Monday, August 20, 2018

Week 106 - Palmdale

This week has been an extremely fast week. The end is drawing nigh, and I am pushing forward with all my heart might mind and strength. Elder Simpson is legendary as always. He's a great guy. We had a special Zone Conference in the which we had a visit from a general authority. This man is extremely savage. I loved it all. He was just like "Oh, you're sick? Do you think anyone cares? God cares more about the salvation of souls than how you feel." He said that lame missionaries become lame Latter-Day Saints. The Lord will match you with what you give Him". And he's from Germany, named Elder Jorg Klebingat.
He taught us a lot about the premortal life, basically about how we were sent into the most wicked world (Moses 7:35-36) and that we are sent into the midst of it all at the end of the battle. It shows the trust God has for us. We were probably the closest to Him, and when He said "come down to earth" we may have doubted until He said, "But Jesus will come and be there with you". Then we felt for sure that we could do it. He was just our best friend. We trusted Him fully. He then said in essence "I imagine it was the same for Jesus. He saw all He'd have to do, and maybe hesitated until He saw all of us, that we'd go down as well. He then felt confident, thought 'OK, my friends will be there.' It shows us the responsibility that we have to gather scattered Israel. I was thinking about it, and Jesus sometimes calls people His friends. To Joseph Smith He said "You are my friend", and so on with others. What I imagine is that when He calls someone His friend, or when we are His friend, He starts to see a little bit of who we were back then over here. He sees the diligence and obedience and faith that we had there with Him, and He says, "That's the Joseph Smith I know (or the Elder Sant). That's my friend. He's got my back". Elder Klebingat explained that to gain His trust, to be His friend, it is through obedience. It says that there were those who God said would be His rulers (Doc. and Cov. 138:55-56). He says that these rulers are not general authorities or prophets: the rulers are those who keep their covenants, who magnify their office and calling. They're the obedient ones, who do what God says without delay or doubt. Those are His rulers. I could spend pages on these notes I took, and the thoughts that came of what I learned, but nevertheless I will go on explaining the week. 
   There was a lady that we found who accepted a baptismal date, and it was a powerful lesson. She is among the sweetest people I've ever met. I was asked to do a baptismal interview for someone who is trying to get a home in Palmdale, and is living in a hotel for now. I did it in Spanish because the husband, who's a member, only speaks English, but the wife speaks Spanish best. She was super sweet and super prepared. We were on exchanges that day, and my companion Elder Allinson said that he entered the hotel room when we first started, and he didn't feel right about the place, and that they came back after the interview, and he said there was a clear difference in Spirit. I did another baptismal interview, actually, and it was really cool as well. The Lord blessed us with a lot of miracles. We went down this one street, and Jehovah's Witnesses had just passed by, and we felt like it would be redundant to walk through where they just had been, but we felt like we were supposed to talk to the people there, and we did. We got rejected a few times, but then found an amazing family who actually asked us for a Book of Mormon. It was great. The Lord also blessed us when we went tracting, and we started talking with a family, and the husband instantly gave us his number and asked us to come by the very next day. We did, and he asked how many times a week we could come by. It was really cool. 
   The Lord pushed us to our limits this week, and I was very glad to feel that strength come into us. A lot happened this week. We went by Irma, and she apologized for not coming to church, and said she would "make it up" by taking a day off on Wednesday so we could talk. We're not the ones she needs to make things up to, but it's God. If anything she should make it up on Sunday. It was sad to see, but nevertheless, the Lord prepares people in His time. 
   I love you all, and usually I'd have a bit more information on the week, but our area book app shut down, and it makes it a little difficult to write more info.
   Love Elder Sant
  








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Gracias!