Wow...what
a week! I never know where to start. Maybe with the best part. We had 3
baptisms this week to finish out this month of June together and these 3 were
had in 3 different days with 3 different interviews on three separate days with
3 different baptismal services to plan. We had to organize our time so well
because we knew that we had to complete our covenant and contact 1000 souls
this week. As I commented we had to contact about 140 every day. Monday through
Thursday was great, but then the end of the week started to get crazy with a
Zone conference in my hometown of Santa Lucia and a bunch of baptismal
interviews to do. Which left us needing 280 contacts on Sunday. Just to give
you an idea of how much that is, the rule is that we need 35 contacts everyday;
for every companionship. So it was a lot. But we spent 2 hours on Sunday night
talking with EVERYONE near a bus stop in the middle of our area and reached our
goal. We actually exceeded it with 1012 in total. Oh how I love to contact and
preach the Gospel! It is so wonderful!
I think I
will tell you about Katarin. She got baptized on Sunday. What a miracle she
was! We met her the first time on the 21 of June and baptized her on the 28th
of June. That never happens. First of all because its (..or was..) a rule that
the investigators have to go to church 3 times before they get baptized and
because there hardly is never enough time to teach them all the lessons in 4
days (like we did). I will tell you a little bit later about why the rule
changed. But Katarin was so unbelievably prepared. We sacrificed our pday to
teach her and by our 2nd visit, she had gotten her answer about the Book of Mormon.
Her experience was quite unique and eye opening. She explained her answer in
this way: ''Its like I am wearing new glasses and I can see everything so much
clearer and more beautiful. I even love the dogs in the street!'' The Holy
Spirit testifies of truth and are the ''new glasses'' that we wear when we are
truly converted.
But
anyways all through Thursday we had planned her service for the 5 of July like
normal but on Friday we had a Zone Conference with Elder Alonso of the Seventy.
What a powerful and spiritual giant. The first thing he said when he walked in
was ''I am going to have everyone come up front and shake my hand one by one. I
will look into your eyes and interview you through the Spirit. If there is
anything wrong with any of you, I will tell President Markham and he will
interview you afterwards.'' Woah. He changed a lot of things in the mission and
we will be much more obedient. One thing he changed was the ''Next Level
Baptismal Challenge''. We as missionaries have always set the baptism dates.
But he explained to us that the next level is to have the investigator set
their own date. And if that chosen date falls before the 3 church attendances,
we must call President Markham to ask permission. How much powerful it was this
week to challenge people in that way! The spirit not only guides us but guides
the investigator. That is how we baptized three this week. 2 of them did not
have the 3 attendances but the Spirit guided them into choosing a date that was
right for THEM and not for us. He also taught us to be more specific in goal
setting and planning and even in simple question-answering. He would ask a
question and a missionary would answer using a primary/Sunday school answer or
just a completely general/incorrect statement and Elder Alonso would not let
them sit down until they answered right. It was awesome and a bunch of Elders
were completely embarrassed. I think a lot of us are much to General in the
Gospel. But the Spirit is very specific and when he prompts us to do something
he doesn’t say ''be a good boy Jacob'', but rather he tells me ''Talk to that
man that is 50 yards ahead of you on the other side of the street, he needs
your help'' or ''say your sorry to your companion, you offended him and you didn’t
know it''. And to invite the Spirit into our lives we must be specific as well.
Loved that conference and learned so much from him.
Love you
guys. I love that I have a mom and a dad that were sealed by someone with the
priesthood of god. That makes life so much better. Love that I have 2 goofy
siblings that I love and miss a ton but that are making me proud by living the
gospel and being good. Listen to the Spirit. Be specific. Baptize your friends.
Love,
Elder Smith
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