Sunday, August 21, 2016

August 15, 2016 - He will always be our Father

Hi family!!

Humberto is doing well. Well, last Monday he told us that he had stopped smoking and drinking coffee completely!! We were so happy and excited!!!!! And then..on Wednesday he told us that he felt too sick, and couldn´t do it. So that was really sad. But he´s lessening and lessening every day. And, he´s doing great for having drinking coffee for all....60 years of his life. We´ve always heard that the Ticos give their kids coffee from the time their babies in a bottle...but this week was the first time we saw it!!! me and my companion were shocked. I couldnt even believe it!! But, no, Humberto is doing great, and is really esforzandose a lot. He wakes up at three every morning, and studies the scriptures!! And he cancelled a lesson this week haha because he was too busy sharing the gospel with his sister and forgot to look at the time!  Haha, it´s seriously so fun teaching him. He´s just really, really intelligent, and understands things really well. He loves the Restoration. And, he loves the book of Mormon. haha, in a lesson on Friday a member tried reading a scripture about baptism from the Bible. But Humberto said, No!! I don´t want anything from the Bible...only the new things, from the Book of Mormon!! And he talks really strongly so it was just funny and surprising, because usually everyone wants things from the Bible. But yeah. So we´re praying a lot for him, that he can stop smoking and drinking coffee, and that he can receive an answer about his baptismal date, because he doesn´t feel ready. But really, it´s incredible teaching him, and seeing how willing he is to accept the gospel, and the joy he is feeling in his life from it. 

Also, this week has been really interesting, because we´ve had lots of different lessons with different investigators who are super Evangelicals and they don´t really understand authority. They think that everyone who accepts Christ in their life has the authority to preach, to form a church, to be a prophet, an apostle. So I´ve really loved studying more about the Restoration, about the laying on of hands, and how important it is!!! I´ve never really realized before how important it really is that Peter, James, and John came down to give that authority, to make that unbroken chain. And...lots of times the people don´t believe in these events, because, they really are incredible. But that´s what makes the church true. The unbroken line of authority, the incredible events, the manifestations that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and so if there were events in the Old Testament with angels and visions....today we will also have that. and I´ve loved this week being about to testify a lot about that. And, then testify that reading the Book of Mormon is how we are going to be able to know all these thinds, and resolve all our doubts. I´ve thought a lot too, about the talk from Elder Stevenson...Where are the keys? And we are so blessed to know where the keys of the Priesthood are. I´m so grateful for the Restoration. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church here on the face of the earth. I know that only in this church is where we can receive the ordinances necessary to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. And...it was kind of interesting, because we found one of these girls yesterday, and she said she´s getting baptized next week in her church. So we explained to her to pray, and ask God if what we said was true! So hopefully she does that. 

And, also, I´ve loved being able to testify this week that we are all children of God. It´s another doctrine of the Evangelicos that I´ve heard a lot here.... that everyone is just a creature of God until they have received the gospel. And...honestly, I have always just felt so, so sad hearing that idea! Because the first principle that we have to teach is that God is our Loving Heavenly Father. of everyone. Even if we´re making good decisions, or bad, or if we believe in Him, or not. So this week our investigator Yadira said that everyone on the street were just creatures of God, and I couldn´t let her say that. So we testified that God is the Father of EVERYONE. That he loves EVERYONE. And, she didn´t really believe it. But, when we went back a few days later, she said she had meditated a lot...and said that we were right, that we are all children of God. So, I´m just grateful for these simple gospel truths that we have. I´m grateful that God loves all of us. And He knows us. Even when we are wandering in paths we shouldn´t go...He will always be our Father, waiting for us to come home. 

Tico Mother's Day - it's a big deal
Anyway, I´m glad for these experiences that I am having to help me strengthen my testimony in the restored gospel. I know these things are true. And I am happy for that knowledge. And I am happy sharing it with these people here. 

I love you all so much!! Have a great week :) 

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