Dearest family and friends,
It's been a lovely week in Amherst with a few wonderful happenings!
The biggest news is we set a baptismal date with Adrien for October 11th! It was just so funny how it happened. We were on exchanges (I was with Sister Skylene Smith from Rexburg- Peggy, do you guys know her family?) and we had just finished reading Mosiah 18 with Adrien. Mind you, last week he was saying he feels like his infant baptism was probably good enough, but after we finished reading, he asked when we would be doing baptisms next at our church, so we extended the date and he accepted. :) He's still going to pray about it and we have a LOT to do to prepare him for it! We really want to make sure he understands that this isn't just another baptism- he should be baptized because he truly believes that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through Joseph Smith and that this is the church of Jesus Christ once again on the earth. But we'll get there! :)
In other exciting news, we stopped by Alex's house last night and although we weren't able to teach a lesson inside his home (chaperone rule), we had a wonderful conversation on his doorstep. We really haven't been able to have a full-on lesson with him for a few weeks, but last time we visited, we had a great lesson about how to recognize the Spirit and how he could get answers in the Book of Mormon. He wanted to know what happens after we die, so we had him study and pray about Alma 40. And now you can see the new light in his countenance! It is just incredible! He has been praying about what we've taught. We asked him if he received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a true prophet and he said yes! His testimony is there! We could see and feel it so powerfully as we talked with him. We explained why baptism is the natural result of that testimony and he agreed to pray about it this week. We also explained to him how the restoration of the Priesthood means that his family can be united eternally by that power and his face lit up even more. Families are what it's all about. It was amazing to be able to testify of that. The Spirit was so powerful as we testified. The gospel is true! I was on such a high as we walked back to our car! Please pray for Alex- his testimony is so bright already and we know that means that Satan will work extra hard on him! It already happened with Alex's sister Melany. :(
I'll close with a scripture that really helped me this week. I stumbled upon Doctrine and Covenants 19:38-41 in my studies and it was just what I needed:
38 Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof.
39 Behold, canst thou read this without rejoicing and lifting up thy heart for gladness?
40 Or canst thou run about longer as a blind guide?
41 Or canst thou be humble and meek, and conduct thyself wisely before me? Yea, come unto me thy Savior. Amen.
I feel like lately, I've been doing a terrible job at listening to the Spirit. I haven't been allowing myself the time to do so and instead, I've just been trying to do it all on my own. Like Elder Bednar's talk describes, " I wonder if we fail to fully acknowledge this strengthening aspect of the Atonement in our lives and mistakenly believe we must carry our load all alone—through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline and with our obviously limited capacities."
Both that quote and the scripture help me to realize that I have every reason to rejoice and lift up my heart with gladness because the Spirit does the heavy lifting. I am not on my own. I just need to pray and ask for help (and stop running around blindly on my own) and then listen. This is the Lord's work and we cannot fail when we rely on Him.
I love you all so very much! Thank you for all you do for me! Have a wonderful last week of August!
Much love,
Sister Wheeler Jr.
Please pray for:
Adrien Mutumene
Alex
No comments:
Post a Comment