I am happy to share this email with you and let you see how Ben has come to realize the Lord's hand in what he is doing. The miracles that he is seeing, even the small things, are helping my testimony of missionary work as I know that they are helping Ben grow in the gospel and recognize the importance of what he is doing. He is truly on the Lord's errand!
Happy Week Family!
So, we have scheduled this week.... a miracle.... We have a baptism scheduled for Sunday. He is the grandson of a recent convert (of 3 or 4 years). His name is Richard, he is about 30 years old, lives in the fondo (word for the back addition of a house) of his grandmothers house (Sister Ana Maria). He had listened to the missionaries before when his brother and grandmother were investigating.
** [Cultural note: A family, instead of moving away from the house of their parents, simply builds an addition to the house somewhere on the property. Some of the older members will have 3 or 4 additional cement houses connected to their own property that will house their children and grandchildren.]
** [Cultural note: A family, instead of moving away from the house of their parents, simply builds an addition to the house somewhere on the property. Some of the older members will have 3 or 4 additional cement houses connected to their own property that will house their children and grandchildren.]
The way we found him is a real miracle. We had set up to have his grandmother come visit an investigator we had that was about her same age. We went to the investigators house to confirm the appointment and she came out yelling at us, saying she didn't want us to come back any more and that she hated what we represented (which is weird because we had had two charlas with her before and she loved our message, especially when we talked about eternal families, because she is a widow and has lost two children earlier in life). We were really upset because she was an awesome investigator. So we went to Sister Ana Maria´s house to let her know the charla was called off.
Miracle 1. So Sister Ana Maria invited us in to share a small message with her and her grandson.
Miracle 2. He had attended the church the week before to listen to his grandma give a talk.
Miracle 3. We sat down chatted for a few minutes, then we asked Richard what he thought of Church. He said he loved it, but didn't quite understand what the Gospel Principles class was about because he entered late.
Miracle 4. The topic of the class was baptism.
Miracle 5. He asked if we could explain it for him. We explained why baptism is so important, how it a starting over to a better life, how it is the key to the personal salvation of each person, how we show that we are willing to follow Christ, and how it opens us up to all kinds of opportunities to receive more blessings. The spirit was so strong, and we asked him if baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was something that could help him.
Miracle 6. He answered without hesitation, yes. He wanted to get baptized as soon as possible.He said that he´s been going through a lot of difficulties in his life and he thinks that this change could really turn his life around. He already had listened to almost all the charlas 3 or 4 years back , but we still needed to go over everything. So, now he has had almost all the lessons. We pass by to see him every day, since he only has 9 days before his baptism.
Miracle 7. He quit smoking in 2 days. we were going to give him a little longer, but he wanted to quit even quicker. He pretty much only needs his interview with the Zone Leaders and he is good to go for Sunday morning.
Right now we are mostly working on finding him some people to be a friend. He's a bit older than all the YSA's (Young Single Adults) and a bit younger than all the other Single Adults, and there aren't that many members here anyway. He's awesome and will be a great addition to the church. All I ask from each of you is for prayers for him. He is making a huge change in a short time. Even if something comes up this week, I know that he'll work though it and he will eventually join the church, but we are doing everything possible to help him make this step.
Miracle 1. So Sister Ana Maria invited us in to share a small message with her and her grandson.
Miracle 2. He had attended the church the week before to listen to his grandma give a talk.
Miracle 3. We sat down chatted for a few minutes, then we asked Richard what he thought of Church. He said he loved it, but didn't quite understand what the Gospel Principles class was about because he entered late.
Miracle 4. The topic of the class was baptism.
Miracle 5. He asked if we could explain it for him. We explained why baptism is so important, how it a starting over to a better life, how it is the key to the personal salvation of each person, how we show that we are willing to follow Christ, and how it opens us up to all kinds of opportunities to receive more blessings. The spirit was so strong, and we asked him if baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was something that could help him.
Miracle 6. He answered without hesitation, yes. He wanted to get baptized as soon as possible.He said that he´s been going through a lot of difficulties in his life and he thinks that this change could really turn his life around. He already had listened to almost all the charlas 3 or 4 years back , but we still needed to go over everything. So, now he has had almost all the lessons. We pass by to see him every day, since he only has 9 days before his baptism.
Miracle 7. He quit smoking in 2 days. we were going to give him a little longer, but he wanted to quit even quicker. He pretty much only needs his interview with the Zone Leaders and he is good to go for Sunday morning.
Right now we are mostly working on finding him some people to be a friend. He's a bit older than all the YSA's (Young Single Adults) and a bit younger than all the other Single Adults, and there aren't that many members here anyway. He's awesome and will be a great addition to the church. All I ask from each of you is for prayers for him. He is making a huge change in a short time. Even if something comes up this week, I know that he'll work though it and he will eventually join the church, but we are doing everything possible to help him make this step.
Well that´s all I have time for. Love you all!!
Élder Taylor
p.s. I got the Dear Elder package, thank you so much! (we sent that package a couple of weeks before Christmas and worried that it might not ever get there. Hope the cookies weren't too old or hard :)
p.p.s. I got the package from Grandma, thank you so much! (she sent her package the day after we sent our Christmas package, but it took a lot more time to get there for some reason, but at least he has gotten everything)
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