Easter Week is Here, #Hallelujah

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Hello everybody!

This week has definitely been a great one! My testimony of this church has grown even stronger this week due to some events that we went and partook of. Lets just keep it simple and in the most respectful way possible. 1 Nephi 13:8, for all of you that are aware of this passage of scripture talking about the great and abominable... lets just say that my companion and I have seen this fulfilled... Anyways, on a more uplifting note, we had a splendid week using the new banners we were given to proselyte with and we saw much fruit come forth because of the tools that the Lord has granted us to use! I'll have to share a cool miracle at the end which is just super amazing! Here goes this weeks run-down!

Tuesday: March 15th, 2016
In the early part of the day we had to do some computer work and preparation for our zone training and then we had some lessons in the afternoon and then we went to church with a potential investigator and again, to keep it the most respectful way possible... never going back. Let me bear testimony on this to say the least... The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's church and kingdom on the earth and He is at the head of it and leads it through His Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. It is true folks... the Holy Ghost confirmed that to me and my companion again as it has in the past.

Wednesday: March 16th, 2016
Today we had Zone Training and it went super well. We did an activity in a separate room for all the Elders to have a "Personal Interview" with the Savior. We set up a picture of Him on a chair and we left an envelope with certain questions on the other chair and they were to sit down and read the questions and literally answer them with the Savior. When I did it, oh man... it felt super real and I can't wait to have the real one with him because even with just a picture... the Spirit in the room was super strong and I definitely felt his love for me and the joy He has in me for what I am doing right now for not only myself, but others, and my family (present and future)

Thursday: March 17th, 2016
Today we had our back end of exchanges and we got to use the banners again in the park because mother nature was well to us and gave us some sunlight for once. We talked to a ton of people and a lot of them of course, weren't interested but that's okay, because we are looking for the "One" and we found a couple of them and will see them again soon if they keep their interest in truth. We finished the night with having an FHE with a recent convert family (our investigators couldn't come as the mother is poorly and had to pass) so we played Plan of Salvation Jenga with the family and we had a super fun time.

Friday: March 18th, 2016

Pancakes for Breakfast, yes please!
(selfie stick not included with purchase)

We had weekly planning in the morning and later we had a great lesson with a girl name Katie (she has been investigating the church for nearly a year plus) but we taught her about the Atonement and the Spirit was super strong. With her, there are a lot of similarities I faced with questions and such and she just needs to recognize the answers she has already received and she will do great things. In time, it will work out for her. We finished the night with having an FHE with a recent convert family (our investigators couldn't come as the mother is poorly and had to pass) so we played Plan of Salvation Jenga with the family and we had a super fun time. 

Saturday: March 19th, 2016
Today we met with a super solid guy named Ali with a Muslim background but he took the Book of Mormon and was totally willing to learn more and we will see him Tuesday again. He had tons of questions regarding prophets on the earth today again and we were able to show him the picture of the Twelve and of the First Presidency and our beloved prophet. Great miracles have occurred. In the morning we were leaving the flat and Elder Lika had a Arabic Book of Mormon in his hand and was about to put it away but then said, "I have a feeling we might need this" turns out, after teaching Ali, we gave him the English B.O.M and the Arabic one. Super cool!

Sunday: March 20th, 2016
Great Sabbath Day today. The focus was on the Atonement today and we had a very powerful lesson in Gospel Principles and it was just a great day in general. We did some driving practice after for Elder Lika and then we had Accounting the rest of the evening. What's crazy is our Muslim friend Ali (the other Ali not mentioned before), he has a baptismal date for this weekend and we had to teach him A LOT before this weekend so before church, we literally cruised through teaching all of the commandments and made sure he understood them. (He can only meet us on Sundays due to work, so we had to pound it out) What's good is it all made sense to him and he is willing to live all of them.=)

Portsmouth Zone Training March 16th, 2016

Now here is the cool miracle I was talking about.

So a couple of weeks ago, the Chinese Elders met a guy named Jonah on the street and taught him and gave him a Book of Mormon and then got his number and that was it. A couple of days later, I am on exchange with another elder and we were contacting in the park before we had to head into the flat for planning and we had 5 minutes left and there was only one person left in the park so we walked over and talked to him, he pulls out his Book of Mormon out of his pocket and was like brothers, I believe all of these words... We shared the Restoration with him and invited him to be baptized and he said he wanted to do what was right and so he accepted. Today we got a call from the Chinese Elder's and they shared that they were able to get in contact with him again and they took him on a chapel tour and with Felix (recent convert) they showed him the chapel and reviewed the Restoration with him and he remembered it all and they asked him how he felt and Jonah said that he felt super happy and peaceful. They extended a baptismal date again and he accepted and will be baptized on April 16th, 2016 if all goes well, which it will because the Lord loves his children and this is a step we must all take to return home. Very cool miracle to be able to be a part of. 

Verse of the Week: 
Alma 48:17
"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

Oh ye people of the Rising Generation, let us all be like Moroni that we may shake the gates of hell forever and we may stand firm with our Title of Liberty leading the way, behind our Captain, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

There you have it! A super eventful and joyous week!

Love you all and hope you all have a wonderful Easter Week! If you want to make Easter even better this week, visitmormon.org/easter/easter-week 

Have a great week!!!

-Elder Rivera