Where's
Waldo? In the baptismal font. Ha. ok, so my jokes are bad, but good news is
Waldo was baptized last Saturday. The service was great. his mom and brother
came who are not associated with any church. The spirit was very strong and
they both enjoyed the service very much. A woman in the ward sang a primary
song called; "When Jesus Christ was baptized" It worked perfectly for
my talk I gave on the holy ghost. one of the lines is, "all members of the
godhead were present there with love, the father spoke from heaven when Jesus
Christ was baptized, the holy ghost descended, as gently as a dove."
I really felt my mouth
filled as I spoke at the baptism. The whole intention, in my mind, for these
talks is to teach those who are not members at the service. I geared it all to
them. I had some things written down, but ended up just talking and sharing
Galatians 5:22. Usually I stumble over words or have an 80 page run-on
sentence, but it just all worked. We had NINE missionaries there, so we had the
3 non-members there covered and the members were very friendly and inclusive
too.
Waldo shared his
testimony that he had written down. it was very sincere and heart felt. there
is a Less active woman named sister Synder who has made a lot of progress. Last
week we mentioned that she could get a priesthood blessing. She never had one.
We went by the next day and she loved it! she said she felt god’s love and it
was a great experience. She went out of town and missed church. we visited with
her last night and she was sad she missed church and the baptism. THAT is a big
improvement- we used to have to really emphasize coming to church and she was
very resistant. We talked about bearing testimony and she committed herself to
bear her testimony at church next week. We read from preach my gospel and she
said, "what's that? get me one of those!" ha it was great.
We had exchanges and
we got a talk by elder maxwell called, "Endure it Well" which I
recommend to all. The words of the living prophets and those past are such a
strength and guide to me, Through their words I am taught by Christ, I feel
comforted, and strengthened in the desire to serve. The common link and
characteristics of those who I had taught and ARE baptized is there love for
and time in the book of Mormon. EVEN when they don’t understand it all,
ESPECIALLY when trials come. THOSE who build their rock on Christ will not
fall.
we were going to try a
less active and she was outside and we started talking. she has a lot of issues
with the members of the Church and not feeling accepted, some which may be
factually based. but it is sad she is letting them deprive her of receiving
spiritual blessings. we were able to leave her with a talk by pres uchtdorf
called, "You're Happily ever After." She said she hadn't been reading
the book of Mormon but finds Truth in stories. Pres uchtdorf always has good
stories and the way he shares truth is beautiful. Luckily I had a copy of the
talk in my purse (yes it IS a common occurrence for me to carry extra copies of
general conference talks around in my bag). My companion said a prayer that
made her cry and she came up a hugged us. we said we'd be back with more talks
by him.
Another cool
experience was went we were leaving from this less actives apartment. a little
boy said hi to us through his window. we said hi back and asked how his Easter
was (he's about 4) he said he was going to go to lego land. He was a very
talkative kid. As a missionary you realize him talking to you is no
coincidence. I figured out which apartment the window was attached to and we
knocked. the lady opened and was at first annoyed. We told her about the
helping hands service project and that it’s an opportunity to serve one another
as our savior did and follow his example. We talked she shared how she has seen
god in her life. We gave her a book of Mormon she said she would have to pray
about whether or not to read it. My companion asked if she'd like to say a
prayer before we left. she was taken aback. she was shocked (in a good way) she
said that other religious people she talked to on her door wouldn’t let her
pray for them and they didn’t listen to what she had to say. she was very
complementary. and we did not leave without bearing testimony. It was a great
contact and lesson.
George is not
progressing, he has canceled appointments, he is back and forth with keeping
the word of wisdom and had missed church. He could use your prayers to humble
himself and have faith to act on the answers he’s already received. Pray for
patty as well that she will have the desire to come to church.
Well I could go on
with the happenings of the week but time in running short. I will end with
something the bishop (in the other SLO ward) said at ward conference:
"Every
organization has a mission plan. there was a ship manufacturing company who had
a very bold one. it said, 'We build good ships. Sometimes at a profit,
sometimes at a loss, but we always build good ships.' I have been reflecting
what the ward's mission plan should be. We know the lord's it is found in Moses
and is to bring to pass our mortality and eternal life. here is our wards mission
plan, 'We love people. sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's difficult, but we
always love people.' then he said each family can individually add 'my family
will love _________back into activity, and___________ to invite to take the
missionary lessons. I had someone tell me once and I will never forget it,
'Mark if you always do what you've done you'll always get what you've always
got' If we want different result we need to change our efforts and really step
up and love everyone. Reach out to those who are disenfranchised, indifferent
and those who have offended you. Make sure all can have harmless passage
through your mind."
Let go of the things
you cannot control and hold on to those things you can. you can control how
often you read your scriptures, the sincerity of your prayer and the desires of
your heart. prayer and ask the lord for help to gain Christ like attributes and
to continue to move forward cheerfully with diligence. I love you all, I love
the savior. He is risen, he is truth and he is light.
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