So yeah, I have had some fun experiences of late. The first happened this morning during language study. I was just hunkering down, getting ready to whip out my spanish idioms (for instance, they say go to the grain, vaya al grano, instead of get to the point. Oh, and they walk in the branches, they don´t beat around the bush. My favorite is " No me de la lata!" Which means, don´t be a nuisance. Really it´s just fun to say, but I digress) When the doorbell rings. Uh...hello? It turned out to be two people from a different religion who were telling how the Mother of God was on the Earth. Something like that, it was hard to hear over the phone that we have. But, I told them that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and they didn´t go running in the opposite direction, so I figured, sure, why not, let´s go down and talk with them.
So we go down, and see that we´re missionaries (already told you that), and start going in about the Mother of God and what we believe and how we need to read in the Bible and how we´re just as bad as the catholics because we worship on Sunday and not Saturday because no where in the Bible does it say that they worship on Sunday. And, it was mildly confrontational. The whole time I was listening I was wondering why she was trying to fight me on this subject. She kept going back to that too, that we weren´t keeping the commandments, and that Jesus didn´t worship on Sunday. And I tried to explain a little bit about the Book of Mormon and share my testimony. We even read with them the sacrament prayers in Moroni. And the older lady that was there got kind of quiet and said "hey, I´m pretty sure that´s in the Bible." Yeah, it´s in Luke. So, she was able to see that the Book of Mormon goes hand in hand with the Bible, and as we tried to share our testimonies about how God has called prophets again on the Earth to help clarify the Bible, the little fire headed Hermana wasn´t really interested in listening. So I just bore my testimony again, and ended the conversation. Ya está.
The interesting part was just seeing the different preaching styles. Hermana Alvey and I were very respectful, we understand that she is trying to help people come unto Christ and it is important to her too. But for a goodly portion she just spoke at us, and then fire bombed us with scriptures. It helped me understand how the people we talk too feel. I don´t feel like I´ve ever been aggressive enough to fire bomb people with scriptures (look! You´re condemned to hell, it says so in the scriptures right here!, I don´t think so. That´s not nice or Christ like). But her whole approach just lacked the love of God. God wants everyone to come back to him, and Christ served everyone. He didn´t attack them. I don´t know, it was interesting.
Oh, P.S. God LOVES me! So, we had this lesson with Monica the other day. She´s our 11 yr old investigator who loves church and is getting baptized this weekend (please pray for her, she is the only one getting baptized in her family and we need the support of her parents. I really want her parents to come to the baptism..Prayers please!!!) And as we were talking someone who lives in the same house with her and her family walked by. So we talked briefly and set up an appointment to return. We continue talking with Monica and tell her, if she happened to feel like it, she should talk to Oscar (the man) and share with him how much she likes talking to us. To which she responds "Do you want me to give him a Book of Mormon?" .....DUH!! okay, so we whip out a book of mormon put in a little testimony and have Monica chose the chapter that we are going to give him to read (she´s so good about doing her spiritual homework, she chose 2 Nefi 32). And then the next time we passed by she had given him the book, and said that she thinks he was reading it. Not sure, but it was so great that she was willing to do that. It is so humbling to me, that in this chaotic world we live in, where so many adults want the truth and want to find peace, that they can´t find it because they won´t take the time. BUt the little children who don´t even know they need to look for the truth, take the time to feel it, and see it in their lives. Monica loves the Book of Mormon. She knows that it is true. And I´m so happy to be a part of the invitation, to help her have this happiness for time and all eternity.
Those were the two main stories from this week. I went to Villa Crespa this week and did another Capilla Abierta. I do love them. The fun part was racing home at the end of the night. We weren´t given a Remis (like a taxi, but paid by distance not by time) so at 8:15 we were pushed out the door with a "You have to go home now! (it´s over an hour viaje by collectivo).....be safe." They love the Hermanas. It did make for quite the adventure. Running to the Sube (Subway) and then to the Collectivo parada. And then to the pension. Got my heart rate up real good. I do NOT like running in a skirt. But the Capilla Abierta was a success, and I was able to do a lot of really good teaching, and help members and nonmembers a like. We all need to fortify our testimonies.
Here´s my scripture for the week. Well known, still needed. James 1:22 "But be ye doer´s of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Baptism is an act of faith. Searching for the promptings of the Holy Ghost is also an act. We are not a passive church. Salvation is not a passive lifestyle. We work hard every day to change and be more like God, because He is our perfect example. And through the gift and blessing of the Atonement we can draw ourselves closer to those who truly want to make us happy.
I love you all. You need to repent. But don´t worry. I do to. I repent every day so that when I meet you all again you can see how much of a better person I´ve become. I look forward to the day where I can serve you all and help you better understand your roles in God´s plan and how much He truly loves you and wants to be a part of your lives. You probably already know it. But that´s okay. I´ll still be there.
Hermana Reed
No comments:
Post a Comment