Hey all,
This
week was filled with lots of exciting things, but I would just like to share
with you guys about one investigator we are teaching named Maria Carmélia.
Maria is the mother of Fernanda, one of our recent-converts who was baptized
with her family. Maria came to the
baptism of her daughter and when she entered into the church, she was
overwhelmed with emotions. She started to cry and came over to Elder Gasparelo
and started talking with him.
We
then went to teach her at her home about the restoration. We invited her to
pray to receive an answer of the truthfulness. She promised she would. The next
Sunday she came to church. She pulled me aside and said "Elder, remember
that you asked me to pray to know that it is true? Well I stayed up praying for
about an hour, then I went to sleep. While I was sleeping I had a dream. And in
this dream I received my answer. I know that this church is true." We both
cried a little bit together.
That
day we went to teach her about the Book of Mormon and the Word of Wisdom. We invited her to stop smoking and that same
moment she said yes I will stop. She ran and grabbed her pack of cigarettes and
gave them to us. We of course threw them
away. She cried because she knew it
would be difficult. On Monday night, came the temptation. A man that had never
in her life given her anything, arrived and gave Maria two packs of expensive cigarettes
for free. What are the chances? She was stunned. But she kept strong. She didn’t smoke any of
them. She gave them to us the next day and we of course threw them away.
She
is reading the Book of Mormon rapidly and is marking all the parts that are
interesting to her. She shared with us 1 Nephi 3:7 and said "look at
Nephi's faith! Oh mercy! He is amazing! I want to be like Nephi." She
shared lots of other scriptures she is encountering too. She said "you
know how everyone was getting up there at the front pulpit saying 'I know the
Book of Mormon is true? (It was during our fast and testimony meeting) Well I
know now exactly how they feel!"
Every
day that we teach Maria about the new doctrines she never knew about (plan of salvation,
eternal families, the true principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, etc.) she
gets super emotional and excited to learn more. It is such a pleasure teaching
a true elect person of God. I love Maria Carmélia so much.
Have
a great week everyone! The pics in this post are from last week because I had camera problems.
Elder
Waters
