This was a very crazy week! Emilze kept
cancelling appointments and avoiding us. We finally got in with her on Thursday
and it was indeed awkward. We were at a park and she kept talking to everyone
passing by so that she wouldn’t have to talk to us. She brought her
sister-in-law, Alexis, as well that ended up being a good thing though. We were
talking about the Holy Ghost and how we receive answers. She made the comment
that we couldn’t really know that this church was true and we assured her that
we could and we do know that it is true. We then read about the fruits of the
spirit. The awesome part of the lesson was that Alexis said that no matter how
angry or sad she feels, whenever we show up, it completely leaves her and she
feels happy and safe. We were able to right away pin that as the spirit and
Emilze even agreed with that. Anyways, we committed her to read, pray, and go
to church. She has been lacking on reading and church attendance- hence, she
has been falling. We have to make sure that we are consistently do all that we
can to be close to God, there is no room for half efforts.
We then were fortunate to meet with Emilze
on Friday. Wow. This lesson changed my mission. It was so powerful. I truly
felt like an instrument in God's hands to say what He wanted me to tell her. I
even told her that we are her to bring her back to God's presence- we made a
promise and we are here to fulfill it. We are literally her guides to happiness
that lasts. She had lots of doubts and worries when we were there. We talked
about how baptism is a necessary step so that you can have the understanding
that you are seeking. There is only so much intelligence you can attain prior
to baptism- it is like a veil that is lifted when you are baptized. She has
developed so much faith and now she has to take a bigger step of faith and
enter the waters of baptism. Hermana Deloya is a convert so she was able to
explain how everything just clicked when she got baptized. Anyways we
then went back to talk about the Book of Mormon. I was so fortunate to share
with her how I received my testimony of the veracidad del libro. To
be honest, I always waited for a big manifestation of some sort to know that
the Book of Mormon was true. I always had the belief that it was true but I was
just waiting for something a little bit grander- i hope that makes sense.
Anyways, I read Helaman 5:30 that talks about the Holy Ghost being suave. Most
of the times it is just something small but we have to take those small things
are recognize that they are something profound because it is from
God. It was such a powerful lesson because we could testify
with authenticity to all the concerns that she had. While we were in
that lesson there was no doubt in my mind that Hermana Deloya and I are suppose
to be companions. Emilze needed both of us- that is why we are still together.
We have to put differences aside because we both have so much to offer these
people. We just need to focus on them and everything falls into place.
Before we left, we committed her to pray
about baptism at 3 o’clock the following day. There was no way she could deny
the spirit that was there. It might have scared her because I think it made her
realize how true this is and what a big deal this all is. She said she didn’t
have her answer still once she finished the prayer. She wanted to spend a lot
of time that night praying and that she would call us the following morning to
let us know.
That Saturday, we got the text from her. She
seemed really happy. There were smiley faces and exclamation marks!
We immediately were like, YES! She is getting baptized today. She told us to
come over- so obviously we rushed over there. When we got there she told us her
answer was to go to a non-denominational church. First off, I know that is not
the answer she got. She was making up all these random excuses and it was so
heartbreaking. She didn’t drop us though. She just wants to investigate other
churches. We just aren’t quite sure what to do with her now. We testified and
really gave bold, simple statements. Super bold. But that is why the
spirit was so strong.
When we left her house, ya I was a little
disappointed BUT I wasn’t sad. I knew that we exhausted every option and really
did everything that we could to help her. She is in God's hands and He is not
going to abandon her. She is going to come back around real soon and be even
more converted. It’s better this way so she can prepare to be a strong member
of the church. But I know she knows this is all true. She was even testifying
to her neighbor this past week about Jose Smith. Just keep praying for
her.
So that sums up my week. It was all about
Emilze! I sure love her.
On a completely other note, we had NOCHE DE
HISPANIDAD on Saturday. Lots of good food and dancing. I love Louetta. There
are some really funny people here. I can’t wait to spend the holidays
here.
I love you all so much!
I am happy and healthy! I am learning how to
make pan de elote today- pretty sure I will never ask for a birthday cake again
because this stuff is so good.
Keep Smiling,
Hermana Parry
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| Victoriano! Our Grandpa! |
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| Temple Day! |
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| I finally got to wear my shirt from Mexico! |
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