We've Got God on Our Side

Faaaaamilia :) 

       I know I say how fast the weeks are pretty much every week, but it’s true! This week flew just like the others. First of all...SEVEN investigators at church yesterday! This is amazing!! We had Diana, Gabriel, Edward, Edwin, Roger, Mavila, and Kayla. It was the best day ever! We were both a little scared...It being fast and testimony meeting... We all know how those can go sometimes eh? But it was GREAT. The testimonies shared were perfect. The members, who usually sit back and don’t want to go up, were seriously fighting for a turn. Okay, not really, but pretty close. Everyone wanted to share! So stinkin great.

       Best lesson ever this week with Diana and Gabriel. Even better than last week! We just felt like they were losing interest. Diana wasn’t asking questions (which is reeeeally weird) and they just weren’t feeling the spirit. So we knew we needed a lesson really great, but we couldn’t figure out what they needed. We decided to talk about how they can receive their answer. We were there in the lesson, saying all the right things, but the spirit just wasn’t there like it should have been. We asked Diana how she feels when she reads and she told us she always feels scared. How were we supposed to tell her that that was the spirit? Haha we couldn’t! We had nothin....And that’s when the spirit saved the day. We were sitting there... Hermana Escalante had nothing to say, they both weren’t saying anything, and it was just bad. That’s when the image of Joseph Smith struggling popped into my head. He only saw God AFTER he was tempted by Satan. So I hurried and found verses in Joseph Smith History, and went with it. Hermana Escalante laughed after and told me she had never seen me so determined haha but anyway, we explained basically that Satan isn’t stupid. He knows what a great family they are. He can see an eternal family. Just like Joseph Smith, their answer isn’t gonna come easy. That’s not how it works. Joseph Smith kept praying. He kept going. That’s what they've got to do. She says she wants a certainty like us, but it’s only gonna come after her faith is tried a little bit. Great lesson! And even better, they stayed for all three hours of church! The only downfall.... They’re not married. BUT there’s a mass wedding thing in December that we’re going to challenge them to tomorrow. Ahhhh:) Fingers crossed! Pshh. Who am I kidding? We don’t need luck when we’ve got God on our side right? ;) (Your prayers would help though...Just sayin)

       We also had exchanges this week and I was in Los Ficus with Hermana Johnson from Nevada. She’s the sweetest thing EVER. She really is! The confidence she has in the Lord is amazing. Funniest story though...So of course it was a little bit rough with 2 gringas, but we were having this really great lesson. It was the first lesson with this lady and her daughter. Her daughter’s a member and Hermana Johnson told me her mom wasn’t. Long story short...We challenged a member to baptism lol. And she accepted! Haha so funny.

       Hermana Johnson: "If you receive an answer that this is the true church, will you be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?"

       Member: "Baptism is essential right? We need to be baptized to follow Christ."

       Me: “Exactly. So will you be baptized?

       Member: "Yeah. That would be really great."

       Her daughter: "My mom's a member...."

       That’s when we both looked at each other like Ooooooh Snap. Yep we just did that. Challenging them to baptism, one member at a time. 

       And a little explanation on all the investigators at church... Edwin is lovin the church. Wants to be baptized ASAP but is living with his girlfriend. He's gonna talk to her about getting married in December too. She’s really catholic though so he needs all the prayers she can get!

       Roger is an only child and his mom is really catholic too. We have lessons with him in the church because she doesn’t know he’s meeting with us. He’s 28. The only stuff he knows of the church is from the Internet...So he has LOTS of questions but it’s great.

I think I told you about Edward. His problem is drinking we’re pretty sure...He called us at 2 in the morning this week a weeee bit tipsy. We think so anyway, because he called us again that afternoon and remembered nothing...We’re teaching the Word of Wisdom this week that’s for sure lol.

       Mavila is 68 and Kayla is her 13-year-old granddaughter. She has a disease, (forgot the name in Spanish) and is going to die soon :( We just need the support of their family now. That’s why we are super happy Kayla came to church with her!

       Augusto won’t answer our phone calls :( He had a baptism date for Saturday but apparently that didn’t workout... Hopefully we can find out what has happened with him this week.

       This week my goal has been something a little different. I kept having darn discouraging thoughts this week. Like when people can’t understand me I’m always like, "I can’t do this...When will I be fluent?...Or why can’t I learn faster?" But these thoughts aren’t from God! Fear and doubt is opposite of faith. So I decided every time I think something like that, I’m gonna think of all the reasons I have to smile. If when Satan tempts me and I do something to better myself, it just makes sense that eventually he’s gonna stop right? Right! He’s not stupid. He’s not gonna want to put those thoughts in my head if I use them against him :) It really has helped so much! I find myself a lot more grateful at the end of every day for the things I have :)

       Welp.  Time to go :)  LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Have the best weekend and pray for my investigators pleeease? :)

Love,

Hermana Roper