!Happy Birthday Parker BabyGirl!
Love, Rachel
Family,
We have been working really hard to find people. It just seems like there aren't too many people willing to listen to our message. It is super hard and frustrating when you see people that need the gospel, that need the comfort and the peace that comes from it, but they aren't willing to listen. I just want so badly for them to listen, to feel it, and to recognize the love that our heavenly father has for them. I pray that someday they will feel it and accept it.
This week was a silly one because our car broke down and we were on bikes. Now, normally i would love that, during the summer riding bikes was my favorite, but this week it was in the low 40's and it even was raining one of the days. I was so bummed...never in my life did I think that I would be in Arlington, Virginia, in November, riding a bike through the cold rain....in a skirt! There was a moment or maybe a couple, were I thought to myself, 'pounders beach, sunshine, Hawaii' haha. I just wanted out of the situation so bad. I had a really good talk with God for the 45 minute bike ride back home haha...I realized in that moment how naive I was, I mean, Jesus Christ suffered everything, his burden was so much heavier and deeper than mine ever has been, his walk was alone, he didn't complain, he never murmured, he just did it, because he loves us. I learned some good stuff that day. And you know what, I also learned the Lord always has a plan for us. Because we were riding bikes, we stayed in the Arlington area and we knocked some apartments that we normally would not knock(because we had knocked them the previous month). Well, we were knocking and found a family of 4 from El Salvador. They are so good, and they want to learn more. This work is incredible, I mean honestly, it is not the work of man, it is the work of God, he provides the way we go, the words we say, and prepares the hearts of the people. This is God's work. I'm stoked! I love you all.
Cubo
RR
November 7, 2011
Hello Everyone!
So this week was really a good week! We spent a lot of time out looking for new investigators and also getting Erika stoked for her baptism.
I have a crazy story to tell you all about when we were tracting...we encountered something that I never thought I would have to face....
We were out knocking doors and we knocked this one door in particular, a boy opened it and I heard his mom say come in (in English)..we figured we might as well try to get a referral for the English missionaries, so we went in. It was a family of 4 and they seemed really nice. They had us sit down and gave us some juice, we talked for a minute about what we did...and then the mom said that they had talked with many many Mormon missionaries and that she herself is a missionary for her church. She went on to ask us in a very condescending way, "now I like to ask all Mormons how they found there church, you all were born into this church right?" I told her that I was, but like anyone else who believes in something, I had a specific moment when I was converted to the church, when I knew it was what I believed in. She then kind of smiled. Let me just say this, the feeling in the room was really erry..next thing we know the dad is rummaging through a box and he pulls out these two pamphlets that were written by a pastor named Billy Graham..all I could think was oh shoot.haha. The Dad says to us, "you know what, we have seen a lot of missionaries, in fact a few years back we had a couple of Elders ask us if we knew if we had any Vietnamese neighbors...I told them that we did..(then he laughs) and then I told them that I wasn't going to tell them where they lived because I think you all are a bunch of liars, convincing people to a lie!" Then he pulls out the pamphlets and says, "You know, we believe that if a man walks into a bathroom, sees this pamphlet and reads it...then walks outside and gets struck by lightening, and dies, he will be saved because he read this pamphlet and accepted Jesus." The feeling in the room was just really different and we just wanted to get out of there. Hermana Balsley quickly bore her testimony and we were going to leave. Then the mom asked me, "have you even researched your church, I mean really researched it and looked into it from an outsiders perspective, do you even know what you believe?" I said the first thing that came to my mind...I told her, "You know what, I have done all the researching that I need. We believe the Bible to be the word of god and the Book of Mormon and have read the Book of Mormon, I can testify that it is another testament of Jesus Christ, and I say that because I know, because I have prayed. I received a witness of its truthfulness from the holy ghost..and that is direct witness from god...so you know what, I don't need to do any other research, because I know that the mistakes in this world come from man, not from God, so thank you for the juice and your time you all have a good night." In that moment, I felt that confirmation once again from the holy ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true. How incredible is that :)
I am so grateful to have this gospel in my life. I know that it is true.
Now for some good news....Erika, la Colombiana, fue bautizado! pues! So sick! She is incredible and I am so happy for her. She truly was ready. She has an incredible story. She has been looking her whole life for the right church, she has never been baptized because she never found the right church. Then when she came to church about 3 weeks ago, she knew that it was where she needed to be, she told us that there was a different feeling there, than in the other churches. We taught her and 4 weeks later she was baptized. How incredible is that! She is going to be such a strong member.
That is all the news from this week. Hope you all know how much I love you and pray for you all.
Cubo,
RR
pictures are from Erika's Baptism...sorry they are blurry.
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