Trying to Hit Our Goals!

We can honestly say we did everything this week to hit our goals.  On Saturday night, we were confident that we'd have at least two investigators at church.  We had been preparing almost everybody we met from the beginning of the week for Sunday, we prayed every day that we'd be able to reach that goal, and we even stressed a lot this week the importance of having members present during our lessons. 

This Sunday was really important because in order to be baptized in the month of July, someone had to come to church this week.  Sunday came.  We had a family lined up, ready to come.  We prayed and fasted...and they didn't come.  We called them, went to their house, had members call them....no luck.  We then turned and put our faith in a miracle person showing up to church with a member.  As sacrament meeting started in our last ward, no one showed up.  Needless to say, it was kind of depressing.  We put our hearts, souls, and faith in hitting that goal. 

Back in the day - you know, like maybe a couple transfers ago - I would have gotten down because of that, but yesterday, instead of pitying our unsuccessful day, we got up and went right to work, trying to find and prepare people for church next week.  It was great to see how much we've changed since the beginning of our missions.

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.

Attitude of Gratitude

I was studying about the Pioneers in this LDS History book that a lot of missionaries have. I was so impressed by faith they had.  There were several accounts of the hardships they had to endure, but with every trial, they had a good attitude. One man, who came with the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies, was quoted as saying that he would be forever grateful for all they went through because it got them closer to God than anything else would have.  The early Saints were counseled repeatedly by the prophet to have a good attitude and always show their gratitude to God through music, dance, and prayer.  One thing that our mission president has been focusing on lately is the importance of a good attitude or - how we say it down here in the Rio Grande Valley - ánimo.  Happiness is not a matter of luck, but rather it is a choice independent of circumstances.  As I've learned to apply that every day, I've learned to become a better missionary and a better person and I've been better able to help others come to Christ.

God Answers Prayers!

On Friday, we had been going all day without any food and by 7:00 p.m., we were hungry.  We said a prayer asking for food, then stopped by to visit a family.  We had a nice chat and little lesson with them, then just as we were about to leave, my companion asked if we could have some granola bars.  To our surprise, they brought us out 2 gourmet sandwiches, Doritos, a full pie, a bag full of zebra cakes, Cheez-Its, granola bars, and cookies.  We learned a valuable lesson that day.  God definitely answers prayers! :)

Another happening, as we were walking back to our car at the end of the night, I saw a small something jump out of the grass, hit my leg, then jump back.  I didn't think too much of it in the second between when I saw it and when my companion screamed.  My first thought went to a giant spider so I screamed, too.  After those few brief, but startling moments, we composed ourselves then went to go see what it was.  Lo and behold, it was a harmless, little frog.

Continue to Send Prayers!

Down here in South Texas, things are going great!  We would really appreciate your continued prayers for us and especially for our investigators!  Also don't forget to pray for the missionaries in your own ward!  They need it too! :)

Faith and Prayer Work!

We once again taught Gospel Principles in the Spanish Ward.  The lesson was supposed to be on the Atonement, but we decided to teach about faith.  It went really good.  A long-time member shared a story about how she had a knife that she loved to use for cooking because it was sharp and could just get the job done, but one day, it had fallen into a box that she had thrown away.  She looked everywhere for it for 3 or 4 days then finally decided to pray about it.  She then had the thought to check in the box she had thrown away.  She thought that would be ridiculous, but she decided to follow the prompting and she found it.  She kept saying it was a silly story, but we were able to use it and analyze it to show what she did to exercise her faith and what God did to answer her prayers.  It was a reoccurring theme throughout the lesson that we used to teach that a huge part of having faith is acting and not just praying and waiting for something to happen.  She had to get down on her knees and pray then follow the inspiration she received....the knife didn't just appear before her.  It was a really good lesson.

God Answers Prayer!

For the month of December, we had a goal of baptizing two people.  We had a handful of super promising people with baptismal dates scheduled for this month.  We felt like we had done everything to help them out.  As we looked back on our efforts, we felt like we held nothing back.  One by one, everyone fell through.  As the last week of December came, we had only one baptism.

So Sunday, we were in our last ward of the day, and we were feeling really bad that it was nearing the end of the month, we had tried our absolute hardest, we had fasted and prayed so hard and so diligently to hit our goal, but due to things honestly out of our control, we only had one baptism.  It was super frustrating.  We went into an empty room and prayed.  Then we went on with the rest of our Sunday meetings.

After church, a family in our ward invited us to attend the baptism of their daughter.  We have been working with their family a lot lately and had even had some missionary discussions with the young daughter to prepare her for baptism at the request of her parents.  It was at the same time as the convert baptisms of the other missionaries.  We got there, and the family immediately invited us to take pictures with them and we even had a small role in the program providing the music.  During the baptismal service, both my companion and I realized that although this baptism wouldn't count as a "missionary baptism", we had still taken part in it.  We taught her all the missionary lessons and now we were here with the other missionaries to watch her take that big step in her life.  The family even counts us as their missionaries.

It was a very sweet, simple moment to realize that God was aware of our situation and our prayers had been answered - in His way.  We had two baptisms in our area - we hit our goal - even though we're the only ones who know it.

Charismatic Sons!

We were teaching a family.  They have two sons who have more charisma than anyone I've ever met.  The youngest son says the cutest prayers.  He prayed that we'd all behave so Santa would come we wouldn't have to go "down there to live with the devil."  Last week, he prayed that he'd behave so he could go to Computer Lab on Wednesday at school.  We were telling him the story of Samuel the Lamanite recently.  We said that it happened over 2000 years ago.  The older son - completely serious, I mean not sarcastically at all - said, "2000 years ago?  Like when you were little mom?"  Haha I laughed so hard! :)

Are You Truly Converted?

We need to reach out to our nonmember and less-active friends.  If we are not doing that, we are not living up to our full potential.  If we are not living up to our full-potential, we are not becoming the people that God wants us to become.  So, think of ways you can help out others.  Go visit less-actives, get to know the missionaries, or share a spiritual thought with a friend.  A true measure of your conversion is your willingness to share the gospel.  Prayerfully consider the best way you can do it right now!

Prayers Are Heard!

We set a baptismal date with a young teenager.  We met her a few weeks ago when the mini missionaries were here.  The minis and I were trying to contact a former investigator when she called to us from across the street.  She actually wanted to talk to us!  We got her address and she told us to come back.  The same week, my companion was with the other minis and contacted her grandma.  Her grandma told her that her daughter ("our" teenager's mom) would be very interested.  We made it back the next week and began teaching the teenager and her sister.  We taught them about prayer. 

On Saturday, we got a text from the teenager asking us to come over, saying it was urgent.  When we arrived, she said she had prayed and got an answer that God really did hear her prayers.  We set a baptismal date with her and invited her to church.  She came last Sunday and told us she already had permission from her parents to be baptized.  We're hopefully going to be able to teach her whole family.

"CPR" and the Gospel Make Us Happy!

The purpose of the gospel is to make us happy.  Going to church, reading the scriptures daily, and having personal and family prayer are not just motions the culture of our Church tells us we should do, but they are necessary to our happiness.

I have learned these things are important, and I'm trying to teach them to others.

Spiritual "CPR" Continued...

I never knew the importance of CPR until I had to teach it, and it was hard at first for me to teach others this because I myself was guilty of not fully acting, too.  However, I now can see why it is so important we are daily keeping all of the commandments - especially the little ones - like CPR.  When we do not keep the commandments, we cannot be truly happy.

"CPR" in a Spiritual Sense

We are seeing a lot of success in our area.  We have found great people to teach, and the people we have found have been touched by the Spirit the gospel brings.  As missionaries we leave commitments with everyone.  These commitments are supposed to lead people closer to Christ and help them repent of their sins.  Almost every single one of our commitments has to do with getting them to Church, Praying individually and as a family, and Reading the scriptures (we call it CPR because it sustains spiritual life).  We leave these commitments because we know it will help them progress spiritually.  When they do these three simple things, they feel closer to God and true conversion occurs.