It's been another
great week! Can you believe I have already been about for almost 4 months? That
is so crazy to me... Time is just flying by so fast.
Miguel and Karen are
progressing sooo well! It is so exciting to see that. Miguel is FOR SURE
getting baptized on Saturday! He is so excited he can hardly stand it. He was
saying the sweetest prayers, asking God if he was ready and if it was what he
should do, and he says he feels really good about it. He loves going to Cub
Scouts (his leader is actually going to baptize him). We are still getting him
to be excited about Primary because he has only gone since they've been
preparing for the Primary Program so he hasn't gotten to meet his class yet.
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| Hna. Maughan, Miguel and me. |
John’s heart is really softening as he sees the example of his son.
On Friday, we went to
their house and planned out the program for his baptism. John and Karen were
both there, and you could just see the pride in their eyes. They are so proud
of Miguel. John’s heart is really
softening as he sees the example of his son.
John has committed to living the Word of Wisdom, and said he would come
back to church! John said the closing prayer at the end of the planning
session, and cried while saying it. Then that night they went to their uncle's
house to practice how the baptism goes in their pool. On Saturday, Miguel had
his interview, and he rocked it! (Not that it's hard, but he was really nervous
for it. He kept thinking it was like a test, even though we kept reassuring him
it wasn't). Karen and John both came to it, and then right afterwards they went
shopping to buy Miguel a suit to wear to his baptism and to buy Karen a skirt!
They are trying really hard to keep the Sabbath day Holy, giving up their
Arizona Iced Tea to live the Word of Wisdom.
Just truly trying to live the gospel. Karen also asked the missionaries
to visit her sons in Texas! I just can't tell you how great it has been to see
this family change. When we first met Karen, she was heartbroken, barely
holding herself together. Now this family is so happy. Just glowing. They are
strong. They are united together in Christ. It is so great to see the Spirit
working in their lives. Jesus Christ and his gospel can truly heal everything
if we let it.
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| Miguel' Baptismal Interview. |
And guess what?? Manuel is also getting baptized on Saturday!
Although we aren't
working with Manuel anymore, we still get to see him sometimes because he
attends the same branch still, or we see him leaving the Visitor's Center, etc. And guess
what??! He is getting baptized on Saturday too! For sure this time! Already had
his interview, stake center is scheduled, program is planned. Yessss! He says
he has accepted Jesus Christ into his life and is ready to really make the
commitment to follow Him. I am so excited for Saturday. It has been such a
privilege to be a part of these conversion processes! My testimony grows so
much as I see these people growing their testimonies. As I see the gospel enter
their lives, heal them, give them hope and give them more happiness. It just
makes my commitment to the gospel that much stronger.
They told her that
children were damned if they weren't baptized before they died.
We haven't been able
to meet much with Marcos this week, but we have met with his Mom, Angela, and
his aunt, Juana. I don't really know what Angela's story is about how she found
the gospel, but she never was able to learn very much. Some people from the
Catholic church came to her house and confused her a lot. They told her that
children were damned if they weren't baptized before they died, that if you
make mistakes you can never repent, etc. She just got really confused and
didn't know what was true or not. So we were able to use the Book of Mormon to
resolve some of her concerns. We have also been going over the Restoration a
lot with them to help them understand how this church is different than all the
others, but exactly the same as how Jesus Christ set up his church.
We have been having a
hard time trying to figure out how to help some of the other investigators progress.
It seems like they are rather stuck because they don't want to keep
commitments, but they believe it all. It is actually really hard to teach Lupe,
(a teenage investigator), because there are so many people in her house that
are always coming and going. They all
love to talk to us so we get interrupted a lot by random stories, etc. Lupe also has a hard time focusing . Her great grandma
passed away last week, and it was really hard on the whole family. But Lupe's
grandma's testimony of the Book of Mormon and prayer has been renewed because
that has been how she's found her peace through this situation. It seems like
now she just wants to get everyone to read the scriptures! It's great!
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| One more picture from last week's ward party. |
We could see people
watching TV sitting on the couches.
We have been trying to
work with the less active members as well. Most of them, we have to start with
building a relationship of trust with them. Showing them we are their friends
and that we really do love them. They start of pretty hesitant to talk to us.
Actually, okay, most of them don't open the door for us. But we try! Haha. The
other day we went to a less active member’s house and they had a big glass
window in their front door. We could see people watching TV sitting on the
couches. Then after we knocked, they saw who it was. They slowly turned off all
the lights, and the TV and just pretended like they weren't home. Then they
looked at us as we walked away... Then a 10 year old boy hit on us. It was
really, really weird. I just think it's so funny how people do that all
the time. Like obviously make eye contact with us, and just pretend like it
never happened. I don't really understand it, but it makes me laugh. Just hope
that they will warm up to us, because we really just want to help them! Just
let them know that we love and miss them!
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| See, our car really is brand new! |
She was like, “Mormons
are great”!
We have also been
stopping by Jorge’s house a lot. They always have people outside and just
random people over.. We have made really good friends with the little kids that
live their - Paul and Lisa. They love it when we come over. Their mom likes us
a lot too, Linda. The kids love praying with us. It's been hard to have a real
lesson with them because there is always so much going on there, but we are
working on it! Yesterday Jorge was outside with his sister, Carmen. His sister
is awesome though, let me tell you. She just went on and on about how Catholics
never actually live their religion, how they worship idols which is against the
10 commandments, how Jorge doesn't actually believe in Catholicism but was just
raised that way. She was like, “ Mormons are great”! They are so united, they
help people, they really live their religion. Basically whenever Jorge would
raise something up, she would shoot him down and tell him how this is the right
religion. It was so random, but super awesome. No idea where she came from, or
why she thinks these things. As far as I know, she doesn't have any history
with the church.
Jorge told us that he
has some habits he really wants to stop, but doesn't think he can. He wants to
change so badly, but is so scared to do it. We just tried to talk to him about
how God loves him so much. How with the strength of Jesus Christ, he can
overcome all things. You can just feel he is so broken and just needs help, but
doesn't know where to go. We haven't taught him any of the lessons yet, but he says
that our message affects him so much already. He says he's been talking to his
wife about us (his family lives in Mexico), and she wants him to listen to us
and to start changing his life. He tried to get me to talk to her on the phone
last night, but it was busy. I really just want to help him. Help him heal
through the Atonement of Christ and find peace in His life.
He was so surprised!
We also talked to Enrique
this week too. We told him about how we have a prophet on the earth, how Jesus
Christ came to the Americas. He was so surprised! It was just a short little
talk with him, but the Spirit was so strong. He had never heard of these
things, but seemed to be really curious to know. We gave him a book of Mormon
and a pamphlet on the Restoration, and I know he read the pamphlet, hopefully
he will read the Book of Mormon! He is a fun guy. Has a crazy work schedule
though, so it’s hard to find him home.
We get to go to the
temple tomorrow! I am so excited! And we have Zone Conference on Wednesday! So
it will be an awesome week!
Oh and Ti asked what I
do on P-Days. Really, nothing exciting, but it's great because we do nothing.
And it's the only day that we do nothing! We do personal & companionship
study, write email, get a car wash, go grocery shopping, clean the house, do
laundry, and then just relax! Write letters, write in our journal, take a nap.
Then at 6pm, back to work! Normally we do FHEs on Mondays.
But really, thanks so
much for all that you do for me! I love you all tons! Miss you bunches!
Con amor,
Hermana Haynes
(From email dated 9-26-13)
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