What a great week! This week we could really see the fruits of our labors. Sometimes we work and don’t see results, but this week was very meaningful.
We have the help of the members and we are doing a ton of Family Home Evenings. When the members accompany us we reward them (bribe?) with chocolate (most recently hard candies because they are more economical) and we let them experience the joy of missionary work. The work is great when the members accompany us and share their testimonies because it helps fortify their faith, too.
At church, Consuelo shared her testimony of tithing. “My kids were crying because we didn’t have money to buy food and I knelt and prayed for help. My husband got a job and we had to choose to pay our tithing or eat for the next week. We paid our tithing. I don’t know how it’s possible, but we survived for 2 weeks on 1 sol (1 dollar).” Wow! What faith!
I loved the lesson with Aldo and his family, because he has so many questions. Every 5 minutes he would interrupt with more questions. “What’s a prophet? Who’s Joseph Smith? How do you know if the Plan of Salvation is real?” He lost his faith when he lost his baby son, and we shared with him a verse in Doctrine and Covenants 137 about how his baby is with God and will inherit the Celestial Kingdom. He was content to know that his son is in a good place. Also, we shared with him how the Book of Mormon answers those questions that he has had for years. What happens after this life? What is the purpose of this life? Who is God? He was grateful for his Book of Mormon. I love the scriptures.
We are seeing changes in our ward, thanks to the new bishopric. They reminded the members that they need to stay the entire block of meetings, and not leave after sacrament meeting. We met with the bishopric and are now working with the strong families of our ward to reach out to the weaker families in the ward. We are seeing major changes and we are so grateful. Wow! What a turn around!
It’s cold here. Legitimately cold. I think I’ve lost 2 kilos because of all the shivering! As a result, I have instinctively started singing Christmas carols (Madrigals style “Deck the Halls” and “Betelehemu” and THS Band Style “The Hannukah Song” and the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas medley. Do those count as hymns?). Christmas in July is the best.
Love,
Hermana Christensen
