Guys!!! So many good things happened this week. I am so spiritually nourished. God loves all of his children, and the gathering of Israel really is the most important work on the earth right now!!!
I want to start with General Conference, which was definitely a different experience here considering the sessions were at 6pm, 10pm, and 2am and also that I had to listen to the whole thing with my airpods in English while it played out loud in Spanish hahaha. It's so cool that all around the world people can watch conference. It doesn’t matter where we listen, what time it is when we listen, or what language we are listening in, the message is all the same.
Also those little angel children singing "Holding Hands Around the World" literally brought me to tears. Each speaker and choir brought the spirit in the best ways.
I have a different kind of love for General Conference being a missionary. Starting with the fact that in just a couple of months I have grown to recognize even more how important the role of the Prophet and Apostles play in this church. But also while I was listening to each talk, I found myself thinking about how each message could help the friends we are teaching. It's so cool to have this time where life's needs and focus stretch beyond my own.
I could talk about what I loved from each talk, but that would take days. Instead I want to share one of my very favorite ones. Bradley R Wilcox's talk left me with a whole different perspective on my role in the church. The question "Why must Latter-day saints live so differently from others?" is a question that I have had so many times in my life. When we teach people about our laws, like The Word of Wisdom for example, our answer to "Why?" is simply "I dont know why, but we are asked to do so and we trust that we will be blessed for it." This talk is such an amazing reminder that we really DO recieve so many blessings for the ways we choose to live as disciples of Christ. We are not just ordinary people! God chose and trusts us to help bring his children home to him. We are members of his crew. And what do we recieve in return? "It would be easy for Heavenly Father to simply give you all that he has, his desire is to help you become all that he is." and to become all that he is, really is worth the things we are asked to give up!!!
ESTA SEMANA:
Our zone has been in a Harry Potter themed zone challenge this week focusing on our recent converts and members. We get 10-20 points for each lesson we have and the "golden snitch" is worth 1000 points if we put someone on date to be baptized if they were referred by a member in the same week. Which we all thought would be nearly impossible. This is important later on...
MILAGROS:
So many miracles happened this week!!!
We found so many amazing people, gave away so many Book of Mormons, and seeing this gathering come to life is one of the best parts of being a missionary...
A random referal showed up to the church on Wednesday night with her sister. The Elders who recieved this reference introduced them to us because they live in our area and we went to teach them a lesson. We had never met them before, so we got to know a little more about why they were interested and soon found out that the original referal (Monica) told her sister (Tatiana) that she had a suprise for her, and brought her to us. Tatiana explained to us that she doesn’t believe in organized religion, and doesn't really know why her sister brought her here. We start teaching them a little bit about our church, what we believe, and who Jesus Christ is to us. Monica instantly started sobbing. We shared a couple scriptures along with some basic truths - The Atonement of Jesus Christ, The Book of Mormon, Prayer, Sacrament, and ended with our testimonies on how the Gospel has blessed our lives, and that God has a perfect plan for each of us. The spirit was so strong, and they were both wide-eyed over the things we were saying. Every one of us ended up in tears. (even the Member in the lesson!)
I've never seen the power of conversion so strong in my whole life. You could just see how much their hearts grew and changed in one short hour. We ended up putting them BOTH on date that night and both of these amazing women, who we had never met prior to this lesson, are getting baptized on November 17th. Tatiana even gave a beautiful prayer at the end of the lesson. And after it was all over, Hermana Robinson and I ran into the church kitchen, screamed, jumped up and down, cried, and then got on our knees and prayed. This is something that I only dreamed of happening when becoming a missionary and I truly feel so lucky to be here, helping Gods children return home to him. There is no greater joy than the joy that I feel every day carrying out his work. (& Not that this is what's important butttt that's +2000 points to Slytherin and Carabanchel absolutely destroyed this challenge 🐍🐍)
If there is one thing we all need to take away from conference, it's that we really are in the last days and everything we do now counts!! If we rededicate our lives to Jesus Christ, we will find true joy. Before we know it, he will be here calling us all home. I love you and I am praying for you all!! 💟💟
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