Dear Family and Friends,
So this last week was a little difficult. We were able to see some success for sure.
So we are teaching this family.....there are lots of them. There are Graciela and Sergio (the parents), Daniel (the funny 20 year old), Sebastian (the quiet, yet very intelligent 14 year old), and Damien and his wife Ruth (who we don't get to see very often). Every time I teach one member of this family, I am just like on cloud 9. I really don't know why exactly, but it is wonderful. We are struggling to get them to read and pray. They love it when we come over and we love stopping by, but we have to help them to act. The other day we read 1 Nephi 7. For some reason it was so funny. They just crack me up. I said that I hope they like it when we come by....and without a hesitation, Daniel said, "We love it when you come by." Ohh I really hope we can get this family to have a baptismal date very soon.
Yesterday was stake conference and here are a couple of things that I learned.
- Baptism - Being immersed in the water is a symbol of being immersed in the Atonement.
- "Its not a day to be out alone on a boat in this kind of storm....unless Christ is on that boat with you." There was a talk about how crazy the world is and comparing it to a storm. He used the story of Christ on the boat sleeping. Christ was able to calm the craziest storm....He can do that for us as well.
- Following the prophets. Christ gave us them to know what to do at all times. Are we willing to follow them?
Yesterday, we also learned of some problems with the ward. They are just not as loving as they should be. One of our investigators asked us why the members don't live the way that the church teaches. We have so much work to do in the ward. It broke my heard.
So a dear friend of mine told me this story. A girl was having a really hard time. She was less active and drinking. She did not want to pray and did not want to read. Even though she knew these things would help her. She just couldn't seem to find the strength to do this. She felt like she didn't even know who she was anymore. She knew that the life she was living would not help her have the happiness she had once experienced. One day, at her job as a waitress, she had two ladies walk up to her and say her name. She asked them "How do you know my name?" They said that they were her visiting teachers. They didn't teach anything, but they came to see her. After they left, she went to the bathroom and bawled her eyes out. She now wants to return to church. I am so grateful for these two visiting teachers that have helped the person that I dearly love.
I realized that sometimes the things we do seem so small....and we probably think they don't make a difference. These two VT don't know what they did. They just changed someone's life.
I know that the gospel is true. I want to know these more and more and I want to do all the things that I need to do to become a person who is like the Savior. I read a talk called "The Challenge to Become" and it talks about how Charity is a condition not an action. It is something that we must become if we want to live with God. I have experienced this love on my mission and I know that it is the most wonderful feeling I have ever felt. It is a motivator and it is a way that we can really do things for the right reasons. I want to have this more than anything else.
I love you and hope all is well :)
Hermana Spencer
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