Area - Sunnyside, Pretoria
Companion - Elder Foote
Letter #19
PRETORIA— The sun is shining and it looks like some rain clouds are moving in. That means
it won't be hot today but it will probs be boiling tomorrow. P-Day is gonna be
great cause we found a Toys R Us. We already have Monday - Thursday filled with
appointments. We are preparing for 3 baptisms this Sunday. What more could I ask
for?? The missionary work is going so well and Elder Foote and I just work hard
and have fun every day! ...Hello Sister Foote and family, I know you're reading
this :) Thank you for the treats!
Last Sunday we had 13 investigators at
church and this Sunday we had 15! I think this week I gained a testimony of
inviting people to be baptized the first time we meet with them. They tell you
in the MTC to extend the invitation at the end of the first lesson and all of us
are like what? Heck no. But after putting it to practice, it yields results! You
can explain for hours what your purpose is, which includes helping them take
steps like baptism to come closer to Jesus Christ, but when you actually invite
them at the end it finally clicks why we are here and that we are not just
sharing the word of God with them and lifting their spirits or whatever. It's
funny how 3 months ago I was petrified to ask somebody to be baptized and had no
idea how to go about doing it even after I had been taught and practiced a bunch
in the MTC and now I can do it completely comfortably and not freak out and not
know what to say when they answer "no" or "I've already been baptized". Or even
when they say "yes"! Haha. This week alone 10 people answered affirmatively
:D
On Saturday we visited the Maake family and had a great lesson. The
whole family wasn't there at first but they finally got back from shopping for
the last 10 mins. Brother Maake is very interested and even went to the book
shop the other day to see if he could buy a Book of Mormon! Of course he
couldn't but I don't know why we hadn't given him one yet; he has one now ha.
They came to church last week and enjoyed it "too much" but they had to go to a
funeral yesterday which is one of the top 3 reasons why people can't make it to
church here. The others would be I can't b/c I'm a pastor at my
church...Everybody and their mom is a pastor here... or we are going to Joburg
for the weekend. But this family isn't making excuses, no worries.
Man,
Aida and her family are so difficult for us to teach. They want to be baptized
but they can't until we have taught them everything! We bring a translator with
us but it's hard for 2 reasons 1. There are only like 2 or 3 people in the ward
that we know of who speak either Portuguese or Changani. 2. teaching with a
translator is painfully slow. We decided that we are going to try to get 2 RM's
to teach them and we will just sit in the lessons with them. It's weird when
they teach and then the family answers or asks questions, you can tell what they
are talking about and if they understand or not it's just that you don't
recognize a single word unless they use an English word that's not in their
language. They have a Book of Mormon in Portuguese and they are reading it and
they have come to church a lot so the only thing is making sure they know
everything.
I am so glad that we are having such great success here and
it truly is amazing to see all of these people each week and have the chance to
teach them the Gospel. I know that Heavenly Father is preparing these people for
us and all we are doing is being obedient so that we can be in tune with the
spirit to find these people and say the things that they need to hear. I have
had so many experiences where I just know what to say and don't have to think
about it at all. Scriptures, quotes, experiences, will come to mind and I have
no idea how I remembered these things. Of course it's the spirit helping me. One
day we were teaching a guy and I asked him something like "Who is God to you?"
He answered for the next like 5 mins at least just saying all this stuff about
my king, creator, etc. After he got done I said something along the lines of
"yeah that's right. God does all this, created all that and we need to give the
respect and honor that he deserves but plainly and simply He is our father and
He loves us." That touched his heart. I explained how everybody knows the
greatness of Him and the authority He has but most people don't realize that we
can have a personal relationship with Him. He is there for us always listening
to our prayers and answering them, guiding us in our lives, protecting us, etc.
We can talk to Him as if he were standing right in front of and tell Him
everything we are grateful and happy for, everything that we are having problems
with, and we can ask for His help to improve and overcome challenges. We need to
be respectful and honorable to Him but we also can and need to be personal with
Him. I am so thankful that I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father and
everyday I try to make it better. You should too! :D
Mom, I'm jealous
you got to teach the primary kids! I used to be scared to teach lessons at
church but now I would do anything to be a primary or youth teacher! It is so
fun! I got to teach the 16 year olds the other day. I had no preparation, just
walked into class, was handed the lesson and had to teach! Ha.
That's
cool that the Fords got to speak about their conversion. Funny, I was there at
that first lesson. Ha. Of course I didn't say anything but I do remember that
very well :D
So I printed some pictures that I am going to try and send
soon and maybe I will take some this week and hopefully send them via email.
Love you family! Smile big always and have a great week!
-Elder
Dirkmaat :D
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