Hi Family!!
It was really cool this week- we found 4 new less actives! It's something that the Packs have wanted us to focus on a lot- less active work- and we were praying really hard for opportunities to do so. We've also been looking for miracles of the day, and it's been cool to see that when you look for miracles, you really can find them. We have this investigator named M. that we found in the house of another investigator. She's been a bit hard to meet with and she never wanted to invite us over to her house- she just kept telling us that we could come see her in the house of her friend where we found her. We basically had no hope of her ever progressing, and worse yet, she told us that she has a daughter that got baptized awhile back that hasn't been coming to church for about three years. We were never going to be able to meet her daughter if we were never able to go over to her house, so we were a bit worried about the whole situation. So on Tuesday (?) (can't ever distinguish the days, they're all the same), we taught English classes to this little Spaniard family that we visit, and as we were leaving, I saw this woman carrying a huge amount of groceries walking towards us. We went up to help her and realized it was M.! She was actually having s really hard time with her groceries because she has problems with her hands and had forgotten her cell phone to call her daughter with to have her come and help. So we took her grocers and she let us into her piso and we ended up being able to teach a lesson to her and...wait for it... Her menos activa 15 year old daughter!! We were so excited, it was like this big timing of the Lord miracle and we loved it. We were able to visit them twice this week and review essential Gospel principles to help them feel the Spirit coming back into their lives. The hurdle will be church attendance. But we are going to see progression with them, I know it.
Speaking of miracles... J. M. He's a straight up miracle. He's this Catholic deacon who Hermana Stephenson and I found in a park in my first transfer here. He's Spanish, awesome, and into theater. I don't remember if I've written about him before but he's awesome. This week we couldn't meet with him because of his horribly busy theater schedule, but he came to church and the best part was is that he asked his Catholic Church boss guy for some time off so that he could come to church for longer. And he LOVED it. And then, our ward mission leader actually fulfilled his calling and INVITED HIM TO A BAPTISM. The daughter of the branch president in Oveido got baptized in our capilla and J. M. accepted the invitation and came. This may not seem like a big deal but it was a huge deal, and he absolutely loved it. Even though the little girl was a pill- he loved it a lot. And he said that it "fills him"- everything that he learns here. We still have a lot to teach him but he's incredible. And the whole branch is just so excited about him. It's incredible, the member missionary work that goes on when somebody interesting comes to church... Haha, it's funny. And I appreciate it.
Also, speaking of menos activa work, we have this friend here named N. who is just the best and our best friend and the young women's president. Her husband, who was once a member of the district presidency, has been inactive for about 14 years. He's incredible and were not really sure what happened, but N. invited us over to visit him a few weeks ago and we've been visiting with him ever since. So we show up last night, made pancakes with them and then read from the Book of Mormon together. So my companion the night before suggested that we read from Alma 5. I was like, ehhh.... That's like the most call to repentance chapter in the Book of Mormon and it might be a bit too much, but then I didn't say that and we went through with our plan. Literally 62 verses of repent or go to hell verses. Like, we don't even believe in hell! And I was so uncomfortable that I could not even look at this guy the whole time we're reading and I'm messing up a ton in my Spanish because I just can't believe how fuerte we are being with this 14 year inactive man and my companion is doing the same thing. And then, we talk about repentance a little bit and invite him to come back to church and you guessed it he said YES. Taught me a powerful lesson- We should never, ever apologize for the doctrine. We let the Spirit be the teacher, and the Book of Mormon, and he accepted to come back, at least one time. And it was awesome, al final. We were so excited about.
So yeah, good week. Not perfect but good and I'm grateful for the answers and the help that God always sends to us. He's been teaching me so much about His Son, Jesus Christ as of late. It's a lesson that literally takes our entire lives to learn, but I'm so grateful for this consecrated experience of learning of the Atonement. I love my Savior and how sweet and patient He truly is. I'm grateful for His church. I know that the Prophet is a man called of God, along with his counsellors, to teach us about Jesus Christ and testify that He lives and loves us. When they make decisions and share their wisdom, it's always for our benefit. We have much to learn from them and their examples and goodness. I am grateful for the compelling and inspiring doctrine of repentance and that the Gospel is a cycle that never ends, simply fills. I love this time of my life and I don't want it to end, but I will go where the Lord wants me to go with faith. :)
I love you so much!!
Love,
Sam
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