Letter #31

Hey ya'll!

Wow, this has been an awesome week! Wednesday was zone conference, which was, as always, so wonderful. It was President and Sister Summerhays's last zone conference with us, since they are leaving after next transfer, and that made the things they taught us even more special. President gave a training on the doctrine of Christ, focusing on repentance. We read and discussed 3 Nephi 27:13-22, and how everything that Christ did for us was by way of commandment from the Father, and that all we have to do is repent. I learned so much from that day about repentance, and it's such a wonderful gift that our Savior has given us. Even if we feel like we're doing everything that we need to be doing, we still all make mistakes every day, and repenting every day can relieve us when we feel weighed down by the things of the world, especially repenting for the little, seemingly harmless things. It's when we truly humble ourselves before God that we are able to give up our pride and let Him cleanse us of those little things that are keeping us from Him.

Saturday and Sunday was stake conference. Elder Cardon of the Seventy was at the conference. Wow, he is such a powerful speaker! The missionaries in the stake were invited to attend all the sessions of conference, so we got to go to the Priesthood leadership meeting, adult session, and general session. They were all really good meetings, and the Spirit was very strong. I learned a lot from his teachings about the Priesthood and following the counsel and advice of our leaders. In the general session, President Summerhays spoke about missionary work and how much we rely on the help of the members to find people to teach. He told the members of this stake that his hope for every missionary in the FTM is to never have to knock on another stranger's door ever again, because their time would be so filled with teaching appointments from member referrals. And we're starting to see some success from working with members.

Camille is our most recent investigator. She is renting a room from a member of the ward a few weeks ago and started asking them questions about where they go to church. She moved here from NY and is making a lot of huge changes to turn her life around. I can't described how everything happened, mostly because there are no words for the miracles that have taken place in her life, but we were able to teach her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. And by the way, she asked us if we would teach her; we did not approach her about it. At the end of our first lesson with her we invited her to be baptized. Her eyes got really big and she told us that had been talking with these members about that just a few days ago, and she said that yes, absolutely, she will work towards baptism. She is scheduled to get baptized on June 8th. We are so excited to keep teaching her, and she is so excited to keep learning and making changes, especially since she knows how good these changes are going to be for her.

There is also another couple that we're working with, Lance and Robin. Robin is a member, and pretty active, but Lance is not. However, he has heard the missionary discussions several times as grandchildren of his were taught in his home. We're going over this Friday to have dinner and a lesson. From a previous conversation we had with him a few weeks ago, it seems as if the only reason that he's not a member is because no missionary has very invited him to be baptized before. We're super excited to start teaching him.

We are really seeing miracle happen here in the Venice area. We're getting into doors that missionaries haven't been able to get into in years, if ever. The Lord is preparing His people and hastening His work. I know that as we engage ourselves in it, catch the wave, and bring a soul to Christ that we can find true joy and peace in this life and forever.

 

Elder Petersen