Okay so as of now we
have 1 (nonprogressingclosetodropping) investigator. That being said I often
have to remind myself "what's the end goal here? Right! To
invite others to come unto Christ and help them choose to qualify for eternal
life. So we've been working hard with our less actives and we are seeing so
many miracles. Our branch reached 100 people again this week which is so
amazing. 5 of our LAs are making a lot of progress. You can see they're not only
coming back to church but they're changing too. But I wanted to share an
experience about one of them. Ming Mao is a LA who shares a house with another
LA Bong Aan. Bong Aan is awesome and she only needed us to invite her back and
reassure her she didn't need to feel embarrassed. Ming Mao on the hand didn't
seem too interested in what we had to share (she was going to another church
close by that offered her a lot of free food) it was obvious she didn't
understand much about the gospel before she was baptized. So the other
day one of our lessons fell through and we decided to go visit Bong Aan. We
normally go and read the Book of Mormon with her but we felt impressed to share
about the Plan of Salvation that day. Right when we started 2 of our other LAs
came and joined in. One, Bong Hane and the other Ming Mao. The lesson was good
they were all interested and were participating. After the lesson I
invited Ming Mao to come back to church. (Bong Hane already started coming
back) Ming Mao gave her normal response "maybe, if I have time
after my other church" aka no cause they're at the same time... then I
felt impressed to tell her "Our church has the fullness of the
gospel. We have prophets who hold power from God and it is through a prophet
that we know about the Plan of Salvation" I could tell that earlier
while we were teaching things were staring to click but I she really started
understanding once she started asking questions. (Also side note: At first I
was nervous because normally it’s hard for me to understand what she's
saying but I understood her Questions clearly that day) First she asked
why are the kingdoms of glory represented by a sun, moon, and star. I explained
how the difference in light represented the difference in kingdoms and we
reviewed over how they were different. Then came the big question "Will
God be mad if I go to another church? Does God want me to go to one
church?" Her attitude was completely different when she was asking her
questions I could tell she really wanted the answer. In that moment I
definitely had words come to my mind. I told her "Yes, God wants you to go
to the church that has the fullness of the gospel. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints has that. Other churches are good but they
follow people, this church truly follows God". Ï could see her mind
working and she finally replied, "Oh I understand" Then I said,”I
know it's hard when other churches offer rice, food, and other stuff, but the
church of Latter Day Saints can offer you what's most important, the way to get
to the Celestial Kingdom back to our Heavenly Father" She looked at me and
said "I want that" so I invited her again and she said yes! AND even
better she followed through. She came early and stayed all three hours and she
looked happy. I'm not going to lie I felt pretty bold in that lesson, but I
wasn't nervous about it and it WAS effective because the spirit was
100% guiding me. I know it was no coincidence we felt impressed to teach about
the Plan of Salvation. I'm so grateful for that plan and for my Savior who is at
the center of that plan. I know he overcame physical and spiritual death so
that we could too. I know as we apply his gospel and walk that narrow path he
has shown us we will have success and live with our Father in Heaven again (the
end goal). I know we have help along the way through family, friends,
leaders, prophets, and the Holy Ghost. I'm grateful I felt the Spirit working
through me and I'm very grateful the spirit was working in her. I know those
questions she had come from the Holy Spirit and the feelings of desire she had
also came from that same spirit.
That's all I have to
share this week. I love and miss you all. Have a great week and keep the bigger
picture in mind. Love Sister Semones
Sister Nit and Semones teaching!
What's for lunch today?
