Kamusta mo! Here's my week so far... Hope you enjoy the reading!
On Wednesday, September 29th, Sister Acosta and I visited a Brother Marion and Sister Miles for the first time and taught them about the Plan of Salvation. They realy wanted a lot of explanation and scriptures from the Bible and it was awesome being able to find evidence to back up what we were teaching them. You could tell that even though they knew what we were teaching, their knowledge still grew because we explained things more clearly and expanded on the scriptures we had shared. We then committed them to baptism and Sister Miles told us that she is devoted to her church but doesn't mind listening, and Brother Marion said that he wants to listen more and wouldn't mind being baptized but he's scared because his family is devout Catholics. So I'm hoping that the more we visit them, the more they will come to know the truth.
September 30th, Wednesday, Sister Acosta and I taught Sister Angel Abayon about the Restoration and a little bit about The Book of Mormon. She reads the Bible a lot but knew that we had a Book of Mormon. We explained to her that the Book of Mormon isn't a Bible and that when she reads it, she can gain peace and happiness and more fully understand Heavenly Father's love for us. We committed her to read and pray about it to find out for herself if it is true. And then Sister Acosta committed her to baptism on October 31st. She was a little hesitant at first, but said that when she finds out the Book of Mormon is true, she'll be baptized.
We then visited Brother Carlo Uling, boyfriend of Charlene Morales, a less active, who has been taking lessons from us. At first when I was companions with Sister Canar, Brother Carlo wouldn't talk to us, or even really look at us and Sister Charlene wouldn't ever read, pray or come to church. But now being with Sister Acosta, Sister Charlene is reading/praying every day, and is starting to come back to church, and Brother Carlo is taking lessons from us and is really starting to progress! We taught Brother Carlo the same lesson as Sister Angel and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. The thing about teaching Carlo that's really cool, is that he's already been reading from the Book of Mormon before we even started teaching him, and he told us that every time he reads from it, he feels peace. We shared our testimonies with him about the Book of Mormon and how we can always gain peace/happiness from reading it, and then we committed him to read and pray about it. Sister Acosta then committed Brother Carlo to baptism on October 31st, and he said "Yes." Which was actually a little surprising because sometimes it seems like he isn't into the lessons. Even Sister Charlene was surprised at his answer. haha. But he actually really is interested in the church and wants to know more about it. Sister Morales (mother of Charlene) told Sister Acosta and I, one night that Brother Carlo went over to their house and was excitingly talking about his baptism to the family. He kept telling them that his baptism is on October 31st and that he's been reading and praying. It's so awesome to see him grow that testimony about this church.
Then on October 3rd, Saturday, Sister Acosta and I visited the Rosales family (less active), and taught them about repentance. Brother Riri, son of Jerry Rosales has started coming to church again, and he really wants to serve a mission now! Usually Brother Riri doesn't talk much during the lessons or open up, but this lesson he really opened up and shared a lot of things that he did in the past and how he wants to change his life and become a better person. We shared a little bit from Alma 36 about Alma talking to his son Helaman about his experience with repenting after everything he had done in the past. We committed him to continue coming to church and prepare himself for a mission. It was so cute because he told us, "Yes Sisters, I will continue coming to church. If I have to walk all the way there, okay."
We then went and visited the Morales family (less active), and taught them about faith and paying tithing always. Sister Morales has a really strong testimony on paying tithing. She shared many experiences from paying her tithing even when she didn't have money, and the many blessings that followed afterwards for her family. Brother Morales is the one that makes the money in the family, but on the side Sister Morales makes some. And even thought it's not really an income, she knows that it's so important to still pay her tithing and give fast offerings because it's helping out the church.
On Sunday, October 4th, Sister Acosta and I went to church and it was so awesome being able to attend! Not only was it Fast Sunday and people bore their testimonies, but many people attended church! A lot of the less actives finally came to church and got to participate in classes. AND.... Brother Carlo came to church! Actually, the whole Morales family came back to church again! The mom/dad, and their 4 kids, including Charlene. It was so awesome being able to see them at church all together! The look on their faces was happiness. They were all so happy that they were at church together again.
We ended up teaching Brother Carlo right after church. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation, where we came from, and it was kind of the perfect lesson to teach him because during church, one of the lessons was about how families can be eternal. Sister Acosta and I were so happy to have had the lesson at the church. The Spirit was SO strong there compared to teaching at people's houses. Sometimes during the lesson, because Carlo is so shy, he doesn't really answer us back except one-worded answers. But for some reason at the church during the lesson, he seemed really confident with talking to us. And every time we talked about his and Charlene's baby and how they can all be together for eternity, we'd catch his attention. We asked him how he felt during church and he said that he could feel peace; that it didn't really feel weird to be there.
Also! I would like to mention something that I think is a little funny that has happened to me ever since I've been here in Carmen, and been with Sister Acosta:
So whenever we do weekly planning, we have companionship goals, what we as a companionship want to accomplish for the new week. I remember when Sister Canar and I were together, whenever we'd pick out a Christ-like attribute for the new week, and we'd be tested on it. For example, if we chose to grow our knowledge of the doctrine/scriptures, we'd be tested that week by having some bible bashers during some lessons haha. Or if we chose humility, something would happen where we weren't so humble with each other. And I told Sister Acosta that whatever we choose, we'll be tested on it. And she had chosen knowledge for a Christ-like attribute. And I can testify that this week we really have been tested with our knowledge of the scriptures. We've had many lessons with people that only believe in the Bible and want evidence from the Bible. And we've had some bible bashers that just want to bible share during lessons. At first you're thinking, "Really, Heavenly Father??" But it's a blessing in disguise because it's really helping us to expand our knowledge of this gospel and the Bible.
I love you all! Stay safe and have a good week!
Love,
Sister Johnson
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