Wow, what an amazing week...full of great adventures and awesome experiences.
So, to start, we had dinner with Barb, Dan, Dan's parents, Diamond (Barb's daughter), and Bud this week. (Bud's the one in the picture). Elder Gruwell's birthday was on Tuesday, and she invited us over. We ate tri-tip (famous here in Santa Maria) sandwiches, homemade chili, and fruit salad! It was delicious! Barb, Dan, and Diamond were so nice, they each gave us a couple of ties and a new journal to write all our amazing adventures in. They're truly one in a million (well, I guess 3 in a million ;) )
Something else cool happened this week too! We got a new investigator!
We had dinner with a member family a few weeks ago, and they told us to stop by their niece and nephew. The niece, Stella, is a less-active member of the church, and her brother, Ruben, is not a member. Ruben has been in and out of jail, and the jail time has humbled him well. We stopped by the next day after dinner, and gave Stella a blessing and talked with Ruben briefly. We dropped by there again this week, and taught them the Restoration, and Ruben loved it! We talked about all the key bullet points: The Great Apostasy, Priesthood authority, The Fist Vision, the Book of Mormon, and praying to know if it was true. We read from the Bible about the fruits of the Spirit, and in Matthew 7 about false prophets and how "by their fruits ye shall know them". He grasped it all really well! Feeling bold, and desiring to exercise more faith, we invited him to be baptized if he found that these things were true, and he said yes!
We had planned to go with the member that sent us, but he cancelled at the last moment. He wants to go this week though!
But, I'd have to say that the highlight of the week would be my first baptismal interview! I had the chance to interview Ryan Rocha, a 17-year old who the other missionaries in the ward were teaching. I was super nervous to interview him, because it was my first one, but I said a quick prayer before he came in. I asked the Lord to bless me with peace and with discernment, and the Lord definitely did so. It strengthened my testimony of God answering prayers (I don't think we can have enough of those...;)) He calmed my anxious heart, and blessed me with discernment. I was guided to say the right thing in the right way at the right time. Plus, Ryan really opened up to me and shared his true feelings about his desire to be baptized. It was a great day, and a great week!
I know the Lord loves us all individually. I'm thankful for the opportunity that I have each day while I'm out here right now to wake up, study, and do my best every day to bring souls back into the Lord's fold. To consecrate myself for a better cause has brought great strength and contentment to my soul. It makes me feel like I'm doing a good thing. :)
Love you all!
Elder Harper
Kay Thomas:
ReplyDeleteBaptismal interview. He will come home and they will put him to work in the Bishopric! What a great missionary. Time is flying by for him. Maybe not you Dayna.