?
Con amor,
Hermana Whitman