We got 2 brand new investgators in the past 2 days. Nicole (French lady we saw riding bikes with her kids at the church parking lot) wanted to hear a message about the Book of Mormon. She is completely against the Catholic church and knows a French speaking member in our ward... can you say "The Lord placed her in our path"? We went over on Sunday after church with 2 French Book of Mormons and Bro Joly talked to her quite a bit and they had a good relationship with each other. We taught the 2nd half of L1 and emphasized the Apsotasy. We taught about the Book of Mormon and how we can know if it's true. Then as we taught about how the Book of Mormon brings us closer to Christ, we also taught about baptism. The member then said, "The best converts wait 20 years to be baptized." We thought to ourselves, "well wait till you hear the date the Lord wants." We firmed her for May 14. Bro Joly's head turned so quickly I thought it would fall off. She said she wants to learn more first and accepted the soft firm. Later that day, we were walking and saw her. We asked what she thought about the lesson and she loved it and read 50 pages of the Book of Mormon that day! She said it is a lot clearer to understand than the Bible. We'll keep you posted on her.
Sherry was a lady we ran into last week from following the 15 minute rule. She's had a rough past (divorces, addictions) and wants a clean start. Well what better lesson than the doctrine of Christ. Elder Hansen and I went in there and listened to her and the concerns she had. She's making a lot of mistakes but the Spirit told us to listen to her and let the Holy Ghost tell her to shape up, not us. As we taught she understood that what she was doing was wrong. We taught about Christ and repentance. We taught her you need to forsake your sin in order to repent. She understands now the steps she must make in order to fully come unto Christ. The Spirit was really working with her especially as we read through the doctrine of Christ. We firmed her for May 14th and she accepted. We have a lesson with her on Wednesday.
We had a cool experience with planning. We planned everyday for the upcoming week for Nick's parents to come to church. Then, Nick's dad showed up unexpectedly. He stayed for all 3 hours and loved it. He said he is going to come back every week and wants a lesson on Thursday. He has a lot of questions but trusts us as missionaries that we will answer his questions.
We also have a lesson with Seerad for this upcoming Saturday. We are busy, busy, busy! Elder Hansen has incredible faith and motivation. He is a wonderful missionary and knows where his priorities are. He is definitley internally motivated and I learn a lot from his humility. I'm really doing my best to become spiritually converted unto Christ.
Elder Scott visitng us was a real treat. Elder Brimhall was his companion (the one who gave us a training in February). Elder Birmhall said power comes from 3 sources, faith in Christ, obedience, and sacrifice. Elder Scott was very powerful as he taught. I beleive there is a problem with the church and people getting married because Elder Scott told us that right after our missions, we need to get married. You know it's a problem when they're telling missionaries to start looking for wives. He, President and Elder Brimhall taught about the importance of being spiritually converted unto Christ. We all have external motivations in our lives but are we following Christ because of those reasons. Are we only doing the things we're supposed to for the praise of men. Now, I'm not saying that all external motivations are evil. If it wasn't for the positive motivation that David, Lisa and Dad gave me from their missionary expereinces, I'm not sure I would be out here. But eventually, there is going to come a time in our lives where those external factors will be removed. Then where do we turn to? We must be internally and spirtually converted unto Christ because He will always be there for us. He loves us and wants what is best for us. What He wants in turn is our hearts. We're not asked to walk across a 2000 mile prairie floor. We aren't asked to break our china to make temples. We are asked to give a broken heart and contrite spirit. I promise you that by being spiritually converted unto Christ, we can receive more of His love and understand His will more and more.
There is nothing better than hearing an Apostle bear witness of Christ. Elder Scott said that in order to become an Apostl, you can no longer have a belief or hope that Christ lives, but a knowledge. The Spirit was so powerful and I'll never forget that day where I heard an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ bore witness of Him. He said, "I say this accepting full responsiblity from Father in Heaven for what I am declaring for I fear no rebuke."
Love,
Elder Madsen
No comments:
Post a Comment