This week was so busy but it was really good. On Monday we
visited an older couple in the ward who it turns out lived in El Paso a while
back. Then we did some contacting and met this guy named Robert who said we
could stop back by. Then on Tuesday we had a new missionaries meeting which was
good. Its always good to get trained on some of the basics because they are so
important. Then that night we went out and worked and I had a feeling that we
should go stop by Robert's house. We did and he was there and we ended up
teaching him part of the first lesson and picking him up as an investigator.
Then on Thursday we got to teach our investigator David. He is really
interested in learning and has been reading the Book of Mormon but I think he
sees our visits as more of a nice bible study. We have taught him about
preisthood authority a bunch of times and I still think that he doesn't quite
get it. If he doesn't come to church soon we will probably have to drop him.
Also that day we had a super awesome lesson. So last week we got a media
referral for a man that requested a copy of the Book of Mormon. We stopped by
and dropped it off and talked to him for a while. As it turns out he is a
catholic preist who wants to learn more about our church. So we set up and appointment
with him (his name is Rex) but i wasn't sure what exactly to expect (like if it
was just going to turn into a bash). We met him at the church and we had a
really great member with us. He told us that he was raised Buddhist (he's
Japanese) but his mom would have him read scriptures from the bible to teach
him how to read. So he got interested in Christianity. Then when he was a
teenager, one of his good friends that was mormon would invite him to church so
he soon started taking the lessons. He really wanted to get baptized but his
father was against it so he didn't. Anyways he ended up becoming pentecostal
but didn't feel that was right so then he joined the catholic church. He has
been studying as a pastor there for seven years and has also studied theology
and philosphy for many years. And he said that the other day he saw a program
about mormonism on tv and felt prompted to learn more about the church again.
So needless to say it was a interesting lesson becuase I have never taught
anyone befoe who has so much religious knowledge. But the lesson was so good!!
He has a lot of respect for mormons and was genuinly interested in learning
what we believe. He has studied our religion before in a class so he knows a
lot about our church but he wanted to learn from the source. So we taught him
the first lesson and he got along great with our member. Her husband is a
convert and used to be catholic so we are going to bring him to our next
lesson. Also it was cool because when we taught about apostasy, he asked why
would God take the prophets and athourity away when the people were wicked and
needed it most. I had read in Ether a couple days before and there are a few
chapters where about four times the Lord sends prophets trying to get the
people to repent but they just keep rejecting them. I was able to explain that
God tries to help us and bring people back to him but he can only try so many
times and have the prophets rejected before they are just too wicked and
unwilling to change. It was cool because a blessing I got a while ago said that
I would be able to recieve revelation for those I taught as I studied the
scriptures. Anyways you can just tell that Rex has been looking for the truth
his whole life and I know he felt the spirit in our lesson. At the end we
committed him to pray and ask God if our church is true. He said that he would
and that he feels like God has guided him to learn from us for a reason. He
asked for us to pray for him that he could recognize his answer. So that was
pretty cool. He believes that the catholic church also has true preisthood
authority and being a priest in his church is his job so it would be a big
change for him to join our church but if he is really sincere I'm hoping that
he will realize that this is God's true church on the earth. Then on Friday we
had exchanges. Sister Oler is a brand new STL and so it was fun to go on
exchanges with her. We did some service for some members, taught our
investigator Sister Eves who is doing well (just waiting for her clearance to
get re-baptized), a member took us out to eat at Denny's, and we visited this
less active lady who takes care of her mom who has alzheimers. It is really a
lot of work and hard for her because her mom tries to run away and yells at her
a lot. So I'm really glad that we got to visit her and uplift her. Then on
Saturday we had a ward car wash. It was free and while people were getting
their car washed we gave them tours of our church building. It was a lot of
fun!! We were able to get 2 new investigators out of it. One of them is a
Phillipino guy who used to live close to a mormon church in the Phillipines.
Another was a lady who lives next door to the church and wanted to see what it
was like inside. She loved that our church focuses on families because she wants
her grand-daughter that she takes care of to have a good religious upbringing.
So it was a really great activity. Afterwards we went and taught Anthony the
plan of salvation. We have little cut outs that go with each part of
the plan of salvation and he loved getting to put them in order and then
showing us how to put it together. He cousins were there too so a couple of
them joined in on the lesson. Sadly they didn't come to church like they said
they would so idk what we will do about that. He can't get baptized unless
they start coming. We are going to try to have a family home evening with their
whole family this week. On Sunday I got a cold (the sister I went on
exchanges with gave it to me I guess) so we went in early that night so I could
get some sleep. Still not feeling 100% but I will be fine. This upcoming week
is going to be just as busy but I am glad that we have people to teach and
things to do every day. The Lord is really blessing us in our area as we work
hard and put our faith in him. I really tried to be a lot more positive this
week even though I was still feeling kind of overwhelmed. Heavenly Father
really helped us to be able to accomplish everything that we needed to and to
lead us to find more people who are willing to hear our message. I know that
God is always guiding us and is mindful of us always. Love,
Sister Washburn
With Sister Culala
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