The First Vision!

Last Sunday, we taught the lesson in Relief Society.  It was on the First Vision and receiving revelation.  It went really well.  We gave everyone a piece of paper and asked them to think of something that they needed revelation on and then throughout the lesson to write down their thought and feelings.  We then told the story of the First Vision and analyzed what Joseph Smith did - like he studied the scriptures, planned what he was going to do, etc.

"Adversity is Necessary, Misery is Optional"

We had another great week!  We found more new investigators in these two weeks than I have found in my mission!  They have been fantastic!  We have seen so many little miracles and we have been blessed to work with wonderful less-active members who are willing to act, investigators who easily accept the invitations to pray about Joseph Smith and be baptized, and an absolutely fantastic ward that is sooooo mission minded, it doesn't seem possible.

Needless to say, I am very happy with where I am at right now.   I'm still learning so much every day!  Yesterday, my companion and I were able to go to a meeting where a general authority was present.  He said something that made me think a lot:

"Adversity is necessary, misery is optional...Our salvation is not dependent on whether or not someone loves us, but it is dependent on whether or not we loved them."

I know that no matter where we are in life, we always are given opportunities to make us happy.  It's up to us to take them and be grateful for what we have.

Teaching Reflections

Most of the time, the dad (of the family I mentioned yesterday) is out of town working.  We've talked to him a couple of times before, but this week, we were able to sit down with him.  He's a big jokester, so lessons are usually pretty fun.  This time, we had a member with us as we were teaching the Restoration.  There were a ton of distractions, and I just remember I was contemplating just leaving for the night and trying it another day, but in the end, we stayed and made our way through the lesson.  At the end, we invited him to pray to know it the Joseph Smith story was true.  After he prayed, we asked him how he felt, and with a very sincere smile, he said, "Me siento bonito." or "I feel really good,"  We invited them to church and the whole family came!!!!