There comes a point when either something is true, or it isn't. Now, more than ever, my life relies on the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. That it is everything it claims to be. Every single one of my actions relies on this fact. The mere fact that I am here, writing this, relies on that fact. This week I was re-awakened to the importance of knowing that the words I teach are directly from God. Thursday morning our Zone Leader called us to tell us that through a series of miraculous circumstances, they had been able to set a baptism date with the husband of one of the sisters in our ward. I'll call him Hermano O. This in and of itself is a miracle because he has refused the Gospel for 2 years. Just a year ago he was a very hard man with many, many problems. The Elders had set an appoinment with him for that evening, but we already had another appointment so we decided to do divisions (or whatever they're called in English). I went to teach Hno O with a sister from the ward and Sister Tellez and Sister Laguna went to visit another family. I was slightly terrified to teach basically by myself, but felt confident that I was on the Lord's errand, and therefore would recieve help.
He has to work on Sundays, and therefore cannot attend church. This is a problem since church attendance is essential to recieving a testimony and you cannot be baptised unless you have shown your commitment to God through church attendance. We spent a good hour together during which I testified and testified that if he would keep the Sabbath Day holy and go to church on Sunday, that his family would be blessed. He has faith and an honest desire to change (I think I'm starting to understand what broken heart and contrite spirit means), but did not see how God could help him. If he didn't work, his family wouldn't eat. The next morning I had a long conversation with my Father in Heaven and pleaded for guidance. If this isn't the true Gospel of Christ that I am teaching, I just told a man to skip work, possibly with the result of losing his job. If this is the true Gospel of Christ and I am on his mission here, then Hno O will be blessed for his obediance in greater measure that any of us can imagine. I fould peace through realizing that this really is his time. That God has put all the means in place so that this man can make covenants with his Father and eventually have an eternal family. 1 Nephi 3:7, it's true. There's a lot more to the story, but this is the general idea. Hno O was able to attend Sacrament meetting yesterday, then go immediatly to work. Tonight we will talk with him and find out how everything worked out. As my District Leader Elder Hernandez reminds us every chance he gets; Estamos en la iglesia verdadera. No tengo ningún duda en mi corazon.
Moving on to less heavy stuff;
I'm a mom!!! Well, kind of. I'm kind of still in training, but Hermana Laguna and I are training Hermana Tellez together. It's kind of confusing, and we're still working out the hows. It's really fun to be in a trio though, and it has it's advangates 😊 Hna Tellez is from Bolivia. She's very sweet and still pretty shy. I admire the missionaries who only have 2 weeks or less in the MTC, it can't be easy to be thrown out into the missionary world with only 14 days to get used to the name badge. It's especially hard when you have to go to a different country and have never lived apart from your family before. Hna Tellez is very brave.
I'm working hard to take more responsiblity for myself. Hna Laguna is the kind of person who likes to take care of people/things. It's a wonderful, Christlike trait, but sometimes it means that I don't do a lot of things myself. I'm trying to speak up more. I actually learned how to turn on our boiler this week which is a big step 😊
Below is part of my letter to President Egbert---
We have really seen the hand of the Lord here in Actopan these last couple of weeks. In some of the areas here, weddings are free on the 14th of Feb (Happy Singles Awareness Day). As the fee is a significant obstacle for some of our investigators, this was literally a blessing from heaven. However, for some reason they were having a lot of trouble getting all the paperwork together and turned in (it didn't help that the husband in one of the couples was REALLY dragging his feet on the whole marriage thing). Hna Laguana and I fasted that everything would work out. I am thrilled to tell you that not only do we have 2 weddings planned for this week, but also 2 baptisms. More than that though, we've seen the miraculous softening of a few hearts who have stubbornly refused the Gospel for a long time. The principle of the fast is true, fasting and prayer are powerful tools in the hands of the faithful. I love having a front row seat to miracles! We have the best job in the world.
By my count, today marks my 100th day as a missionary (counting from when I got set-apart). 100 days. If we were in Elementary School we'd have a party. But since we're not, I think I'll just have a chocolate and smile a lot.
I know this letter is really long, but we actually have the whole hour and a half to email today. It's fantastic!
I love you all! Be good! Be Happy! Pray! Read the scriptures! Go to chruch! Teach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.
Love,
Hna DeFranco
He has to work on Sundays, and therefore cannot attend church. This is a problem since church attendance is essential to recieving a testimony and you cannot be baptised unless you have shown your commitment to God through church attendance. We spent a good hour together during which I testified and testified that if he would keep the Sabbath Day holy and go to church on Sunday, that his family would be blessed. He has faith and an honest desire to change (I think I'm starting to understand what broken heart and contrite spirit means), but did not see how God could help him. If he didn't work, his family wouldn't eat. The next morning I had a long conversation with my Father in Heaven and pleaded for guidance. If this isn't the true Gospel of Christ that I am teaching, I just told a man to skip work, possibly with the result of losing his job. If this is the true Gospel of Christ and I am on his mission here, then Hno O will be blessed for his obediance in greater measure that any of us can imagine. I fould peace through realizing that this really is his time. That God has put all the means in place so that this man can make covenants with his Father and eventually have an eternal family. 1 Nephi 3:7, it's true. There's a lot more to the story, but this is the general idea. Hno O was able to attend Sacrament meetting yesterday, then go immediatly to work. Tonight we will talk with him and find out how everything worked out. As my District Leader Elder Hernandez reminds us every chance he gets; Estamos en la iglesia verdadera. No tengo ningún duda en mi corazon.
Moving on to less heavy stuff;
I'm a mom!!! Well, kind of. I'm kind of still in training, but Hermana Laguna and I are training Hermana Tellez together. It's kind of confusing, and we're still working out the hows. It's really fun to be in a trio though, and it has it's advangates 😊 Hna Tellez is from Bolivia. She's very sweet and still pretty shy. I admire the missionaries who only have 2 weeks or less in the MTC, it can't be easy to be thrown out into the missionary world with only 14 days to get used to the name badge. It's especially hard when you have to go to a different country and have never lived apart from your family before. Hna Tellez is very brave.
I'm working hard to take more responsiblity for myself. Hna Laguna is the kind of person who likes to take care of people/things. It's a wonderful, Christlike trait, but sometimes it means that I don't do a lot of things myself. I'm trying to speak up more. I actually learned how to turn on our boiler this week which is a big step 😊
Below is part of my letter to President Egbert---
We have really seen the hand of the Lord here in Actopan these last couple of weeks. In some of the areas here, weddings are free on the 14th of Feb (Happy Singles Awareness Day). As the fee is a significant obstacle for some of our investigators, this was literally a blessing from heaven. However, for some reason they were having a lot of trouble getting all the paperwork together and turned in (it didn't help that the husband in one of the couples was REALLY dragging his feet on the whole marriage thing). Hna Laguana and I fasted that everything would work out. I am thrilled to tell you that not only do we have 2 weddings planned for this week, but also 2 baptisms. More than that though, we've seen the miraculous softening of a few hearts who have stubbornly refused the Gospel for a long time. The principle of the fast is true, fasting and prayer are powerful tools in the hands of the faithful. I love having a front row seat to miracles! We have the best job in the world.
By my count, today marks my 100th day as a missionary (counting from when I got set-apart). 100 days. If we were in Elementary School we'd have a party. But since we're not, I think I'll just have a chocolate and smile a lot.
I know this letter is really long, but we actually have the whole hour and a half to email today. It's fantastic!
I love you all! Be good! Be Happy! Pray! Read the scriptures! Go to chruch! Teach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.
Love,
Hna DeFranco