Sorry for the long email but a lot happened his week!
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| MLC February 22nd, 2016 |
Wednesday: February 17th, 2016
So first full day in Southampton was a blast! We got to teach a ton of people today that they have been working with in this area for quite a while and it was super nice to meet these wonderful people. They are truly prepared people of the lord and I am super blessed to get to work with them. Couple of them are Felix (who I'll share a story about in a second), Rudy, Amy, and Anna (a Romanian family that is just brilliant.
Thursday: February 18th, 2016
We had a full sit down lesson with Felix today and it was good but we could both feel the Spirit telling us that something wasn't quite right and not settling with him (keep in mind he has a baptismal date set for the 27th) and we both left after teaching him with a confused look on our faces... Something just didn't seem right. Later we stopped by another friend (or investigator but we prefer to call them friends cause that's what they are in the mission) named Nathaniel and his son Lewis. Super cool people and we read the Book of Mormon with them and it went well. We finished up the night with a missionary correlation with the Ward mission leader and the Ward missionaries and oh man... So good.
Friday: February 19th, 2016
So today... Oh man! Taught from on high indeed. We had our zone conference which was just super amazing and we definitely learned a lot about not only the journey of our lives but specifically the
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| Central Zone Conference February 19th, 2016 |
Saturday: February 20th, 2016
Sooooo today, here is a story that I hope you feel the Spirit as you read it. This is a miracle story for sure... So brace yourself.
Earlier in the week when we met Felix, he told us that he wasn't feeling ready for baptism and wanted more time to receive an answer if the church was true and if it was the path God wanted him to take and we were super confused at first cause he is just a golden person! Anyways, we planned a lesson for him about faith in Jesus Christ, trusting in him, and the idea of, "it will all work out"(most recent
general conference) Anyways, we have dinner with him and a member named Dave before the lesson and here is where it gets good. We teach and finally, he just opened up to us with concerns he was having about how he wanted to be baptized but when his girlfriend would as well. But she was closed off a bit but he shared a super cool thing. Ready? Okay, so he tells us... "Ever since I have met the missionaries, my whole life has changed... I've seen a difference in not only myself but my family and my girlfriend. Every time you would teach me something, I would immediately call her and share the exact same thing with her and she enjoyed it." So... Little by little he just taught his girlfriend the entire message of what we would share with him... It is crazy! He then asked us if we could contact missionaries in Angola to teach her and baptize her. WHAT? So after the Spirit just filling the room and us being guided in what to say and share, my companion and I shared our personal conversion stories and of how it will all work out with either his girlfriend, or in mine and my companions case, family. So, Spirit hit him super hard and it was just amazing. We also gave him a blessing (as we were prompted to) and then later that night we get a call from Dave and he said that Felix was asking a bunch of questions about serving a mission when he gets older (senior couple mission) and just a ton of things that golden people normally ask... It was a great night, lets just say that.
Sunday: February 21st, 2016
Miracle Sunday! Another miracle! So... Church was just great. The whole theme of church was again... Faith, trust, and prayer... Coincidence? No such thing. The Lord guides us to share what he needs us to and then he caps it all off with this at church. Oh so good! But here is the best part... After being confused whether he was ready or not... Felix received his answer from God. He walked up after church and put his arms around me and Elder Lika, and he says, "brothers... I want to be baptized" "When?" "Saturday" okay... No problem, lets do it! We were so casual about it because the Lord the night before told us... He is ready and it will happen. Bam! Miracle central in Southampton! It was just such a spectacular way to end the week!
Monday: February 22nd, 2016
So today we had our MLC meeting and it was super good! We counseled a lot about the next steps for the mission and then Elder Johnson just went crazy on us and taught so many wonderful and important things that he said the mission could focus on (as he met the whole mission the previous four days and saw everything and just gave us a lot of what we were needing. I know a lot of things I needed came from the words he shared and will be forever grateful for that because how does the
Lord answer prayers...? Through the scriptures or through someone else. My case this time was a Elder Johnson. He is just such a humble man and we were all super blessed to have the opportunity to meet him and learn so much from him! Can't wait until we get our next mission tour! There's just so much the Lord can offer us if we prepare ourselves physically and spiritually to be taught!
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| MLC Reunion..... Missing 5 of us! |
So as you can see, this week was just full of everything but more importantly... I can testify without a doubt that God doesn't only hear prayers... But he answers them... Quickly! He lives and Jesus Christ lives and they love us all. Always remember that if we do our part, the Lord will always do his. (Scripture below) but I hope you are all well and that He will continue to bless and watch over you and your families. I love you all and will talk to you soon!
p.s: it's already going to be March... What the..?
Verse of the Week: D&C 82:10
10 "I, the Lord, am abound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not
what I say, ye have no promise."
Love you all,
Elder Rivera
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