Post #59

Hello all! 

Well this morning we all discovered that yesterday was St. Patrick's Day! And everyone here at the Visitors' Center TOTALLY forgot. I guess we have much better things to worry about. But. We were still kind of bummed. We figured it out this morning at a service project we did here at the Visitors' Center. We came and DEEP cleaned! We have a company that comes and cleans... but there were a lot of things that needed to be cleaned... especially getting ready for the pageant! The walls were so dirty and the glass everywhere. Anyways it was fun to be able to come help out... where we spend like ALL our time :] And we're really getting ready for the Easter Pageant... starting tomorrow! They've been out practicing every night! It's so fun because we live SO close that at night 9:00-10:30 each night we live our doors open and can hear it. I love it. On Saturday morning they set up the 10,000 chairs! It's such a sight out there! Sister Aquino and I are passing out invitation every chance we can get--I know that we'll get referrals in our area as a result!

This week has been great. I just want to do what the Lord wants from me. I know that he can work miracles in our area. So we are exercising all the faith we have to really be able to find new investigators and to help the ones that we already have to progress. We found an investigator this week named Guadalupe and she's SO prepared. She works a ton so that makes it a little harder. But seriously we knocked on her door and she just looked at us and said "do you want to come in?" She was so receiving... like she was waiting for us or something. She's five months pregnant... so hopefully she'll start working a little less and be able to have more time. 

We have an investigator named Carlos. He has met with missionaries for a while now, but just recently we've seen him a lot more serious and he's started to progress. He says that he wants to get baptized but just doesn't feel that he has received his answer.  We taught him the word of wisdom this week--he has problems with smoking so we are helping him rely on the Lord to help him stop. We are going to set a baptismal date with him this week. He wasn't able to go to church yesterday because he was in Mexico, but has been coming regularly when he is in town.

This area has so many people in it. We find a lot of investigators but they they just don't progress... but like a week and a half ago we found a lady named Erlinda, who is super interested. She has always believed in God but never really been super religious because she didn't know which church was true. So we are helping her understand that she can receive answers from God and know for herself! She was going to go to church but her daughter is in the hospital and wasn't able to.

This week I've really been focusing on following the guidance of the spirit... I know that I can't do this alone... but for some reason it's like I just forget that--and get stuck in a rut. Being exactly obedient and doing everything I am supposed to, but not seeking the Lord's help in everything I do. And we've totally seen miracles this week and I changed how I worked. I can feel a difference in our companionship and in the way I view people in the streets. This is the Lord's work.

We have an investigator in the Visitors' Center (like on the phones) that is SO awesome. He's 19 years old and lives in Washington state. He called in wanted to learn about Jesus Christ. He has grown up devout Jew and has always heard about Jesus Christ but honestly has no idea who he is. We've been teaching him for two weeks and the spirit is so strong every time we teach him. When we explained to him that Jesus Christ is the Jehovah that is testified of in the Old Testament he just started crying, telling us that no one had ever told him that before. He has tons of questions and really is progressing. He told us about his experience at Sinogoge this past Saturday. He was there with his family... but he could stop thinking about all the new words we have taught him, like Jesus Christ, Savior, Redeemer, Heavenly Father. He has a lot of fear of his family rejecting him, and talks about how guilty he feels talking to us. I can't imagine how hard it is going against everything he's been taught growing up, but I know he's doing it because he's felt the spirit so strong. The Lord is guiding him to the trust. We are just working on increasing his faith in Jesus Christ because we know that he feels the spirit. It's so awesome teaching him. It increasing my faith doing so! 

I'm doing so well!! I can't WAIT for the Easter Pageant! It is such a blessing this city has to have incredible missionary experiences. 

Love,

Sister Larson