Hello everyone!
I can't believe I've been here for a month already -- it's crazy! I'm half way done with my time here, and in some ways I'm glad and in some ways I'm sad. But I'm sure by the time my last two weeks come around I'll be WAY ready to get out of here and go out in the field!
I have good news... I'm getting baptized! Hahaha the investigator that I've been playing for some Sisters decided to get baptized. It was way funny though because they've taught me like 3 lessons I think and they asked me in the last lesson to be baptized and I said yes and couldn't stop smiling! It's seriously more exciting than when I got baptized for real! The Spirit just makes you feel so good when you make that decision, and it made me wish I could remember more about my own baptism!
We had this speaker come on Sunday and his name is Vai Sikahema (I think that's how you spell it) and he gave a way awesome talk! He used to be a professional NFL player and now he's a sports news guy for NBC in Philly I think, but his talk was about how when he went on his mission he and his companion went to buy tennis balls one day and the owner of the shop they went to was this guy who was like 25 and it was a family run business. So they guy says, "I've never met two men with the same first name of Elder." And Vai, thinking the guy was just being smart with him, said "Well, if you had any sense you'd let us come to your house and teach you about how that's not a name, it's a title!" And the man says, "OK, how about Thursday?"
Haha, so they went over to the man's, Bob is his name, house on Thursday and started teaching him about the gospel. They taught him three lessons and then Bob's wife decided she didn't like that he was being taught in their home so she said they couldn't do it there anymore. So Bob told them the ONLY other time and place they could teach him was Thursday morning at 6:30 in his shop, before work started. For three months they taught him in his shop and then he decided to be baptized! But his wife didn't want anything to do with the church and she didn't want their two little girls involved either, so basically his wife told him if he got baptized she'd leave him. Bob was actually at the devotional with Vai on Sunday so they were both telling this story together. When Bob started talking about his decision to still get baptized he started crying and said that it was one of the hardest things he'd ever heard, but he HAD to get baptized because he knew it was true.
They didn't explain the time between his baptism and 20 years later, but Vai lost contact with them once his mission was over and then 20 years later he found their number and called them and Bob's wife answered the phone and Vai told her who he was and he was shocked to find that she was so pleased to hear from him! He said that she was so happy and started talking about the temple and he said he just sat there on the phone crying and asked, "Laraine, have you been to the temple?" And she said she had, she got baptized a year ago and their whole family went through the temple and got sealed. Vai said he cried like a little baby, but he was just SO happy for them! And now because of Vai their two children are married in the temple and their children are sealed to them. I thought it was INCREDIBLE that it took Bob's wife 20 years to soften her heart and be baptized into the church, but what's more amazing is that Bob never gave up on her! It's amazing how slow and sometimes how quick people are to hear the message of the church, but once they do it bring so much peace and joy into their lives! Vai told us to go find OUR Bob Dohl and go change people's lives!
General Conference was really good! I'm not going to lie, I slept through a lot of the first two sessions, but I think I stayed awake the WHOLE time for the last two! It was really hard to not be able to get up and move around when I got tired like I do at home, so I fell asleep :) But here are some of my favorite things from conference:
Elder Bednar's talk about receiving revelation was super good! The thing that stuck out most to be was that you shouldn't overlook the simpleness of receiving revelation! Sometimes I think people don't think they receive answers to their prayers because they don't get this AMAZING answer thrown into their face, but they forgot that it's through peace, joy, long-suffering and feelings of love that we receive answers. It's not going to be this super powerful answer everytime, sometimes it's just feeling good about a choice you just made.
I also really liked in Elder Uchtdorf's talked he quoted St. Francis of Assisi and said, "Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words." I thought that was super powerful because it's so true, really the best way to preach the gospel is through your example. We had another speaker come last night and he told this story of a boy in the Dominican Republic I think and he was on a soccer team and he noticed everyday these two men would walk by and they were ALWAYS happy! They always had a smile on their face, so one day he asked one of his soccer buddies what he thought made those two men happy all the time. His buddy happened to be LDS so he introduced him tot he missionaries and they taught him and he was baptized. Pretty soon his other soccer buddies started to notice how happy he was all the time and they asked him why. He also introduced them to the missionaries :) Because of him being baptized and his buddies noticing a difference, three other men got baptized and all served missions. Now think about how many people THEY baptized on their missions and it's mind blowing how quickly that adds up! If those two original missionaries hadn't always been happy though, that soccer player may have never paid attention to them and wondered what it was them made them so happy.
I also really like President Monson's stories about temples and about that Brazilian (I think) group that traveled 7 DAYS to get to a temple, there and back!! That made me feel really selfish for not wanting drive 25 minutes to a temple. People in other places who don't have such close access to the temple are so excited when they go, but we totally take them for granted and sometimes think of it more as a drag than a blessing. I made a goal to go at least twice a month to the temple when I get home, but preferrably every week!
I loved Elder Christofferson's talk and he said to say to Heavenly Father, "Thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving me enough to give me chastisement and trials in my life so I can learn and grow."
Elder Oaks, for them 70 not the 12 :), spoke to us last night and he gave a way awesome talk about the Spirit and relying on it. He told this story of this man he met once who used to be an atheist and this man said he used to prove to anyone and everyone that God didn't exist. Then one night he had a dream, and Christ came to him in his dream and said that in 2 days 2 missionaries would come to his door. One would be African and one would be American and that he neeeded to listen to them. The atheist thought it was weird and continued his days. Two days later he got a knock on the door and the very same missionaries Christ told him would come were standing on his doorstep. He let them in and was later baptized. I know some people could just think of this as a coincidence or that it could even just be made up, and it could be, but I promise you by the Spirit that I felt while he was telling this story that it was true. The Spirit was SO strong when he was telling this story, it was amazing!
We sang in choir yesterday I Marvel at the Miracle, and you ALL should go listen to it, it's an awesome song. The 3rd verse is my favorite, it says: "I pled with God to shed His grace and take away my sin. He did and yet I turned away and stumbles once again. At last I knelt before His throne and offered up my sould. He wept, then gave it back to me, renewed and washed and whole." It might not sound that powerful just reading it, but it's so amazing when you're listening to it being sung. Seriously, go listen to it.
I absoultely love all the Elders in our zone! We got a trio (three companions in one companionship) and their very first week one of them got super, super sick and had to stay up in his room all day for 4 days, then the other one tore his ACL and then the other one broke his camera! They are the cursed Trio we've decided :) But we love them and we seriously love ALL the Elders in our zone, they always keeps things fun and interesting :)
Me and Hna Johansen (my companion) are having two of our investigators get baptized!! Like I said, even though it's fake, it's still super exciting :) It's insane how much you can feel the Spirit here, all day and every day, but I love it!
I got a picture of Mike and me before he left yeserday so I'll have to send it to you guys!
My time is up!!!
I love you all very much and I can't wait for the day when I come home and get to see you all again :)
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Roberts.
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