=Missionaries @
General Conference.
If you haven't seen
it, stop reading this e-mail RIGHT NOW and get yourself to conference.lds.org and begin your feast.
More to come
luego.
Love ya'll muchisimo!
-Sister Wells
Hello
President,
Wasn't conference wonderful??? It, like everything else in this marvelous work, was full of miracles.
Our bishop invited our investigator, *** (who just finished the Book of Mormon and is now living the Word of Wisdom fully) to have a lesson and watch a session at his house yesterday. We fasted and prayed that this session of conference would directly address his needs--specifically his need to come to church more regularly and to live the Law of Chastity. We discussed both of these things briefly in the lesson we had before the session began--in which we showed Elder Bednar's "Patterns of Light" Mormon Messages and discussed the Gift of the Holy Ghost, as well as how he could expect to receive more answers (i.e. by living the commandments, attending church, etc). As usual, he avoided the commitment to attend church regularly. We may have pressed the issue further, but he distracted us by announcing that after reading the Law of Chastity pamphlet, he was now considering marriage to his girlfriend of 27 years. ...But it's okay because Heavenly Father has our back! Elder Hamilton's talk was an explicit answer to our prayers to deepen his understanding of the doctrine of revelation through church attendance. I had to keep myself from laughing with joy as we watched it. I have full faith that *** will be at church on Sunday.
(There is a picture of this miracle documented below. As well as a delicious "gourmet s'more" that Sister ***** made for us while we watched. Try raspberry dark chocolate Ghiradelli squares on a fancy vanilla wafer thing and you'll never be the same)
Wasn't conference wonderful??? It, like everything else in this marvelous work, was full of miracles.
Our bishop invited our investigator, *** (who just finished the Book of Mormon and is now living the Word of Wisdom fully) to have a lesson and watch a session at his house yesterday. We fasted and prayed that this session of conference would directly address his needs--specifically his need to come to church more regularly and to live the Law of Chastity. We discussed both of these things briefly in the lesson we had before the session began--in which we showed Elder Bednar's "Patterns of Light" Mormon Messages and discussed the Gift of the Holy Ghost, as well as how he could expect to receive more answers (i.e. by living the commandments, attending church, etc). As usual, he avoided the commitment to attend church regularly. We may have pressed the issue further, but he distracted us by announcing that after reading the Law of Chastity pamphlet, he was now considering marriage to his girlfriend of 27 years. ...But it's okay because Heavenly Father has our back! Elder Hamilton's talk was an explicit answer to our prayers to deepen his understanding of the doctrine of revelation through church attendance. I had to keep myself from laughing with joy as we watched it. I have full faith that *** will be at church on Sunday.
(There is a picture of this miracle documented below. As well as a delicious "gourmet s'more" that Sister ***** made for us while we watched. Try raspberry dark chocolate Ghiradelli squares on a fancy vanilla wafer thing and you'll never be the same)
Another non-conference-related (at least not directly) miracle:
*****, an almost-former investigator, was finally able to meet with us again! We went out to lunch with him and the **** (your favorite Japanese fan!) on Saturday. Unbeknownst to all of us, Brother **** and ****** are old high school buddies! And on top of that, both have had really similar life trials and experiences. It was a beautiful experience teaching them together, and hearing the humble and quiet Brother **** bear his powerful testimony and conversion story. It turns out that ***** has been reading and studying quite a bit during the last month since we have met with him. He retained a lot of information, and he seems to comprehend the importance of the First vision and the Priesthood (the 2 essential doctrines we decided to emphasize in the lesson). He accepted the baptismal invitation for "the future" as he studies more, but we haven't extended a date yet. Don't worry. You'll be getting a text next week! :)
12-week report: We are right on track-ish! We studied the importance of the Book of Mormon and how to best introduce it to investigators, and both of us have applied our learning within the last 24 hours. Hooray for applied learning! We just need to get caught up in the segments of the District that we need to watch.
Language report: We have faltered, but our dedication was renewed this week. We had a half-day English fast that worked out pretty well. We'll try another one this week. We're also devoting an extra hour outside of the VC each day as "catch-up study time" to ensure we get a full language and companionship study everyday.
Here is how we are progressing with Elder *******'s promise:
I am getting better at talking slower, less, and pausing more. It is one of my four personal goals. Practice has really helped with this. Though we really need to try practicing with other companionships so we can develop more unity in teaching with this method. Sister Ellis is already good at talking slow and pausing, so I've been learning a lot from her.
Sister Ellis is blossoming. I feel that she is becoming more and more of her best self everyday. I have been praying for the ability to see that, and Heavenly Father has blessed me inch-by-inch. I love her more than ever. And I think it's safe to say that she is really beginning to fully love this work.
I love my mission, president. I have had a few random panicked moments over the last week about what I'm going to do with "the rest of my life." I'll be honest in admitting that it was rather distracting and I prayed to get rid of it. However, I'm grateful for the specific answers that came to me throughout this blessed conference weekend. The minute details are still unknown, but what I do know is that Heavenly Father is preparing me for an even deeper, greater work later in my life. I promise that this realization has caused me to renew once more my devotion to where I am now.
God bless you, President and Sister Weidman. I have so much love, respect, and appreciation for both of you and your roles in this marvelous work.
With love and prayers,
Sister Wells
The
rest of the report on Elder *******s' promise:
We are discussing the four essential doctrines in just about every planning session, and making the necessary adjustments to our lesson plans. It has enlightened our perspectives in the most helpful way, and is making us more powerful teachers.
Here is how some of our investigators (those with baptismal dates) are progressing and what we're doing about it:
*******: Has lots of faith in Christ and the Atonement. Though we've taught Restoration, we don't think she fully gets the 1st vision or the priesthood. She is starting to get the Book of Mormon. Our next lesson will focus on the 1st vision and the Restoration of the Priesthood in a much more simple, focused way.
******: He has faith in Christ and the Atonement, though he needs a deeper understanding of Repentance. He gets the priesthood. He is starting to get the Book of Mormon, though we need to connect it back to the First Vision in a more powerful way.
We are discussing the four essential doctrines in just about every planning session, and making the necessary adjustments to our lesson plans. It has enlightened our perspectives in the most helpful way, and is making us more powerful teachers.
Here is how some of our investigators (those with baptismal dates) are progressing and what we're doing about it:
*******: Has lots of faith in Christ and the Atonement. Though we've taught Restoration, we don't think she fully gets the 1st vision or the priesthood. She is starting to get the Book of Mormon. Our next lesson will focus on the 1st vision and the Restoration of the Priesthood in a much more simple, focused way.
******: He has faith in Christ and the Atonement, though he needs a deeper understanding of Repentance. He gets the priesthood. He is starting to get the Book of Mormon, though we need to connect it back to the First Vision in a more powerful way.
No comments:
Post a Comment