!Hola Familia! ?How do you like my Portuguese? It is getting pretty good, huh? :) What a beaut! I know about four words: Sisterina (little Sister), Cim (Yes), Ciao (Goodbye), and Salvacao (Salvation). I am pretty sure that I can take on any new Portuguese investigators at this point. :) Cim, Salvacao!!!
I love Sister Munafo. I can't believe it has been another week. Time just flies around here when you have an awesome companion that makes life fun! Plus, she is super focused on the work. We are constantly working on improving our teaching and how we do missionary work. It is really cool. I am feeling a difference within myself as well. It is finally becoming more natural to walk up to random people and share the gospel. I am grateful for that. Also, responsibility seems to be a bit easier to manage than I used to think it was. I keep shouldering responsibility and somehow my capacity to manage it continues to grow. The Lord has blessed me with so many opportunities to grow and a vision of how this work can be accomplished.
Yesterday was probably one of the greatest miracles I have seen in this area the whole time I have been here. Our Relief Society President and her first counselor have been our greatest support team for the missionary effort. Sister F devoted her entire lesson to the importance of members getting involved in the work. She told them that it is the member's job to find- and the missionary's job to teach. She also talked about a Press Conference that took place in between conference sessions when the announcement for the age-change was made. Elder Holland talked about the fact that only the 12 apostles and the first presidency knew about the change. NO ONE ELSE knew! This means that everyone was thrown off guard and preparations had to be made quickly. He said that this made him giddy.
Her first counselor then stood up and talked about the hastening of the work. But it is so much MORE than a hastening of the work- it is a hastening of the Lord's coming. If you want to see the signs of the times, look at what the Lord is doing with missionary work. Israel is literally being gathered before our eyes. Things are changing! And the Lord is inviting each one of us to catch the wave and to see the vision! What more can we do?? We need to be inviting EVERYONE to hear the gospel! How can we know if they are prepared if we never invite?
I am so grateful that you sent me that book: The Power of Everyday Missionaries. I recommend that everyone read it. It tells us the why and HOW to talk to our friends, neighbors and acquaintances about the church. A promised blessing quote:
"Far from putting the kingdom out of balance, if our ward and stake leaders were to focus on leading their members to share the gospel, many of the other problems that fester in our hearts and homes, and in our wards and stakes, would resolve themselves through the blessings that come from accepting the call that God has given each of us to be missionaries."
Also, have you felt a lack of the Spirit at all? The author of the book talked about how his church duties became just that- duties. There was no need for the spirit in the functions he was performing. So, he decided to be actively involved in missionary work again. "But in becoming an active missionary again, I had essentially repositioned myself onto the front lines in the war against Satan over the souls of men. This meant that I needed the Spirit with me everyday."
The Lord has called each of us to share this blessed message of the Restored Gospel with the world. And he has promised his help every step of the way.
"Most of us fear failure. Once we have realized that we succeed as member missionaries when we invite people to learn and accept the truth, much of that fear that kept us from sharing the gospel vanishes. We give them the opportunity to exercise their free agency. Some will use that agency to accept the gospel. Others will not, and that's fine. We succeed when we invite."
The members of the Green Hills ward got fired up at this call. We have a full dinner calendar and a nearly full exchange calendar this week. We have members setting up appointments for us. Things are beginning to change. I am SO excited to be serving at this time to be instrumental in helping those around me to catch the vision.
We will be baptizing this month. Our mission has a goal of 100 baptisms for the month of June. That is one baptism per companionship. I am excited to see this happen. It is really interesting who we have been teaching. Most of them are Methodist- which I would say is the closest to the LDS faith- and are quite content where they are at. And then there are the very intellectual that miss the mark on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They even question sincere testimony... it is very interesting. I hope that you will pray for our investigators. Will you pray for the baptism that we will have on June 29th?
I love you all so much. I am so grateful for the love and support that I feel from you. I am very blessed with an amazing family who is just good to the core. Thank you for your example. Thank you for your emails and your testimony each week. I love and pray for you. Have an amazing week!!!
Love you always,
Sister Alicia Johnson
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