5 June 2012

It feels like I haven’t written for weeks!   So much to tell!  I will have to pick a few things, I know.

We just returned from teaching a lesson to Jason and Alisha.  I know, we’ve been teaching them forever, you say?  But we have to wait so long between!  Today we read with them from the Book of Mormon.  Elder A. took Alma 17, and I had 18.  For my part, I gave each of us roles to read.  It kept them awake, and made the story of Ammon and King Lamoni more interesting.  We stopped there, and Alisha asked, “What happened?”  We wouldn’t tell her.  Maybe she’ll read!

We talked with them about their concerns, and actually made some progress today.  We talked about forcing their kids vs. teaching them.  We talked about overwhelming demands on their time.  I told them about my own experience, and how, looking back, I know that angels helped me, because I couldn’t have done it without help from the Lord.  But I had to ask!  We talked about faith and stepping out into the light.  We talked about trusting the Lord to help them, and believing his invitation to put our burdens at His feet.  Then we had a kneeling prayer, and Jason actually said it!  Wow!

 Yesterday we gave a lesson to Joanne, who is smoke-free now, and took a member with us.  We taught the apostasy and restoration; she accepted it, and said she was interested.  We made a return appt.  Wow, that feels great!  Next week we’ll teach Book of Mormon.

Tonight we have an appt. with the Bansoy family to teach the rest of the Plan of Salvation.  The father and eldest son were reading from the Book of Mormon last time we went.  Then the father came to 2 hours of church with us (the third Sunday in a row!), and said he cannot force his children, nor his wife, who were asleep.  Of course, I agreed, but I told him that we are hoping that they will do the steps to get their own testimony so that they will want to come.  And he said, “I do too!”

 So!  We are moving, although slowly, ahead!  My testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon has redoubled again in this work.  Maybe because I have been studying it so much more than usual, but I have been amazed at how it answers the questions that I have personally, and those about teaching other people!  My testimony of the addresses we hear in conference has also grown.  Just after we had this amazing experience with Jason and Alisha today, and talking about their kids with them, we came home, picked up the mail, and there on the front cover of the conference issue was the cutest photo of a happy family!  It just seemed to me that the Lord was saying loud and clear, “Here, see what the Gospel does!”

 If you’re wondering what happened to the man last week to whom we taught the non-smoking lesson, …it did not go well.  Or rather, he did not do well.  After we left, we heard that there was a big blow-up!  His father-in-law said that it was not our fault, but that this is what he always does.  He blames everyone else but himself for his problems.  Anyway, from what we were told, this brought a lot of things to a head, and it could be a good thing because at least it gets things out in the open.  Apparently, there is also a drinking problem, so when I made him commit to no alcohol, tea or coffee, as well as tobacco, it was the thing that made him feel he just could not do it.  (I thought he became pretty fidgety toward the end!)  So we’re really concerned for them.