Querida familia!
What a busy week it has been! Is it just me, or does time seem to be flying faster and faster? But, even though time is flying fast, that means that we've been busy working and that we have things to do! I'm super grateful for that. Well, let me tell you about the week...
Updates on investigators! Daisy: We had a couple of really good lessons with her this week... The first we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what each of the different parts of the gospel mean. We have to take it slow with her, but she understands once we have a chance to explain. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes and so we talked about what would need to happen in order for her to be baptized. She's living with her boyfriend right now, so they would either have to get married or she would have to move out. She said that she would be willing to talk to David, her boyfriend, and see what he said. Then we saw her again and we watched Finding Faith in Christ. That is such a good video and it really brought in the Spirit. We talked to her a little bit more about baptism and if she'd had a chance to talk to David and she said that she'd tried but that he kind of blew her off. We asked her why she wanted to be baptized and she said that she really feels like it would be a step that would help her to grow closer to God and that she would be able to feel him more in her life. We talked to her about talking with David again and before she does, say a prayer to ask for Heavenly Father's help. She said she would and at the end of the lesson she said the prayer and she asked Heavenly Father to help her talk with David and that he would be more open about it so that she could be baptized. It was a really sweet prayer and you could feel the desire that she has. Very cool. La Familia Elrraraz: I really hope I'm spelling their name right... :) Well, we stopped by them on Sunday night and had another great lesson with them. They hadn't read 3 Nephi 11 and so we read that with them up through verse 15 and talked about how the very first thing that Christ did when he came to the America's was to invite every single person there to come to him and to feel the nail prints in his hands and feet and to know for themselves who he really was. We talked about how that same invitation is still extended to us today. Adolfo, the dad, looked at us and said, "This is true. He does extend that to us and I can feel that. That's why you guys are here and that's why we need to read." WHAT?! This family gets it!! Adolfo knows that the church would be a big commitment and so he's working on building up that faith. Right now he works at a Dairy on Sundays, so we're trying to get him to ask his boss if he can have Sunday's off or if they can work it out where he gets more than one Sunday off every other month. They are awesome and even though we've only met with the whole family twice, I love them and so badly want them to accept the gospel and to have the blessings that it can bring in their lives.
It really is all about the people here. I love them. And they deserve the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today I had the chance to go to the temple and it was awesome... I know that the temple is a place of learning, a place where we can receive answers to the questions that we have, and place where we can feel how much our Heavenly Father loves us. I love that he gives us the chance to go and to learn and feel of that love.
Well, Pres. Palmer leaves the mission this Friday and Pres. Mullen comes up to the mission on Friday. As kind of a way to have one last training and say good-bye to all the missionaries, Pres. and Sis. Palmer are going around to all of the different districts or zones and is meeting with the missionaries. This past Tuesday our whole zone had a chance to meet with them. We had lunch with them and then we did accountings about our weeks in our areas, and then Pres. Palmer gave a training on the Doctrine of Christ. He has given many trainings on the Doctrine of Christ, but this one was really special... He asked us a question; "How do we know when a missionary has the doctrine of Christ in their hearts?" That's a good question for all of us... How do we know when we have the doctrine of Christ in our hearts? We through out a lot of different answers but one thing that it really comes down to is how much do we love the people and how hard are we willing to work to help them out... As people in general, we all have the job to love those around us and to serve those around us. As we serve those people, we begin to feel that love for them, to see them the way that Christ sees them. How grateful I am for a mission president that has tried so hard to help us understand that principle and to help us live the doctrine of Jesus Christ so that we can have it in our hearts, letting it lead and guide our actions. I am so grateful for the Palmer's for their examples and for all that they have taught me. They always did try to lead us and teach us that it is all about Christ and what his life and sacrifice means for each one of us individually.
Well, I think that's about it for the week. I hope you all have another great week full of lots of different things. Love you!
Love,
Hermana Haws
Sharing the Gospel in the Washington Spokane Mission
