Thanks
so much for all of your love and support :) For reals, I am SO grateful for all
of you. Ok soooo this week for the most part has been a really good one!
Ok, so
yes. The work goes on! I'm coming to see how much fasting, praying, and goal
setting can really make a difference in the work. The big news...we have a
baptismal date! I think I mentioned a man named Jose who the elders referred to
us. Well we decided that we were gonna try hard to set a baptismal date with
him at the first lesson if it felt right...it's something that our mission pres
has stressed before that we needed to give a shot. So we got there, and we
brought a recent convert with us. So we got to his place and he has a pretty
nice apartment, but he didn't have any furniture...just a little camping chair
and an air mattress that he sleeps on in the living room. We come to find out,
that he doesn't have any of this stuff because he's SUPER addicted to gambling.
He tells us that he gets his paycheck on Friday, goes straight to teh casino on
the indian reservation, and spends it all. He has this problem with his eyes,
but hasn't gotten surgery because he spends the money gambling. He even sold
his truck because he wanted money for gambling. He got divorced 4 months ago,
and has 2 older sons in mexico and a little 5 year old girl here that he sees
on the weekends. It was so heartbreaking, he is completely completely addicted
and just doesn't know how to get out of it. So...we taught him the first
lesson. and it went really well, he has a lot of knowledge. So at the end of
the lesson, I knew sister tejada was going to make me be the one to do the
baptismal commitment, so I just told him that if he came to find out that all
these things are true...that the book of mormon is true, that the fullness of
the gospel of jesus christ is still here for us, that god loves himm, all of
that...if he comes to know that's true, if he would be baptized, and he said of
course! and so then we asked him if he would prepare for october 8th as a goal
for a day he could be baptized on, and he said yes. So wooohoooooo! They
haven't had a baptismal date in this area since like, June or July...so it was
good to see that happen. And he just wants to change so badly, it's so
heartbreaking. So yeah, Jose will be our new focus! It was also really good,
because we brought our recent convert and she just shared her testimony a lot,
which was really good to learn to see just how strong her testimony has become.
So
yes...we also had an exchange this past week for just one afternoon, so I went
with Sister Hartvigsen so our area. That was really good, because it made me
take a little more initiative with speaking, because she's also a gringa.
So now I'm just trying to take that same initiative when I teach with
Hma Tejada. So we had 2 great lessons, one with Familia Baez and one with
Griselda. Familia Baez, we had been nervous about them, but we taught the mom
and dad, and just told them how important it is to read and to pray about the
Book of Mormon, and they confessed that they hadn't been doing that. The dad
started warming up again, being more receptive, which was really good. And then
we taught Griselda, and finished the 1st lesson with her, and that went well.
We had
stake conference yesterday, which I really enjoyed, but it made it a little
harder for us to bring our investigators to :( . I'm still trying to figure out
how in the world missionary work works and how to get investigators to
progress, but I'm needing to just remind myself to be patient.
What
else...this week is mission tour, which should be fun. The last pday, sister
tejada and I went and got greek food for lunch, and today for pday we have a
zone activity (watching god's army...classic missionary moment), and then we're
having dinner with the couple whose basement we live in.
Visitor's
Center is going well. That's specifically where I'm coming to see how goal
setting is so important, and when you set a goal, it really does show God your
faith, and he provides a way for you to accomplish it. I set goals and fasted
so that I could confirm more referrals (meaning that I spoke to the people on
the phone, invited them to meet with missionaries and they accepted), and get
more top boxes (which is when nonmembers come to the VC and they accept to meet
with missionaries). I also set goals about getting more referrals from Spanish
speakers. So, this week...I was able to get a Spanish speaker top box, and then
I gave a spanish tour and got some spanish referrals! So that was really cool.
As for confirming, I'm getting closer and closer to my goal I feel like, but
telephones definitely take a lot of practice. The visitor's center is great. I
love working with members, and I also love working with less actives that come
into the VC. I also love that a lot of recent converts come to the VC, and I
get to talk with them and hear their story and learn more about how I can be a better
missionary.
What
else, yesterday was September 11th (FYI, incase you're even more out of touch
than I am haha), and we showed the music and the spoken word broadcast here in
the VC that commemorated it.
Que
mas...we continue to struggle with how to work with members, and how to get
them to come to lessons with us! I feel like the most important thing is just
to love the members, they need to feel that love so they can know that you're
bringing that same love to investigators. So I'm trying to not let the language
barrier prevent me from showing my love for them. This Friday they have their
big activity, and we're trying to help them out as much as possible, because
we'll only be able to be there for 1 hour, because of teh VC.
Also,
one of the senior couples here, the husband lived in La Canada for a long time.
His name is Cal Andreason, and he's the youngest son of Juel Andreason. He
wanted me to ask mom/dad if you knew his family, because he knew like the
Welch's, Callisters, etc.
So yep,
that's the roundup. Thanks for everything! I love you guys so much. Lesson of
teh week is that we should remember that discouragement always comes from
Satan, and that when we let our light shine, it lets other people shine their
own light. i'm so grateful that we have the Gospel to make unhappy
people happy, and happy people happier! The end :) Love, Hermana Fors
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