We have had a brilliant week so far and it just keeps on going! So of course, coming into a whitewashed area, we had to rely heavily on the Area Book and man oh man, we saw some crazy miracles in doing so. Cool story I'll share later but this week was a lot of planning for the upcoming transfer and of course, working A LOT! Which isn't bad, it was fun! We made it super fun by the way we worked and we got a lot done this week so we were happy, just very exhausted by the end of each day! (which is how it should be) But I hope that something I say in this letter will strengthen your testimony or help you to gain a witness of the power of this work and the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tuesday: January 5th, 2016
So of course, we had moves today and I already talked about that last week so no further business covering today.
Wednesday: January 6th, 2016
So to start things off in Reading, we found a name in the area book and went and tried to contact her. We never found the house but because God knew we wouldn't, he put a very nice gent named Christ in our path. Well, he was working so it worked out. TALK TO EVERYONE! We were contacting and Christ was putting signs on a fence and we decided to talk to him and see how his day was going. Totally nice guy and we ended up having a seriously good conversation as he worked and he asked a ton of good questions. His family is Catholic and he has seven kids and all his kids have been taking Religious Studies and they all are trying to find the truth and so we shared a quick but powerful message with him and he invited us to come and teach his family in a couple of weeks because he is sadly on call for work and so, we got details and everything so hopefully we will get to teach them all very soon!
Thursday: January 7th, 2016
So yesterday after Christ, we actually contacted another potential in the area book and we found these three massive great and spacious buildings (14 story flats that are solid grey and look like they have no life in them) but yeah, as we were walking, in a joking way, Elder Mayes was saying how crazy it would be if we knocked on all the doors in one of those buildings and of course... I took it a little to seriously and said lets do it! So we actually went to the building, went all the way to the 14th floor and we started knocking. We planned it out and with all three buildings, if we knock one floor a day, we can knock all three of them completely by the end of the transfer so... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
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| Jollof Rice....Yumm! |
Friday: January 8th, 2016
Today was a long day, and I had my 2nd dish of African food, I might spell this totally wrong, but it is called Jollof Rice. IT WAS SUPER GOOD! We also had Peanut Soup the day before so, I am finally experiencing some different foods from different cultures and oh my goodness... Africans know how to cook! It is soooooo good.
Saturday: January 9th, 2016
So today is the cool miracle day! We were having a drought of a day with the area book and knocking in our great and spacious buildings so we were just kind of going with the flow and keeping our heads up and doing our best to stay positive with all the unanswered doors or lack of interest and so that went on all day... until we finally had about an hour before we had to finish creating our Newsletter for the zone and so I grabbed the area book and put it on my lap in the car and just started scanning the pages for someone who would be willing to listen to us today. One person is all we wanted... we prayed over two names we found. Yan and Sarah, and the Spirit confirmed, go there, they are the ones. Of course, don't hesitate on that... so we drove there and we walked up their flat and we rang in, and before they even answered to see who it was, they buzzed us in. Elder Mayes and I then climb seven flights of stairs to get to their door and we knock on it and Yan answered the door and just says, "Hey guys... (takes a pause) you want to come in?" Keep in mind that we didn't call them or text them saying we were coming. He invited us in and his whole family was in the living quarters and they all introduced themselves and we had a very good casual conversation cause sadly, they were in the middle of dinner with Sarah's dad from Peru and so we couldn't stay but, before we even pulled our planner out to set up a date, Yan pulled his out and asked us if we could come back on Wednesday the 20th and we said... UH YES! So, just comes to show, if you are positive and work hard all day, even if you don't see much fruit come of your efforts, our Father in Heaven will sweetly reward you with such a treat! Yan and Sarah are young and probably the most normal British couple I have met. We look forward to helping them discover this wonderful gospel because they are super eager to learn!=DD The Church is true.
Sunday: January 10th, 2016
Our first Sunday in our new ward was interesting. They actually do Sacrament meeting last over here because we have two wards going at about the same time so the schedule basically does a complete 180 compared to the schedule back home. We go to Priesthood First, then Sunday School, then of course, Sacrament. It is completely unique and will take some getting used to for sure. We then went and did some more finding after church before accounting.
Here is another cool little story too. So yesterday night before we met Yan and Sarah, we were helping a member and his son install a fridge into another members home who needed it and because the dad had hurt his back weeks prior and had surgery but it has still been giving him problems, he asked us for a blessing. I had the privilege to perform the blessing and be voice for the Lord and oh my goodness, it was the most spiritual blessing I have ever been apart of. (not to mention we were in the back of his mini van giving the blessing, strange right) But hey, the results were so amazing. The next day at church he walked up to me, gave me a good firm handshake and said, thank you both for the blessing, as you were giving the blessing, I could feel the pain in my back lessen and it was a very powerful blessing, thank you so much. There was more to the blessing then just the back injury piece, but I wish not to divulge any further information about why he requested such a blessing. All I know, is that the Priesthood of God is real and we are the instruments in order to help his children to feel of His love for them and the power and authority that we hold, can truly be one of the greatest gifts we have ever received from our Father.
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| Searching for the Elect...with Chi Chi! |
So yes, everything is going super well in Reading now and we are seeing some serious stuff happen and plenty of potential baptisms on the horizon. I love being a missionary and being able to wear the Savior's name over my heart each day, representing him and helping all of our brothers and sisters find the truth in this dark and dreary world that we all live in. We need the Gospel. It is the ONLY way to be truly happy in this life and the life to come, if people you know haven't heard this wonderful message... invite them to. They could be the very elect that the Lord has prepared to hear this wonderful message, but they just don't know where to look, so help them. Be the light for them. Be an example of the believers. If you do so, I can promise you that God will make you an instrument in His hands and he will bless you with the power to spread His Gospel to all those he has prepared to hear your testimony about the Restoration of the Truth and the Keys necessary for the ordinances of salvation.
I love you all and hope this email uplifts someone to get up, paint the badge on their heart and help bring this wonderful gospel to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Love you all! Have a great week!
-Elder Rivera
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