Ciao!
I don't know where
to begin! This week has been incredible in so many different ways!
I guess I'll start with all of the people we're working with and who
we've found!
On sunday we found
an Italian family of 4 (Paolo =dad, Eliana = mom, Emilio = 20 year old son,
Lorenzo = 13 year old son)! The mom's name is Eliana, and Anziano Jenson
and I found her and gave her a BOM a few weeks ago. We weren't able to
set up a return appointment, but she said that we could pass by some evening
because her whole family would be home. Well, we went and they were all
home! They are so cool! After teaching about the restoration, we
asked them what they thought it would mean in their lives if this message was
true. The mom replied that it would be a revolution! Their priest
probably wouldn't be too happy to hear that they were going to another church!
But, they committed to finding out if the BOM was true and they said that
if they knew it was true, they would act accordingly! The mom and the 2
sons are super catholic - the 2 sons help to distribute communion during mass.
But, they want to learn more. We're most excited for the kids -
they seem the most interested. We were a little worried for a bit because
we asked to be able to come back a few days later, and the mom said that she
thought it would be better if we waited for a few weeks, but we explained how
if they wanted to know, there would need to be some consistency. The
father understood great and said, yeah, you need to "strike when the iron
is hot." The mom, still a little skeptical, said, let's let Lorenzo
(the younger son - 13 years old) decide. He said to have us come!
Right as we were about to leave, the mom realized that it would be
Lorenzo's birthday that day. She was like "It's your birthday,
you're not going to want to be here, are you? Do you want them to come
even on your birthday?" He smiled, and said, "I'll be
here." Yes!!! So, we'll go back tomorrow to see them again.
On Monday we found
a man from Santo Domingo named Francisco (it's in South America). He is
so great! We realized last time that he can't read. He accepted the
BOM and said he would read, but after he said that he hadn't read, we said that
we'd like to read together, and when it was his turn to read a couple verses,
we saw that his capacity to read is very low. So, we'll be going back
with the BOM on cd in Spanish for him tomorrow. That way, he can begin to
put into practice our message!
On Tuesday we found
another Italian family! It's a young couple (late 20s) with a 1 1/2 year
old daughter (Andrea, Carmella, and Sara)! They're from Napoli and they
are so amazing as well! They want to have a better outlook on life and be
able to face challenges differently, and they believe that it will come through
our message! It's so fun to teach them!
On Wednesday we
found a young man (20) from Peru! His name is JuanCarlos - he is super
interested! We've seen him a few times now and he accepted a baptismal
date for the end of may! He understands amazingly well the restoration
and the plan of salvation, the role of the savior (he even used the word
"advocate" to describe what he believed Christ does for us)!
And, of course, we
still are working with Nelson, Alfonso, and Alba (the people we found knocking
on our first door together). They are progressing very well! They
are loving the Book of Mormon so much! Nelson has had a couple
experiences where he is touched directly by the Spirit due to some of the
things that he read that were directed to him! Alfonso, who used to have
the hardest heart of the 3 (but still fairly open), last time asked us some
really cool questions and said some really cool things that have been showing
how much God has been working on his heart. He asked "What do you
have to do to become a mormon?" Also, he asked "After you're a
mormon, you're happier, right?" It was really funny, because his
questions just came out of nowhere and weren't at all connected to what we were
teaching (in our minds, because the Spirit is the real teacher and was teaching
Alfonso the better things...). However, looking back, we can see how
truly connected those questions were and how the Spirit was preparing him and
teaching him even before we explained different doctrines (we were teaching the
plan of salvation to them, so the answers fit in perfectly at the perfect
time). It's so cool to see how much God does for His children!
We've worked a
little bit more with our African brothers. However, only one of them is
really solid, who is Joe. He says that he still wants to prepare himself
for baptism. He committed to come to church, and he's having Joseph, who
came to church 2 weeks ago, show him how to get to church throughout the week
to make sure that he can get there on Sunday. And, we had another cool
miracle with another african man named Victor. We were pretty close to
their area (we were actually going to Andrea and Carmella - the Italians from
Napoli), and there were some Africans playing soccer out a ways. One of
them, I guess, saw us, and left the game that he was playing in and came
running after us. We didn't see him until he was really close, and he
asked us "Do you remember me?" "Ummm... No."
"You saw me last week, I was carrying something." At that
point I realized that it was one of the many that Anz. Jenson and I met last
week. He said, "I want to meet with you guys. I want you to
teach me more about Jesus and about what you believe. Can you come
tomorrow?" Anyway, we're going back tonight to see him!
As you can see, God
has been blessing us tremendously with lots of really cool people to teach!
It's really exciting! I'm growing and learning a lot. I don't
know if I've ever felt the power of the atonement in my life so strong before. There's
a phrase in preach my gospel that says "He [Jesus Christ] can heal us,
both physically and spiritually." I felt that! It's amazing to
see how much our spiritual well being affects our physical well-being!
I've been learning how important it is to live in exact harmony with the
restored gospel, for I can feel a huge difference with even the slightest
deviation. I feel like I'm also coming closer and closer to God's will.
I'm striving to focus on others - in prayers, in my studies, and in my
thoughts throughout the day. It makes the biggest difference! I've
been seeing how, when I do that, I'm filled with so much more love and the
Spirit is able to help me know these people better and what they need and how I
can be an instrument in helping them. I loved reading these couple verses
in the BOM: they're in Moroni 8:2-3. Mormon writes to his son moroni this part
that really hits me"I am mindful of you always in my
prayers, continually praying unto God the Father" Those 3
words jumped out at me and the Spirit called me to repentance. I've been
changing the way I work with my companion, the investigators, and the zone
leaders. And, it feels so good!
Vi voglio bene!
-Anziano Barnes
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