April 24, 2013
It's finally starting to warm
up! We've had a cold past couple of days but today is beautiful and everything
is beginning to turn green!!
This week we have knocked a lot
(my emails are probably starting get really repetitive and boring, sorry!) but
Heavenly Father is blessing us to find Spanish people. Our zone leaders called
us last week and told us that President wants us to just teach in Spanish. When
we first got here we were doing both so now we are finding A TON of english-speaking
people for the elders to teach. I figure whether we teach them or the elders
teach them, the work is moving along the same. We talked to this spanish guy on
the street the other day and he told us to come back so we went back Sunday and
the building he lives in is all spanish! We talked to this lady from Guatemala
named Maria Gomez and went back and taught her yesterday. She has a lot of good
beliefs (I couldn't understand a lot of what she said, her spanish was fast!)
but she really values the family. We're going to go back later this week to
teach her.
Sunday we had 3 investigators at church! Twas a miracle! Our
neighbor Jaime (Hi may) came (he lives across the parking lot from Sister
Barlow and I) and he is spanish! We always see him cuz he's always working
outside on his car and we gave him a BOM a few weeks ago so we called and
invited him on Saturday and he actually came! During the sacrament he pointed
out that it's different from the catholic church because in the catholic church
they go up to the front to take it. I said yep it's different! He said that he
is going to come again this week so hopefully he will! I vote he is going to be
the first bishop of the spanish branch we are going to form :D When I told the
other missionaries of the sacrament experience Elder Long (senior missionary)
pointed out that to him that means ours is the true church because we don't
make a public display of the sacrament. Also the Elders Quorum president in our
ward brought his girlfriend to church and we are going to start teaching her
next week. Yay! We also had a girl named Cara that we have kinda been teaching
come to church. The Long's met her in the interfaith council they go to and so
we went and met her. She's really nice! She's 23 and from Albany NY. At this
point I don't know if we will call her a real investigator because we don't
know if she really wants to find out if it's true, but she read the intro to
the BOM! So we are going to keep visiting her and see what happens.
On Sunday we went back to teach
Esther (I think I told you about her, she's a cute mexican lady we found a
couple weeks ago) and I was worried because I felt like we had started off on
the wrong foot and I wasn't sure how to help her understand our purpose. We
went to teach her on Sunday and started reading verses with her on the bible
about the BOM (Ezk 37:15-17). She asked me how I knew that all this was true (bible, bom,
etc) and I said through prayer! We then invited her to pray and she was about
to and then said she couldn't...so I explained it was simple and then asked her
to list the things she is grateful for. She did and then I asked her "If
God were here right now what would you ask him?" So she listed off a few
things and I said "That's just like a prayer." She has a strong desire
to do what is right. We're going back on monday to teach her :) Every time we talk
with her the spirit is SO strong. There is something very special about her!
We also went and had dinner
with the Handley's on Sunday after Esther. They are AWESOME! Brother and Sister
Handley are so nice and I feel right at home when we visit them. They have high
standards for their kids and Sister Handley always makes sure they eat dinner
every night as a family. Basically they would make good mormons :) We ate with
them and found out their daughter Katie used to go to girls camp with a less
active girl in our branch named Brittany, so that was cool! After dinner Sister
Handley said she read the intro to the BOM so we started talking about it. They
asked about the Gold plates and if we still have them (everyone asks that
question!) so we told them no we don't. We explained more about the BOM and
then I asked them if they found out the same gospel that Jesus Christ
established was on the earth was here how would that change their life. Sister
Handley said "It would change it alot because that would mean we're living
it in the here and now instead of in the catholic church where we just reinact
how it was done back then" in my head I was like BINGO! Then we explained
that as missionaries we were there to tell here that we are living it in the
here and now. She said "well your doing a good job, you got me
thinking!" But said she is going to read the BOM in the summer when she
has more time. Sooo...basically the lesson was left at nothing and I wish we
would have told her more stuff like "All you have to do is pray about the
book of mormon and you can know that all this is true!" They have been on
my mind all week so I think we are going to try to go back on Sunday and talk
to them and explain that if they just pray about the BOM they can know the
truth. Pray that she'll have an open heart!
Yesterday (Tuesday) was a really hard day, I was hardly
motivated to do anything (wow missionaries aren't perfect!) and we didn't have
any appts so we just knocked. With no success except for this nice lady
named Teresa Murphy that we are going to go visit tomorrow! Woot! At
correlation yesterday night we started talking about the plan of salvation and
we had a wonderful conversation. I felt like it was just what I needed to put
everything in persepective about why I am here as a missionary.
The plan of salvation is legit and our conversation
helped me to remember that I am here as a missionary helping people to remember
the commitments they made to Heavenly Father in the premortal life. Elder Sevy
pointed out that some people in the premortal life were told that they were
going to have the chance to recieve the gospel here and when they felt the
spirit they would know it's true. That's why it's so important for missionaries
to teach by the spirit! Cuz their spirits recognize it! :)
Okay so I think that's
everything that happened this week. I hope you are all happy and grateful that
our family has been sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. If only
some people around here understood that their families can be eternal...but
seriously, I constantly think of how blessed I am to live in a family that is
FOREVER. I hope you all continue to make good choices so that one day we can
all live with Heavenly Father and Jesus in the mansion they are preparing for
us!!! :D
Mucho amor!
Hermana Richardson
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