Elder Thomas here. What a beautiful day it is here in Bournemouth today! Although street contacting in the rain is the quickest way to repent, it's nice to work in the sun for a change. People are more receptive when it's sunny, too! When it rains, people are more hardened and rude. Maybe it's a lack of vitamin C or something.
This week has come and gone in the blink of an eye. I get really anxious when I think about time because my year mark is coming up... and I'm not ready to be halfway done! Nevertheless, the Lord's hand has been visible this week:
-another great district meeting
-sunshine in my soul and all throughout the week
-another baptismal interview
-chapel tours
-taught lots of Arabs
-investigator!
On the other hand...
-failed my driving theory test
-lots of flogged appointments
We've had a breakthrough! In terms of investigators lately, we've been in a drought. Elder Gilbert and I decided to evaluate ourselves, and we concluded that our faith to find wasn't where it needed to be. So we prayed hard and had a firm belief in miracles the next day. I made sure to keep my plea in my heart all day. We talked to literally everybody in sight: on their doorsteps. In the stores. On their houses. Through windows. In their cars. Under their cars. Hiding from us behind their cars. Anywhere! As the day drew on, we found saw a man behind a car and talked to him. I sensed that he was Latin, and it turns out he's from Venezuela... a remnant of Lehi's seed! I immediately switched into Spanish mode and he was impressed. He told us that he had been praying for a sign that God was there, and we were his answer. We taught him everyday for the rest of the week and he loves El Libro de Mormon. Excited to work with him. Not only were we an answer to his prayer, but he was an answer to ours. Cloomber is his name.
District meeting's theme this week was our personal commitment to the Lord. It went really well because we do a lot of scripture applications. Bible stories are so good for meetings! We had some Nutella cheesecake afterwards. :)
Another miracle was Harry. He's the sister's investigator and he's gonna get baptized on Friday! I got to interview him and he is a star. The harvest is here!
One night we were contacting in faith with 2 hours left of the day. The first person we spoke to was a Swiss man here for studies. His first words were "I don't believe". We ended up teaching him at the chapel. His last words were "that's an amazing message!" He accepted to read the Book of Mormon. Sadly, he returns to Switzerland in 2 weeks. But he was a miracle! They're everywhere.
My much anticipated theory test was this week. Apparently I was 1 point not ready enough... that's right, I failed by one single point! It tore me in half... gotta take it again now.
I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon again! We are reading it as a mission right now and are supposed to finish on August 1st. I read Ether 2 today and absolutely loved my study. I learned about the necessity of spiritual preparation. After the Lord chastens the Brother of Jared for not calling on his name in prayer, he begins to prepare him and his family for their extensive journey across the great deep. If there was no preparation, the Brother of Jared and his company wouldn't have made it: everything had to be perfect. Likewise, we must be prepared spiritually in our testimonies and conversion to be able to survive the "waves of the sea" because we inevitably will have to face them. Our testimonies must be solid. This can only happen when we call upon God, because only His hand--or His finger in this case--can give us the strength we need. I testify that we are nothing without Him, but can do everything with Him in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
Have a great week!
Love, Elder Thomas
ELSM
 |
| Our flat |
 |
| Kitchen |
 |
| Front room |
 |
| Study area |
 |
| Bedroom |
 |
| Our church building |
 |
| Me and my comp - Elder Gilbert |
No comments:
Post a Comment