India in Brazil

I challenged myself to open my mouth and just TALK. And you know what happened? All the good things the scriptures and prophets promise. People listened, we found more investigators, and I felt more confident.

So that lady who showed up in the chapel last week? WE taught her this week (this time i mean we, not just Sister N) about the Restoration. And we tried a new tactic, after we talk about Joseph Smith´s first vision, we talk about the role of the Holy Spirit in testifying of truth, and we explain to the investigator that the  feelings of the Spirit are feelings of love, peace, and clarity, and point out that they are feeling that right then and there. And I can say that to them with certainty because I can feel it too.

So I had the chance to explain those things to her (we´ll call her Molly) and then I challenged her to be baptized. And she said, with tears in her eyes, a resounding YES. And then I was all teary and so was she. But then she wasn´t in church. But it´s a work in progress. She is a wonderful woman and I know she will stick to her commitment and be baptized.

On the other end of the spectrum, we visited an inactive recent convert, and asked her what was going on, why she didn´t feel like going to church anymore. A lot of it is the influence of her non-member husband, but also she had some issues with a couple points of doctrine. But I asked her if she believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if therefore she believed we had a prophet on the earth now. She said that yes, of course she believed that. I explained that logically if we have a prophet who is guided by God, we don´t need to worry if we don´t understnad the doctrine, because we can KNOW that it is of God and that it is correct. God knows better. He ALWAYS does. WITHOUT exception. So hopefully she can make some steps back in the right direction.

I am starting to see what a big thing the Sabbath Day is. When we go to church, we remember Christ, we feel the Spirit, we learn about the Gospel, and we receive countless blessings. But if Satan can get us not to go, he knows that none of those things will happen. And slowly, slowly, your testimony will be GONE. You´ll look around and you won´t recognize where you are. So please, go to church. Help your friends and family members go to church.

The best part of the week was Albert´s baptism. But man, it´s almost a miracle that it occurred. We went and yelled his name to wake him up in the mornign, and he responded, and we said “We´ll be back in a bit, we have to go find another investigator”, so we left, and the other investigator didn´t come to church. Yay. But when we got back, we called Albert´s name again, with no response. And then his sister told us he wasn´t there. So we figure, oh he already left. But when we got to the church he WASN´T There. So the next hour, we went by car with our ward mission leader and his daughter to go find him. And lo and behold, ALBERT WAS STILL ASLEEP. So we got him up, he showered, dressed, and came to church. And then he was baptised. It was awesome!! He is so thoroughly converted; it´s amazing. This was my first baptism that I actively was involved in teaching, so it felt great!

This is God´s work, and he´s always at our sides willing to help; We just have to ask.

Love,

Sister West