Cy-Fair District: Elder Ririe, me, Sister Funk, Sister Jeppson, Sister Heaps, and Elder Parkinson
Hey y'all!
Time is a funny thing... while some days seem to take forever to
pass, it still feels like it was yesterday that I was emailing y'all... and
still, so much has happened since then. It's weird.
This week has been good. Sister Funk and I have been
practicing our "Master Teacher" approach which we learned about last
week at Zone Meeting - basically we're learning to teach like the Savior did,
with the focus on asking inspired questions. I must say, it does help to
get our investigators more involved in what we're saying. Instead of just
preaching at them, we involve them in a discussion and ask questions that
basically result in them teaching themselves gospel truth. It's cool.
And the spirit is SO much stronger in these type of lessons - I think
this method is definitely helping Fairfield to progress.
We met with Honorio again this week and engaged him in this type of
discussion and he told us what has been holding him back from baptism. He
had read the first 6 chapters of Moroni and come across Moroni 6:2 which talks
about needing a broken heart and a contrite spirit in order to be baptized.
He doesn't feel like he has that yet, and basically told us that his
pride is getting in the way. And he realizes that this is a problem...
but he doesn't have the desire to change. We're still working towards
August 30th, and we know that he CAN be ready by that time... it's all down to
weather or not he WANTS to be ready by that time.
So after the lesson, later on in the week Sister Funk and I had
weekly planning and we talked about Honorio and how we could help him.
Sister Funk had studied about fasting in her studies that morning, so she
suggested we fast for him. So we prayed, and decided what exactly it was that
we needed to fast for so we could focus all our spiritual energy into exactly
what he needed. And we determined that our fast would be: "FOR
HONORIO: that his heart will be softened, that he will let go of pride, and
that he will have a desire to change." We wrote it on our whiteboard
and decided to fast on Sunday.
So Saturday evening came, and we knelt as a companionship and poured
out our hearts in prayer to our Father on behalf of Honorio. And we said
many prayers throughout Sunday - both together and individually. And we
sat by him at church on Sunday, and during the Sacrament we thought about him
and how much the covenants that we make at baptism and renew each week with the
sacrament would help him. Honestly, I don't think I've ever poured out my
whole soul like this on behalf of any other person... It's not that I care
about Honorio any more than I care about any of my other investigators... I
guess I have grown spiritually throughout my mission and finally realize how I
can apply the principles that I have learned about my whole life.
Anyway, our prayers were answered with the second speaker during
sacrament meeting. He was a recent convert asked to speak about his
conversion story, and when I heard that I immediately got excited because I
know how much Honorio LOVES conversion stories (He always says that those of us
that have grown up in the gospel have it too easy because we have been brought
up with the standards of the church whereas he was raised with completely
opposite values.) But this speaker was EXACTLY what he needed.
David (the convert) had given up EVERYTHING to learn about the gospel -
he would wake up at 3 in the morning to read the Book of Mormon in secret
because he knew his family would be furious if they found out. And he
tried several times to take the discussions but each time his parents put a
stop to it. Eventually when he went away to college he was able to be
baptized, and his family disowned him, but he stuck true to what he knew was
right. And as he was telling his story, Honorio was completely
captivated. It was amazing, and the spirit was so strong, and somehow
through the noise that comes from being in a ward with 140+ primary kids we
were able to clearly hear every word. We talked to Honorio a bit after,
but we'll be able to discuss it more when we meet with him this week. But
we KNOW it touched him.
It is simply amazing how the Lord works. He knows exactly what
Honorio needs, and in response to our fasting an prayers he arranged, weeks in
advance, to have the perfect speaker share his story during our sacrament
meeting. Our God is definitely a God of miracles!
In other news - Melody texted us this week and told us that Chris
had told her that he believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that
Joseph Smith was a prophet! :D Chris has changed SO MUCH since he
started taking the discussions, and both he and Melody are progressing and
coming closer to Christ. They have an... interesting... situation that
prevents them from being baptized right now... it's too complicated to explain
via email. But they are working towards the beginning of next year. :)
I was able to go on exchanges this week with Sister Jeppson - a
different Sister Jeppson than the one I have been on exchanges with before.
And no, they aren't related. This Sister Jeppson has been out for 2
months, and during the whole exchange she was telling me how much she looks up
to the sisters that have been out for a long time and how we seem to know
everything and have everything put together... I'm not sure when I became one
of those sisters, because I still feel like I have no idea what's going on
sometimes... I guess I'm just more confident in my knowing nothing. ;)
She's great though - she was taking over her area for the first time and
she did a great job. And I think it gave her more confidence in her
skills as a missionary. It is amazing - I have come a long way since my
2nd month out... and yet it doesn't feel like it has been that long at all.
I love y'all so much! Thank you so much for your support!
Have a great week!
Sister Ririe
D&C 88:76
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