Jamicheal is doing well, he is just
having a lot of stress trying to find a job. We were able to bring the
spirit into our lessons this past week and really try to help him lift
his burdens off his shoulder by increasing his faith. We taught him
about the Plan of Salvation a lot this last week. He already had a basic
understanding of it, but we went into a little more detail about
eternal families. He is getting married soon and has a young family, so
it was perfect for him. I love talking about the plan because I am happy
that I have this knowledge of where I am from, what I am doing here and
where I am going. We tracted into a man this last week that was an
Atheist and I asked him where we went after this life. He said nowhere.
It made me sad to think that people believe we are here just for this
short life and then we are done. I want to share the Plan of Happiness
with everyone, because it brings me happiness! :)
We
found a new family to teach this last week! They are the Green family.
We met them just walking down the road. We saw a mom sitting out in the
yard with a ton of kids running around the yard, so we went up and
talked to her. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read a
chapter and pray about it. We then came back a couple days later and
discussed the chapter. The chapter was Alma 32, a lot on faith. Through
our discussion, baptism was brought up. We invited her and her family to
be baptized. She said "yes, I want Jesus Christ in my family. I want my
kids to know him." I pray that I can help them work towards baptism and
make their home into a safe haven for that family. A place where they
can feel safe, feel God's love and the holy spirit. Especially in this
city, where so much darkness surrounds them.
On Tuesday
night, our Catholic friends invited us to come to a big spaghetti feed
at their high school. Free food? Of course the Elder's are there! We
showed up and instantly stuck out from the rest of the people. It was
really funny because they were all thinking "who invited them?"... "why
are they here?" It was fun though! They had a little carnival thing,
live music and of course some spaghetti. We talked to a lot of nice
people and it ended up being really good. I told Elder Davis I was going
to go on top of the school and start preaching the Restoration, like
Samuel the Lamanite. I think their arrows would hit me though :) haha
One
last awesome person we found was Shenita. Elder Nuku and I tracted into
her a while ago but could never get in contact with her. We came back
and actually got to teach her again. We discussed Alma 32 with her as
well. She expressed how she used to be active in her church, read her
bible and pray everyday. Now she wasn't doing any of those things. So we
asked her, "do you think we were sent from God to help you and your
family find the truth?" She immediately said "Yes! I feel great when
y'all come over." We helped her recognize that it was the spirit and
that she could have that in her home everyday if she began to do these
simple things we were inviting her to do. I pray that we can help
Shenita and her young family as well. She has 3 young kids: 2 girls and
one little boy. The little boy is named Gary and he loves to see us. He
always wants to play with me when we come over. I pray that we can
continue to help this family as well. They said yes to come to church,
so hopefully they really do!!
Last thing for
this week... We had Stake Conference yesterday. We are in the Monroe, LA
stake so we had to drive 2 hours with the Turley's to get there. It was
great to feel the spirit there and hear as Elder Hymas, of the seventy,
talked about missionary work, the sacrament and sabbath day observance.
He invited a new convert and a re-activated member to come up and share
their testimonies. Both of their testimonies really were spiritual. I
knew what they were sharing was true and I felt just great! It was a
good sabbath day. Lots of sitting and riding in the car, but it was
worth it.
Well y'all, am I really already at
one year? Doesn't feel like it here, but it really has been that long.
It is great to look at how much I have grown and all that I have
learned. I am grateful to be here and grateful for the man that I am
becoming. I will never deny what I feel and what I know. The Gospel is
true, the Atonement is real and my Savior lives. I know this because I
have prayed about it and have received a witness. I am excited to see
what this next year brings and how much more I can learn and grow. In
Alma 32, it talks about nourishing our faith and planting a seed of
faith. I want to continue to nourish my faith and become like a large
tree that stands immovable because my roots are too large. Continue to
nourish your faith y'all and it will grow into something great. Thank
you for all the love and support. Have a good week y'all. God lives,
loves you.. and so do I :)
Love,
Elder Mason Rankin :)
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