01 September 2014

Letter to the Pres… 8-25-14

Alright, so I told you all that this was going to be an AWESOME email! Well, we were planning the baptism of a family of four, who we had to leave about a month ago because they weren't progressing at all, and then suddenly came and said they were ready. So to explain simply without having to rewrite everything, I copied and pasted part of my letter to President Archibald. I invite you to be understanding of the short time I have to write. :)

"This week was a bit of an intense one. We had everything planned for the baptism on Saturday, all the ward had been invited, the ward council made plans for baptismal clothing...everything. And we went to check up on the family and it turns out they didn't let us in the house. The dad went and talked to the bishop and said that they just have too many problems that they need to resolve and so on and so forth. President, we did everything in our power to help them, but in the end they used their agency to not accept. Try as we might, we cannot and should not force anyone to use that agency wisely. It's contrary to the Plan of Salvation. All we can do is teach them accurately and thoroughly and invite them to accept the gospel. I was so sure that they were going to make it to Saturday but the Lord found a way to correct me through the scriptures. I read on Friday night Moroni 6:1-3, which explains that no one should be accepted for baptism who does not have a broken heart and contrite spirit. The Lord prepares His children in His timetable, and we need to be attentive to His instructions so that we might act accordingly to that master plan. It's a lesson I had learned before, but am learning again in a new light. 

"On a brighter note, we do have two investigators who ARE very prepared! In sacrament meeting yesterday we had Paul, Sandra, Lurfia, and José. Lurfia has been devouring the Book of Mormon and when we visited her this week she was so excited to tell us about it. "He estado leyendo en su Libro...y ME ENCANTA! Siento tranquilidad y paz al leerlo, y siento que me levanto con diferentes ánimos. A veces me doy cuenta que estoy todavía despierta a la una de la mañana simplemente por qué no puedo dejar de leer!" 

"I have been reading in your book ... and I LOVE IT! I feel peace and quiet when I read, and I feel that I lifted with a different Spirit. Sometimes I realize that I am still awake at one in the morning just because I can't stop reading!" (google translator)
She also knows a lot of the members of the Relief Society and loved church. She is preparing to be baptized the 13th.

"José is the son of a less active who we had been trying to visit with for awhile...he is 23 and phenomenal! He had heard from the missionaries and even attended church several times when his dad was baptized about 4 years back, but he told us himself that he didn't take it seriously at that time and had never tried sincerely to receive an answer about Joseph Smith. We taught him the first lesson and invited him to read, pray, and attend church, as well as to be baptized the 13th of September. He accepted right away and promised to read 1 Nephi 1 that night. When we called him the next evening between visits, he said he had read 3 chapters in the Book of Mormon and the entire brochure about the Restoration and had watched the Joseph Smith movie and had prayed and felt like he felt totally different and so happy. Before we could respond he said, "That must be the answer I'm looking for!" We confirmed that, and he has continued to read and is marking the things he learns and excitedly preparing to be baptized and then go serve a mission. Our great YSA organization yesterday invited him to their activity and everything has just fallen into place. The Lord DOES prepare His children!

"It's been interesting to see how the things my companion and I study connect much better recently. We were preparing this morning to teach the Plan of Salvation with the principle of eternal marriage from Lesson 5 and Hermana Do Santos had been studying the Fall of Adam and Eve. She explained what she had learned about the necessity of the Fall so that we could come to earth and learn how to choose between good and evil, as well as how the Atonement allows us to become like gods. This tied directly into my study of D&C 132, which explains that in order to receive the fulness of the exalted state, we must be sealed and then stay true to our covenants. That is very well explained in Mosiah 3:19 - our eternal spirits are housed in temporal bodies which are prone to weakness; in order to perfect those bodies we have to strengthen our spirits in order to control those carnal desires so that we may be prepared to make and keep those glorifying covenants. It is only made possible in and through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ."


So there you go. An inside scoop of the letters missionaries write to their mission presidents on Monday. Well, at least those I write. Usually I'm a bit more organized, but I do write a novel most of the time. Thankfully Elder Larsen isn't here in Los Olivos to make fun of me anymore!

All in all, I am a happy camper.

When I came to the mission field (just barely over a year ago) I started reading a clean, $2.50 copy of the Book of Mormon with one question in mind: "How can I more fully place my trust in God?" I found many, many answers as I read that little book from cover to cover. And you know what? I am happy because I understand so much more thoroughly now how to put my trust in my Heavenly Father. 

I have become so grateful for my trials, so grateful for those opportunities I am given to hold on tight and exercise my faith. I am so thankful for the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here I see in-depth what life is like without it, and it makes me want even more to open my mouth and invite others to come unto the Savior. 

We are SO blessed!
Remember that, and be thankful.

I love you and pray for you! 

Hermana Hewitt

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