This is His work

Jenson's mission district

Dear All,

Pretty freaking good week. My new companion likes to work, I like to work, and we are doing well. It's been fun so far, even though we aren't as tight as some of my other companions, but we both know why we are here and we are both ready to do it.

So yeah. Highlights of the week were these:

Wednesday there was a worldwide missionary training broadcast called "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts." It seems like we as missionaries have forgotten the second principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talk about faith and baptism a lot, but we skip the step in the middle. So basically the training was just about how we can help people repent and be better, so that they want to get baptized for themselves. Elder Bednar had a pretty awesome class about how to use the Spirit, Elder Oaks talked about what we need to do as missionaries in order to have success, and there were other talks about leaving commitments, working with Less-active and Active members, everything. It was way cool. And then afterword President Garcia called on a few people to bear their testimonies. That was pretty cool too.

On Thursday we had a "Consejo de Liderazgo" (Literally translated: Leadership Council, but I'm not sure if that is what English speaking missionaries call it.) It was a meeting with all the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders, about how we can be better leaders. It was way cool. We talked about the ability we have to promise specific blessings to people and then to help them keep their commitments so that the blessings come. We all shared experiences about how we have done it, and it was a very spiritual meeting. It was pretty cool. 

On Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference, presided by an Area Seventy from I don't remember where. It was pretty cool. I was asked to share an experience and my testimony about missionary work. I don't know if I have have told you guys about the story I shared, but if I haven't, remind me to tell you about Lolita when I get home. It's a good one. But yeah that was cool. Then the rest of the meeting were about keeping the WHOLE Sabbath day holy, not just 3 hours while we are at church. It was pretty cool. We talked about the duties of the Presidents of the Quorums in the Aaronic Priesthood, and then we talked about bishops and temples and self-sufficiency and pretty much everything you could ever imagine. It was a pretty dope Stake Conference, and we were able to bring several investigators. Like I said, we have been working well.

Also on Saturday we had an appointment with a lady we are teaching. She says she feels alone here, cause her whole family is either in Columbia or Los Angeles, and her nephews that live with here are super rebellious and stuff. So we've been trying to teach them too (the nephews) and on Saturday we finally did. It was the one we thought that would never listen, but he was there, and he liked it. And then at the end, he said the closing prayer. It was the first time he had prayed out loud in his life, and it was amazing. His aunt was bawling. It was so cool.

But the coolest part was this: Saturday night, when we planned, we said a prayer and prayed so that all the people we committed to come to church could come. And then we asked for a miracle, that someone living here in our area could show up, ready to receive the gospel. But then we kind of forgot about it. Anyways, Sunday morning comes, we finish Priesthood Session, and in between that and the regular session, we went to go bring a sister we are teaching. When we get there, we take her to the front, and then I went to go find a sister from our ward to go and sit with her. I went and talked to one sister, and she said she would love to, but she needed room for three, which was weird cause I though it was just her and her husband. But then she tells me she brought her niece who wasn't a member of the church with her, and that after the meeting we should go talk to her and set up an appointment for this week. But then when the meeting ended, they left fast and we were busy with other people and yeah. They left. I tried calling, but she didn't answer, and so we sent her a message. An hour or so later she replied that we could come in the evening. So we show up, turns out this niece has been prepared for this moment to get to know the Gospel. We were able to testify of everything this Gospel has to offer, and then she told us that the night before, she was in the bus station, about to grab a bus to go to some other part, but something told her to go to the airport. So she went, and ended up buying a ticket to come to Tijuana. She said she didn't know exactly why she came here, but then we remembered about the prayer we said the night before, and we told her about that. We all cried. It was awesome. I love the Lord. 

I hope you guys know that this is His work, not mine and not yours. This is all true.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings