So basically this week was awesome!!!!! We have key indicators for each week, and this week we were challenged to have more lessons with members. We decided to reach out to the members and really ask for their help and the results were amazing!
First off, there is a young man in the ward named Samuel. We didn´t even have to ask him, he always invites friends to church and stuff. He has a friend, Igor, that he invited to church and has been sharing the gospel with him. We already taught Igor once, and he said that since the first lesson, he hasn´t been able to stop reading the Book of Mormon! He was also excited to learn that just a month or so after he gets baptized, he can go to the temple! He really wants to go and already has a testimony that it is a sacred and beautiful place where you can feel the most marvelous feeling. After the lesson, we showed him a Mormon Message and he just kept clicking on more and more. He especially liked the message by President Hinckley that has the story of the two boys who decided to put a coin in the man´s boots instead of stealing them. When the younger boy suggested that they steal the boots, Samuel was shocked and said "Que feio!" which literally means ´how ugly´and is an expression you use when something is not very nice or is something shameful. He and Igor are exemplary young men and it was amazing to see how powerful a friend can be in bringing others to the gospel. Igor is ready to be baptized, but his mom wants to get to know the church a little better first. They live really far from the chapel, so we need your prayers to help them be able to come to church next week!
Also, we went on splits with some of the Young Women in the ward this week. Kelli, one of the young women, is amazing and is literally counting the months until she can go on a mission (she still has quite a few). When I was with her, we visited a less active member (Noemi) that Adriano (a young man in the ward) remembered hadn´t been to church in years. We clapped in front of the house (that´s how you knock here) and she came to the window. At first, she was kind of cold and said she didn´t really want anything to do with the church members and stuff but then she recognized Kelli because she and Kelli´s mom (Adriane) are really good friends still! She warmed up to us and invited us to come over for pancakes another day! Members can be an amazing help in ways that only Heavenly Father has planned.
Also, a while back I mentioned Priscila, who is an amazing investigator who has such a strong testimony of prayer. We spent Christmas with her and her family and she wants to start a Zumba class at the church with the Young Women and Relief Society. She is amazing! She has wanted to be baptized for a while but isn´t married to her "esposo" yet. She was pretty firm in her decision to marry at the end of this year when she graduates and has a party and a house, etc etc. We were sad, but glad that she is still going to church and stuff. We were thinking about her and planning and praying and we decided to set a date this week with her for baptism, even if it is way in the future. After we taught her about the Word of Wisdom, we suggested setting a date for baptism, and to our surprise she said that she and Jonathan had been thinking about getting married earlier in paper so that she could get baptised! It was an unexpected and amazing surprise! She said that she wanted to be baptized on her birthday (March 25) so they are preparing everything to be able to be married before then. Yay!!! It has truly been a week of miracles.
Never give up on anyone. Heavenly Father is taking care of all of His children and knows exactly how to help them and in their time and in his own time, they will come around. If we decide to never give up on someone, we will have the privilege of being there when they need us most and being an instrument in the Lord´s hands in helping His beloved children. I don´t remember the chapter, I think it is Matthew 9 or maybe not. Hmm. I forgot to bring my bible. But anyway, remember the story of the man who sat by the pool of water waiting to be healed for 38 YEARS!?!?! That is a long time. And no one was there to help put him down into the water. BUT! Guess what happened? Christ came along and healed him. Just like that. After 38 years of thinking that his only hope was this fantastical pool of water, he comes to find out that the actual solution to his problem can be found in Christ. Christ is always the answer. He has the power to heal us of all our infirmities and the power to help each one of us in our moments of need. Sometimes we have to wait a long time, but help will always come. He will not leave us comfortless. Be that comfort to those who are waiting.
I love you all!
Sister Smith
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