Heyyyy all 😉
Right now we’re teaching a woman named Maria. She’s super awesome! I might have told you a little bit about her but since I can’t remember I’ll just tell you again. She’s been going through dialysis and is losing her eye sight. Her daughter is a member who is moving to Utah this week 😉 Love her! Well, we’ve been teaching her and she’s agreed to let us read The Book of Mormon to her. She’s told us that she would be baptized if her husband supported her. He’s catholic. Super catholic. But we’re hoping that she’ll be the one to help him have more interest. We’re trying to help her have more spiritual experiences and that she’ll share them with her husband. As people, we are always changing and our agency molds us. The gospel teaches us how to use our agency and develop celestial habits and changes 🙂
We are also teaching a family of 3 from Guadalajara. I might have mentioned them as well. But. We have a lesson tonight and we’re planning on teaching them the restoration. I’m super pumped for this lesson. The mom is actually a member but it’s been 30+ years and considers herself Catholic. They are just super genuine people and I sure do love them 🙂
I’ll tell you more about the others next week! Those were just the ones that were on my mind today.
Thanks for that awesome inspirational thought! I actually really want to share that with a less active family that we are working with. This past week we were able to see a lot of our less actives, which was really nice but none of them seem to be ready to do anything. They usually just flat out tell us that they don’t want to go to church. That they are comfortable. That they would rather not get involved with all those imperfect members or even think about having a responsibility in the church.
It’s surprising how many of them don’t really remember their baptisms either. And they can’t say specifically why they were baptized. This past week I felt very grateful for you and dad and that you taught me about baptism and then continued to teach me long afterwards so that I better understood the promises that I had made. Almost all of the members in the branch are converts and I have been so blessed to be strengthened by their testimonies of the restored gospel, and for some, even their lack of testimony has helped me strengthen my own; but when I first started sharing the gospel as a missionary I almost felt less than a member because I was “raised in the church” and people have told me that I don’t know what I’m talking about because I was brainwashed. And there are a lot of things that I don’t know or that I don’t understand 100%. But. There are things that I do know.
I know that God is good. I know that he lives and that he is love. I know that families are a source of strength and support that bring happiness and purpose. They are eternal. I know that because God wants us to be happy he has given us prophets to guide us and remind us of the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that Christ set up his church upon prophets, apostles, and the priesthood. And that he leads his church today. At one point the world was dark. People stopped asking questions. But I know that Joseph Smith reach for the heavens and asked a question. A simple question. A question that reminds me every single day that God answers prayers.
And because God answers prayers I can believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only church with the restored priesthood. I can believe that The Book of Mormon is true. And I can believe that our less actives and investigators and every breathing soul can believe in what I believe too.
And I am so grateful.
Today was transfer calls and Hermana Pirir and I dodged the bullet! Only 2 more transfers so it’s pretty likely that I’ll die here in Monroe but that’s something to be very grateful for 🙂 It’s going to be a good transfer. I can feel it.
Well all, make it a good week 🙂 and I hope that you’re looking for more ways to strengthen your testimony of the restored gospel. I love this gospel. And I love you. See you all when the razor gets dull.
Much love,
Hermana Bain
[Razor Explanation]
“Dad will probably tell you this, but I thought it was funny. He said today that you are one razor blade away from coming home. Dad uses his razor blades for a certain period of time and apparently you are due home about when his current razor blade will need to be changed. So when people ask how much longer you have on your mission, I can answer “she is one razor blade away.”
sisterbain 