Hey family,
I have some really sad news.
All week we were visiting Francisco
and Amada. We went every day to make sure they were ready for their baptism.
They were so excited. They asked us to help them plant a tree in their garden
so they could always remember us even after we were gone. We went Wednesday
morning to plant the tree and we were talking about the temple and how in one
year they will be able to go. We left feeling so happy and excited. I truly
came to love them and the change we saw in them was truly miraculous.
On Thursday we had interviews with President and Hermana Avila. Can I just reiterate that they are literally the best. Everytime I am with them I just feel the love of the Savior. Hna. Avila interviewed us about our language goals...because we are supposed to set goals to help the Latins learn English. We talked about those goals for just a minute and then she gave us some counsel about going home. She said she started crying in the morning because she saw our pictures in the group going home and she has come to love us so much already that she doesn't want us to leave. She talked about marriage, of course, and actually mentioned several things that I just needed to hear. We were all crying by the end of the interview. I really love her.
Interviews with President were
great, too. We talked about attributes of Christ and he asked me what attribute
of Christ I have seen in my companion and I started BAWLING because I love Hna.
Corriveau so much. haha. I have truly come to love her and I told president
that I knew it was inspiration that we were together. The interviews were good
and he gave me some good suggestions about enduring to the end and going
home...although I didn't want to ask him all his consejos until my last
interview with him! He is so nice, though.
That night, we headed over to Amada
and Francisco's house to teach about missionary work because that is all we
needed to teach them before their baptism. We got there and Francisco says,
"I have some bad news and some good news" and then told us that they
decided not to get baptized. I literally thought he was joking because he likes
to joke around with me. I was like...no seriously, let's start the lesson now!
But then he said it again and I looked at my companion and asked her in English
if he was being serious and she shook her head. I couldn't believe it. We had
planned the baptism so perfectly, we had visited them EVERY DAY and we felt so
strongly that they knew the church is true. I was so confused. We started
asking them questions and trying to figure out what happened. They assisted a
different church before so I felt like it had something to do with the other
church.
I was asking Francisco what happened
and he told us that the night before he was praying to really know if he should
get baptized and he heard a voice in his head that said that we were deceiving
him. I looked right at him, very hurt, and asked him if he really believed
that. Then he proceeded to say that we weren't doing it on purpose, that we
were deceived by the Book of Mormon and that the Book of Mormon is deceiving
everyone. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Just a few days before we were
talking about the Book of Mormon and how he knew it was true. We testified, we
shared experiences and we testified some more. We told him that Satan ALWAYS
tries to make us go astray before we do something good and this is what was
happening. I had an impression to share a scripture in the Bible that talks
about the fruits of the spirit and how they are feelings of peace, joy, love,
etc. I asked him first how he felt when he had that impression that we were
deceived. He said he felt anguish and sorrow. So then I shared that scripture
from HIS Bible and testified that if it had been God speaking to him, he would
NOT have felt those feelings. He would have felt peace and joy, love and
humility. But even then he wouldn't change. Amada started saying that she was
already baptized and didn't need to get baptized again and it literally was
like the first day we met them. I felt like we had unbrainwashed them and then
someone came back and undid everything we had worked so hard to do.
We invited them to pray one more
time and to tell us in the morning what they thought and we left. I seriously
felt like someone had ripped out my heart and thrown it on the ground...but at
the same time, I felt a peace. It was weird. I wasn't crying or felt horrible,
I felt peace that Hna. Corriveau and I had done everything we could. We got
home and called the Relief Society President to let her know and she told us
something that made sense. She said that she knew they had felt the spirit and
knew the church is true. There really was a change in them. But she thinks that
someone from their other church must have gone and offered them some kind of
economic help or something because it wouldn't just be that something changed
everything that they had come to learn in one day.
We called them on Friday and they
still said no. They didn't want to get baptized. Well...we were sad, but we
knew that we did what we needed to and we have hope that one day they will
repent and get baptized.
We did watch Meet the Mormons that
night as a ward activity and although I felt sad that the baptism fell
through...I felt SO STINKIN HAPPY TO BE MORMON! I honestly know, without any
doubt, that being a member of this church and living the gospel is the ONLY WAY
TO BE HAPPY!! Literally, I love the gospel. I told Francisco that if when I
die, I come to find out that I really was deceived and this wasn't true, I will
still be happy because I lived a good life. But good thing I DO KNOW THIS IS
TRUE! There is no way...absolutely NO WAY I would be here on a mission if I
didn't know this was true. I know it is true and I am happy about it.
I guess these things happen. Satan
is the worst but what can you do? I just need to keep working hard until the
end to help others come to know that it is true, too.
The work is real and I am grateful
to be here.
I also can't believe that next week
will be the LAST TIME I WRITE YOU FROM MEXICO!!
Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Durham
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