So some things that happened this week!
1. I tried Octopus.
2. I really liked it.
3. Hna. Costagliola started clases de Italiano.
4. I´m the best in the class ;) (ha and now sometimes I speak in Italian instead of Spanish.. Woops)
5. Spring has finally hit Santa Cruz, the rain never stops!
6. My investigator S is so great! She´s preparing for a fecha on the 11th. BUT we found out this week her and her husband are really not married.. SO we taught her the law of chastity and she recognized the wrong in what she was doing and didn´t feel right about it. She asked well can I still be baptized on the 11th? and we explained only if she was married before that date or they lived in a different place. Then she said ¨well I guess he´ll just have to marry me, and if he doesn´t understand I´m just going to have to leave him, I just want to follow God.¨ Me and Hermana looked at each other and were like, is this real life? That never happens!! So hopefully I stay here another transfer, because if they can´t be married by the 11th, they will be by next transfer..
7. Our investigator M. (he´s a friend of another one of our investigators is getting baptized this Saturday! We are so happy for him. He also is another miracle. He is so prepared, and he literally just does everything we tell him. We asked him to stop drinking coffee, he stops. We asked him to live the law of chastity, he does. He reads everything we give him and he is just so great! I´ve never had an investigator so good at keeping commitments. At first we were a little scared, because it was almost too easy, but he really just has the biggest heart, and really loves the way the people in the church live.
8. Also, we had Stake conference yesterday and it was so great!! One thing I absolutely loved was in President Jackson´s talk. He talked about how at the start of their mission the Iglesia in Las Canerias was only a district (not a stake), there was 12 missionaries (only elders), preaching on 2 islands. NOW (he had all the missionaries stand when he said this, super powerful) We are a stake. There are 30 missionaries on 5 islands, including sisters, and 2 matrimonios! How cool!
9. Another thing I really liked was something that the member of the 70 said (I can´t remember his name right now to save my life, but he´s from Madrid) He said, It´s easy to have a testimony of the book of mormon. All we need are 3 things. A sincere heart, true intent, and faith in Christ. This hit me so hard, because I have so many investigators who want these big miracles, they want to finish the book, analyze every line, and this is just not how God works. We don´t gain testimonies from miracles, we never haver. Laman and Lemuel saw angles and still rebelled. The only way we are converted is through the spirit testifying of truths. And conversion is not something that ever stops! Conversion is a process, it takes constant work, study of the scriptures, feeling the spirit, and I would even go as far to add sharing our testimonies. Anyways this is my soap box for today :)
10. Love you all! Thanks so much for the prayers, especially for your prayers for my investigators! LOVE YOU!
1. I tried Octopus.
2. I really liked it.
3. Hna. Costagliola started clases de Italiano.
4. I´m the best in the class ;) (ha and now sometimes I speak in Italian instead of Spanish.. Woops)
5. Spring has finally hit Santa Cruz, the rain never stops!
6. My investigator S is so great! She´s preparing for a fecha on the 11th. BUT we found out this week her and her husband are really not married.. SO we taught her the law of chastity and she recognized the wrong in what she was doing and didn´t feel right about it. She asked well can I still be baptized on the 11th? and we explained only if she was married before that date or they lived in a different place. Then she said ¨well I guess he´ll just have to marry me, and if he doesn´t understand I´m just going to have to leave him, I just want to follow God.¨ Me and Hermana looked at each other and were like, is this real life? That never happens!! So hopefully I stay here another transfer, because if they can´t be married by the 11th, they will be by next transfer..
7. Our investigator M. (he´s a friend of another one of our investigators is getting baptized this Saturday! We are so happy for him. He also is another miracle. He is so prepared, and he literally just does everything we tell him. We asked him to stop drinking coffee, he stops. We asked him to live the law of chastity, he does. He reads everything we give him and he is just so great! I´ve never had an investigator so good at keeping commitments. At first we were a little scared, because it was almost too easy, but he really just has the biggest heart, and really loves the way the people in the church live.
8. Also, we had Stake conference yesterday and it was so great!! One thing I absolutely loved was in President Jackson´s talk. He talked about how at the start of their mission the Iglesia in Las Canerias was only a district (not a stake), there was 12 missionaries (only elders), preaching on 2 islands. NOW (he had all the missionaries stand when he said this, super powerful) We are a stake. There are 30 missionaries on 5 islands, including sisters, and 2 matrimonios! How cool!
9. Another thing I really liked was something that the member of the 70 said (I can´t remember his name right now to save my life, but he´s from Madrid) He said, It´s easy to have a testimony of the book of mormon. All we need are 3 things. A sincere heart, true intent, and faith in Christ. This hit me so hard, because I have so many investigators who want these big miracles, they want to finish the book, analyze every line, and this is just not how God works. We don´t gain testimonies from miracles, we never haver. Laman and Lemuel saw angles and still rebelled. The only way we are converted is through the spirit testifying of truths. And conversion is not something that ever stops! Conversion is a process, it takes constant work, study of the scriptures, feeling the spirit, and I would even go as far to add sharing our testimonies. Anyways this is my soap box for today :)
10. Love you all! Thanks so much for the prayers, especially for your prayers for my investigators! LOVE YOU!