Stockport Week 16

 This week has been so good! It amazes me how involved and aware the Lord is in every detail of this work. Our first miracle was on Friday, when we had a lesson with this man named Riz. We met with him on Friday and the lesson was amazing! He was so sincere in wanting to know more and had so many wonderful questions. We ended up teaching all 3 lessons because he just wanted to know all of it. We asked him if he would be baptized if he knew it was true and he said he would. He said he would pray and ask and he even prayed for the first time at the end of the lesson. We are so excited for him to receive his answer! We are meeting with him again this Friday.

We had a miracle with finding this week as well. We had gotten a self-referral from a person up in Levenshulme that requested a Book of Mormon. We went to the address and it was one of those houses that has 7 flats in it. We didn't know what doorbell to ring because they weren't marked but thankfully someone who lived in the building was coming in right then. We asked him about flat #6 and he said he thought it was empty but he let us in. Sister Viteri didn't feel right about going in for a second but after a little time we felt we should go in. We went up to flat #6 and no one answered. We knocked the door next to it and it was the man who let us into the building. His wife invited us into their home and we ended up talking to them for about 20 minutes and setting a return appointment for next Sunday. There are no coincidences!

(My companion, Sister Viteri)

I was studying in the Book of Mormon and I read this scripture that I love so much! It's Ether 12:4 and it says, "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." I love this scripture because we know that because of Christ we can always have hope for a better world. There is so much hope that can be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

I am loving my mission so much!

Stockport Week 15

This week has been so incredible! There were several times where we had smail "coincidences" that just let me know that God was there helping us in the work. One of those times was on Saturday when we were doing a street display in the town centre. I approached this young man sitting on a bench named Sean that was just sitting there drinking some soda. He said he had already been approached by a missionary and that he had taken a card but said he didn't have time. I asked him if he had time right now and he said he did. I told him I was a missionary and he said that there couldn't be a God because God wouldn't allow so much evil and suffering in the world. Coincidentally, just that morning i had studied day 10 of the Book of Mormon challenge, which asks "Why does God allow evil and suffering to happen?". I explained that we are given opposition in this life to help us to learn and to grow. He then said that if he were God he would give us challenges to help us learn until we became eventually perfect. That is exactly what the plan of salvation is! I bore my testimony that God has a plan for us and that he loves each one of us. I asked if he wanted to meet and he suggested that we meet the following week in the same place. I know that God provided the right circumstances for me to meet that man and help him understand God's plan for him.

Another amazing thing that happened this week is we were calling by people in this area by our flat when we met this woman. She was walking home so we talked with her while she walked. We got to her house and she had to go inside so we said goodbye. Sister Viteri then said that we should knock on this door that was one of this woman's neighbours. A man opened the door and just said "The Mormons are here!" and invited us in. It turns out that they are members and they thought we knew that before we knocked. Nope! We talked with them for a solid hour or so. They were baptized when they were younger but had since stopped going. We talked with them about why they stopped going and had a good conversation about our relationship with God. We are going to work with the more to help them return to church!

It has been fun to get to know my new companion. She is from Argentina so she has been helping me improve my Spanish (I actually only know about 3 words: hola, adios, and si). She gave me a drink called mate that they have in argentina a lot. I think it must be an acquired taste. She also has a lot of good ideas about improving the work in Stockport that we have been applying over the past week. It always helps to have a new perspective! 

Additional from letter to mom:  I've been thinking a lot about the power of the mind this week. Last week in zone conference, Elder Moreira spoke about how repentance is changing your beliefs. Literally changing your thoughts to be what the Lord would want you to think. Earlier this week I was very discouraged because Andrea, the woman who was baptized only 2 weeks ago, informed us that she is no longer coming to church. I remember thinking "Why did the Lord lead us to her and help us feel good about baptizing her if this was going to happen?". I let myself think that for a couple of days but then i was reading in in 2 Nephi 2 and in verse 2 it talks about how all things, even our trials, will be for our gain. I decided to change my thoughts about the whole situation and believe that this will work together for my good. Although I still feel sad for her, I truly do believe that all things, even our trials, will work together for our good. 

Stockport Week 14

This week has been pretty amazing! One of the highlights of this week has been hearing from Elder Moreira, a member of the 70, at zone conference on thursday. He spoke about how we have the keys to apply what we learn from the prophets and revelation to those under our stewardship. For us as missionaries, it is people here in england. For others, it may be their families. Whoever it is, I know you can receive help from the lord if you ask in faith.

Another exciting thing this week is that we were able to meet with Janice. Janice is one of our recent converts who had been struggling quite a lot. One evening we were in the area and i felt like we should stop by and see her. She was home and said we could come back a few days later. When we stopped by she let us into her home and we were able to talk with her and she how she is doing. The spirit really does guide us in our every day lives!

Another miracle we saw this week was one of the people in our phone messaged us and asked how we were doing! He said he had just been thinking about us and wanted to meet sometime. We were so excited! i know that there are people that are constantly being prepared to hear the message of this gospel and are being influenced by the Holy Ghost.

Stockport Week 13

I got a new companion! Her name is Sister Viteri and she is from Argentina. She has been so good to work with so far and I am excited to spend a couple weeks with her!

This week has been good! To begin, the most exciting part was definitely Andrea, Sami, and Sebastian's baptism. The baptism was such a special experience. To see a family make that covenant all together brought me so much joy! We asked Andrea, Sami, and Sebastian how they felt after the baptism and they said they felt fresh and like they were very clean. How amazing is that! Andrea was nervous to speak at the fireside (we do new member firesides once a month) but she did great! We are now working with Andrea and Sami to prepare to enter the temple on the 14th of August.

Across all the missions in Europe they are doing something called the 21 Day book of Mormon challenge. Every day we are asked to read a chapter in the book of mormon with a specific question in mind. I thought it would be something good for you all to do! I'll send you a pic of the challenge. I invite each of you to study the scriptures every day. I can promise that as you do so that you will gain a great testimony of its truthfulness.