Hey, did I tell you that last week I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and it was awesome? I think I forgot, because I was ragging on people, but I did. Nope, I just checked, I talked about Adrian. I forget things super easy. Well, the best part of last week was that I gave a talk and I essentially did the Introduction to the Book of Mormon....over the pulpit. Best idea of my life! Because there are a ton of members who don´t really recognize how important the Book of Mormon is, what it really signifies, and what that means for us. They know that it´s true, but then get caught up in other details. Anyways, the point is, after explaining it just a little bit we were able to see the fruits of our labors, the members here in Zarate II trust us as missionaries a lot more. They are willing to work with us and help us know the area more and are asking for our help. Missionary Gold!
But I tell you this not to brag, but to move on to my first story. We had a FHE monday night with a family mildly less active. Sometimes they come to church, sometimes not. But they had been to church the day before, and during our FHE we were talking about the Restoration of the church, why it was important. And they stopped us, and the Hermano said, "Yeah, about that, why was the Restoration important? How do we know?" Which made me realize, that there are still a lot of people who don´t really understand why it is important to know that we are members of the only church that has the authority of God. And why God only gave His authority to one church (so there weren´t dissensions....that´s such a church word, so the people wouldn´t be fighting over stuff). And later the Hermana asked "I was wondering, what does the word Atonement mean. You used that in your talk yesterday, and how do we receive revelations?" And it was a great teaching opportunity because we were able to help her understand that the Atonement means that we can make it back to God. The suffering of Jesus for our sins, with his crucifixion and his resureccion means that when we make mistakes, there is someone who can help us out. Jesus knows what we´ve been through, and through the power that God has given him, he can help us overcome our mortal habits. I love teaching opportunities like this. This is super basic doctrine, knowing the Atonement, and realizing that the Atonement is our saving grace. Without it, there really wouldn´t be a point to life, because there would be know way for us to progress.
So, that was awesome. Then we had a lesson with our recent convert (he got baptized the Saturday before we arrived) who also had been to church that day. And during the lesson he told us that he had questions. They had written it down, but because they had forgotten we were coming over and then rushed over to meet with us (we called them from their house.....oops) they forgot the paper. But they want to learn, they are willing to learn. We talked about eternal marriage with him and his girlfriend, about being worthy to enter the temple, and being a worthy priesthood holder (he´s got some concerns about serving a mission, he´s a rather timid young man). But it just makes me so happy when people say they have questions, because that means they are reading, and paying attention. Score!
Then Tuesday (I know, not even done with Tuesday) We go over to our favorite recent convert/investigator family (they are waiting to get married so the dad can get baptized) we learned that he had been mugged right before coming home. And it was the perfect opportunity to bolster his testimony with Mosiah 13:3 "Touch me not" - we were able to share with him and help him understand that God has a plan specifically designed to help him and even when Satan starts messing around with our lives, we have the power to tell him to knock it off. The kids had a lot of fun with that one. We gave them a lot of examples, "What do you say when you want to hit your brother?" "No me toquéis! (Touch me not)"
Wednesday we had our Zone Conference in Esobar - which included a 2 hour bus ride plus waiting for buses. Early morning for the missionaries. But it was fun as I got to see Hermana Whitehead and I got my package!! Oh shoot I just realized, the computer here doesn´t read my card. But I lOVE my package. My mom loves me a lot, she gives me Triscuts (Hna Whitehead laughed about that, she remembers how much I love them) and my FROZEN CHOZEN T-SHIRT!! Which I wear to bed every night. Thanks Fallerina! I love it. And I laughed histerically at the bible references to frozen things. I really did enjoy Chacra.
Alright, and then Saturday (we´re going quick here I have to wrap things up) we met a woman named Rosa, who is super sweet. We were talking to her, and her son is in jail, accused of being an accomplice to a burglury. He was out riding with his friend when his friend decides to hop off his bike and rob a Kiosco, gets back on the bike and they ride off. Super unfortunate. But when we asked her if she would get baptized she said yes! And then she told us that never had there been a moment in her life when she has felt such joy, as when she said yes to getting baptized. It was a miracle lesson, and is just living proof that God is preparing people to listen to the Gospel. It´s not always hard, it just is like 95% of the time, and that´s when we show our faith to keep going.
And then on Sunday we went over to visit our investigator that lost her fecha because she didn´t come to church! (tear fest) We were able to work through what had happened, and she was actually sad as well, because she knew that she would have to wait to get baptized now. But the miracle came when we were talking with her roommate. Her roommate is taking care of her granddaughter, because the daughter isn´t really in to the whole "caring for your children" trend that´s been around since the days of Adam and Even. And Yamila has been reading with Noemí. And the grandma told us that Yamila wants to get baptized, and so we were talking to her, and we set a fecha with her, and she was just so excited, she didn´t want us to leave. She kept saying "Oh, do you want me to read this part of the Book of Mormon? Okay, and look, I read this part, and this part, and i really liked this part" and she kept reading in the scriptures. It was amazing. ´She´s nine years old, and is so excited for her baptism. The church is true!
Oh, and the title, sorry, this e-mail is lengthy, we had Ward Council this week, and the Bishop showed us a video clip of a 12 year old girl who was sent to buy groceries with 40 pesos. It was all that this family had. And they had to buy groceries and have enough fair to go to church the next day. The girl was praying the whole time to have enough money to get to church. Her first stop was to get charcoal so they could have heat in their home, they needed two bags, 10 pesos a bag. But a necessity. The next item was diapers for her brother. And she only had a 5 peso bill left to buy food. When she went to pay for the sardines, she reached in her pocket and felt a large lump of bills, she looked and found five 20 pesos bills in her back pocket. Enough money to buy food and go to church the next day. It was a miracle that this family needed. A gift from God. And we were talking about it as a group, we know that God does not need material possessions, He created us, He created the Earth. He asks us for our tithing to show our obedience and our faith. In the same way, we need to pay our tithing of time. Because it doesn´t serve anyone to have a poorly given class, or discussion. You don´t grow your testimony and the people you are teaching don´t grow either. We need to pay our tithing in time to our callings, preparing well for our classes, helping those in our organizations. And if we put God´s time first (like we pay our tithing money first), we will find that we have enough time to do everything.
I loved this discussion. I´ve always thought of a mission as a tithing as well. 2 years of our first 20. And then we have time to keep serving. And it´s not something we can accumulate. We can´t say we´ll be a dedicated servant in 30 years when our children are grown and gone, or when we´re retired or have nothing else to do. God blesses us now, and asks us to pay our tithing now. This is the dedication and the motivation that we should show our God who has given us everything, even our lives.
And that was my week. I love you all!
Hermana Reed
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