Thursday, April 23, 2015

The Power of Fasting

WOW.... awesome week. Hard week. Due to the greatness of it, it’ll be hard to say everything that happened this week so I’ll just throw in the good stuff.
So we were walking one night tired and disappointed because basically all of our lessons fell through when we saw a woman sitting on the curb. It was dark and we were in kind of a sketchy area but we decided to talk with here. As we got talking she told us that her son is 20 years old, has a kid, abandoned him and the mom and is addicted to about every drug you can think of. We explained that with our message her son can get over all of that and they both can feel at peace. Then with tears in her eyes she said “I think God sent you guys to help me." She was so right. We have an appointment with her later this week.
Thursday during our weekly planning meeting we didn't know what to plan for Choncita and Ingrid. Both are so close to baptism but both struggle with coffee and Ingrid is scared to talk with her mom about baptism and Choncita isn't married, so we knelt and prayed for guidance and revelation to help them. As we were praying I saw in my mind my companion and I giving a blessing to Choncita. When we talked about what we felt during the prayer, my comp basically told me that he felt we should give her a blessing. I told him I felt the exact same thing! It was an incredible experience and my eyes couldn't stop from watering as I recognized a tender mercy of the Lord. He hears our prayers. I know that there is a power behind prayer and fasting. The next day we visited Choncita and she told us that she has no feeling or desires to drink coffee . . . . nada! ningĂșn deseo! bien chido! We ended the lesson with a prayer and a blessing to help her talk to her boyfriend about separating.
Although we received many blessings this week and witnessed the hand of the Lord many times, we also found out there is an opposition in all things. Chonsita had a bad dream and was basically told that she shouldn't join our church. Ingrid was never home this week and none of our investigators came to church. A hard way to end this letter, but I know the Lord knows what he’s doing. We witnessed revelation and the power of fasting this week. We also witnessed the power of the adversary. The great thing about the gospel is that we already know that the Lord is stronger and whoever is found on the Lord’s side in the end, WILL be victorious. I love this work and love the gospel. The church is true. Even though times will be tough, it’s the good times that helps us pull through.
Love and miss you so much. Thanks for the letters and everything
Love
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I Love my Mission!

Dearest family,
I miss ya, but I love my mission! It was a hard week but thankfully I was able to recognize the hand of the Lord in it.
So this week we’ve been working hard with our investigators that are closest to baptism. Chonsita can be baptized in April but she has a hard time reading and understanding the doctrine. Monday we stopped by and talked about the Book of Mormon with her and then went over the next day and read the introduction. On Wednesday she had read all the way to Mosiah!!!!! It was awesome! She loves the book of Mormon and is always happy to have us speak with her. She came to church and loved it too. She’s going to a relief society activity on Thursday. The only problem with her is coffee and the fact that she has a boyfriend while her husband lives in Honduras . . . . so yeah there’s a bit of a problem with that, but were working on it.
Our other investigator Ingrid came to church again, but she is struggling with word of wisdom too, especially the coffee. Her mom at first said she could be baptized but then changed her mind so now Ingrid is afraid to push the subject of being baptized.
Our other investigator that is close to baptism is Alejandra. She is a cousin to a recent convert and loves the church. The only problem is she lives super far away so she couldn’t make it to church this week; but next time for sure, so she should be baptized the week of General Conference.
We had interviews with president and it was so great, he is such a great man! He always shares so much amazing scriptures, stories, and insights, and I know he is inspired to say what he says.
This week my comp and I were talking about ways we could improve things in our area. We talked about how in the scriptures they were able to be successful through their "mighty prayers and fasting", in particular the sons of Mosiah. We want to be missionaries like them, so this week we prayed a whole lot and fasted twice. We recently found some AMAZING people that are so willing to hear the gospel, especially a young man named Alan. He’s 19 and has gone to church a lot but has never visited with the missionaries. He loves the church and wants to be a part of it. We have a lesson with him today. It was just one of the many great experiences this week and I know the Lord has a lot more to offer if I’m obedient, faithful and patient.
Love and miss you tons! Until next time.
Love,
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