Last monday we did a hike in Papara. It was several hours long, had a great view, and we got some fe'i at the top. It was annoying though when we were half way down and I realized I had dropped my camera somewhere up there. We had to spend even longer going back up and finding my camera. Still worth it, though.
On tuesday, we went to visit Turumai. He wasn't home, but his copine was at the house across the street, hanging out with her member friend. We did a quick visit with her where she said she was ready to be baptised. Other missionaries had tried to set up their marriage, but she didn't think she was ready. Well, she's ready now. We set up her marriage and baptism for the same day as Tutea, the 22nd. We came back the next day, and found out that her friend was a really good member integrator. She had taught Maude*, Turumai's copine, how to pray, she taught her hymns, and they discuss the gospel all day long, from morning until evening. I feel like it was too easy for her to accept!
We taught Nicolas and Giselle this week. We started talking about why they had such a strong faith in the bible, what made them start to believe, and they said some good stuff. We talked about how you need to ask God, without doubting, with faith, humility, real intent in order to know if it is the Word of God. We can receive the answer through the Spirit, who will tell us by feelings of love, peace, etc. Let me tell you, the spirit was strong. That's when I pulled out the Book of Mormon and read the verses from Moroni chapter ten. We engaged them to do exactly what they had done to find out if the Bible was true, and do it for the Book of Mormon.
That's when Giselle quickly excused herself and came back with a stack of papers. She told us that she had actually done some research on the Book of Mormon. She had looked on the internet and found some stuff that "proved our religion false". Even she didn't understand why this stuff made the BoM false, be she was quick to believe this internet site. They both told us that they had actually known that our church was false for years, and they did that to prove it to us, not for them. To make a long story short (that lesson lasted about two and a half hours), they refused to ask God if the Book of Mormon was true. That's some heartbreaking stuff. The spirit was so strong, testifying of the truth, and they wouldn't even ask God, but stuck to an internet site to find the truth. That was so hard to have this spiritual couple flat out reject the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I'll admit, I was actually really angry at them for not understanding, for not trying to ask in faith to the Man who knows everything, loves us, and wants that we know the truth. Well anyway, at the end of the lesson, we ate dinner with them (which was pretty awkward), and invited us back next week to talk about just the bible. *sigh*. Well, no one ever said it would be easy.
Saturday and Sunday were great, I loved General Conference! Even if we had to wake up at five to be there on time. There were so many good talks, and I could quote them all, but here are a few cool quotes:
"When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation... and Jesus’s gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. "-President Nelson
"I can promise you your prayers will be answered, and as you act on the answers you will receive, you will find joy in the Sabbath, and your heart will overflow with thankfulness."-President Eyring
"To abide in God’s love in this sense means to submit fully to His will. It means to accept His correction when needed. … It means to love and serve one another as Jesus has loved and served us. It means to learn “to abide the law of a celestial kingdom” so that we can “abide a celestial glory” -Elder Christofferson
“If we love the Savior more, will we suffer less?”-Elder Hales
All of these quotes and more made me really think about how to be better and to appreciate more the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Restored Gospel, and God's Plan for us. We are so blessed!
Have a good week!
Elder Lewis
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