Hello everyone!
I can't believe it's December.. blows my mind.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!! Ours was GREAT :) With the
holiday, we were able to get in contact with a lot of people and a lot of
less-actives we've been trying to visit were home. One miracle that we've seen
is the progress we've made with a less active member, sister Kight! I have a
testimony that service opens up many opportunities and softens hearts. In the
past, sister Kight hasn't been as receptive or open to missionaries, but
because we've been helping her in her home, she has let us share the lessons
with her. She is absolutely HILARIOUS.. so blunt. Haha. She really opened up
about some concerns she has with the church.. most of them involving the
"social aspect." She is a really sweet lady with a firm faith in
Christ and I know that as we continue to do service for her, her heart will
soften even more! Plus we're having taco Tuesday this week, so we're looking
forward to that!
Thursday was awesome.. we had district meeting, which was completely centered on gratitude. We also went to the Waidmann's home (Sis. Kight's daughter who's also in the ward) and they had several non-member friend's there. We spent time talking to them about our faith and what we do as missionaries. We spoke to one of their friends, Jerry for awhile and we actually ended up giving him a copy of the Book of Mormon! He lives in LA and said he would contact the missionaries if he had any more questions. It was just a blessing to be able to share our testimonies with several people in this member's home. This work is the best.
We also went
to the Gomez home… they went all out for us! It was so nice and I'm so grateful
I could spend it with them. We talked about what we are thankful for and really
focused on the savior…we're praying that sister Gomez will continue to have the
desire to know for herself.. she's one stubborn lady! (But we love her) :) They
came to church yesterday and she stayed for 2nd hour! We will be having an FHE
with them and a family in our ward tonight, so we're excited about that!
MIRACLE: Eduardo! We met Eduardo a couple weeks ago..
he's an 86 year old Philipino man. When we first met him he said, "Hold
on!" He ran into his house and came out with a copy of the Book of Mormon
and said, " this book saved my life!" a few years back he was very
sick in the hospital and someone gave him the Book of Mormon.. he said he would
read it and even sleep with it and that it truly gave him the hope he needed.
We weren't sure if he was completely there (since he's 86) but He was
explaining book of Mormon stories to us?! We were like, "Who is this
man??" Haha! And he said he STILL reads it! We invited him to church and
he came with his wife yesterday. We're excited to meet with him again and begin
teaching him!
We were
finally able to have a lesson with Dave! We've been trying to meet with him for
awhile.. he's so BUSY. We had a lesson in his home with a member yesterday and
it went really well! He was introduced to the church by his girl friend, Julie.
She's a member who lives in Salt Lake City and Dave is just fascinated with the
church.. he loves it. He has a strong catholic background, but is interested in
learning about other religions. We taught him the restoration and he had many
sincere questions.. he's very genuine and has been reading and praying. He said
he would be baptized if he comes to know that it is true!! We're just trying to
help him see the importance of priesthood authority at this point, but he is
awesome.. very pure in heart.
Something
that I've really been thinking about this week is the power that comes from
Listening with Love. I'm focusing on listening with real intent when our
investigators are expressing their concerns and thoughts.. so that I can
respond by the spirit. I love this quote by elder Bednar, "The gift of
discernment operates best when we are listening. To really understand the
questions and the intent, ask clarifying questions and be prepared to do as
much listening as you do talking." I love that last part about being
prepared to listen. I'm so grateful for the spirit in this work.. the spirit is
the teacher and I hope that I can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord by
being a better listener.
Christ-like
love will change the world! I'm so
grateful for this season, where we can focus on serving those around us and
reaching out. Charity is the pure love of Christ (Moroni 7:46-48) I know that if we pray to be filled with this
love, the Lord will grant that to us and we will be able to change someone's
life for the better.
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| Thanksgiving with the Gomez family |
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| Winter in Camarillo! |
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| Camarillo district |
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