Lol no it didn't make me homesick at all, I sadly but honestly have to say I dont think I have really ever been homesick or really missed you guys since I got out on the mission. I love you guys with all my heart but I stay so busy and this is where my heart is right now. I hope when you say I look more filled out that is a good thing and you are not slidding in a fat joke. I forgot to show you the gifts I got from Jackie and Lucero. Lucero got me this wicked awesome hat that is like the alaskan ones (well it makes me think of alaska) it has the long ear flaps and the "fur" on the inside. I absolutely love it. Lol she walked up and gave Elder Bolivar and I a hug the other day and it was weird but it felt nice to get a hug. The other day this member asked us to give her son a blessing so we went over and as I shook her hand she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, it is a hispanic thing so it was not like a sign of feelings plus she is like 40 but I am almost positive I turned red and was left shocked and confused at what had just taken place. So I am going to tell of the experience at temple square again so you can put it on the blog.
This past week I have seen the Spirit of God change a person faster than ever. I have seen someone go from believing God exists to knowing He exists and loves her. On moday we had a lesson with Lucero and it will be a lesson that I will not soon forget. She had some doctrinal questions that we had to clarify, thanks to the women in relief society that decided to go super deep in the lesson on Exaltation. She was understanding the answers we were giving her but then I felt prompted and Elder Bolivar picked up on it to that we needed to change the focus of the lesson. I began to testify about how she had felt the spirit very strongly in the previous lesson and testified that it was her answer. I testified that through all the trials she has had recently she should not be happy but she is and that is because she is growing closer to the Lord. Elder Bolivar then gave a great analogy of how we are as a ball of clay and little by little the Lord sculpts us into what we need to become. There was a spirit there so strong that I honestly dont even know how to describe it. Tears flowed freely from all our eyes except Elder Bolivar lol but he was close. Lucero then offered the closing kneeling prayer and as she pleaded and gave thank there was this strong prescence of love. I knew in that moment and will never be able to deny that God loves Lucero and all of us because I felt him there in that prayer. She paused and began to cry and she recognized what she was feeling. At the end of the prayer we stood up and I looked her in the eyes and told her "I know you felt that and you cannot deny it" she responded that she has felt it and then excused herself for a few second to dry her eyes. That lesson and the Spirit felt was engraven into my heart and mind and I have found myself pondering on it over the past week. Amazingly that experience was not the only one to be engraven in my heart and mind that week. We had recieved permission from the Assistants to take Lucero to temple square for a personal tour with the sister missionaries there. The tour started and as we were sitting in front of the Christus statue Lucero whispered to me that we hadnt had a prayer and that she would like to start with a prayer. I told the sisters and we had a prayer. The tour went well and all was great but at the very end we had an experience that well I just dont know how to describe, I will do my very best but I feel like words will never be able to explain in exact detail what happened and what we felt. We went to a demonstration called "God's Plan for Us" in the which there were six rooms with a short video following the life of a family as the kid grew up and as events happened in their life and how families are meant to last forever. As we entered the last room which showed the daughter getting married in the temple there was a very beautiful spirit. The sister missionaries gave Jackie and Lucero some tissues for their eyes. The sisters then bore powerful testimony of the importance of families. I then bore testimony to Lucero about the light that has come into her eyes as she had learned and grown. I told her of how recently I had been praying for some things that I needed help with and that through her the Lord had answered my prayers. Elder Bolivar followed with and outstanding testimony and then Jackie's son Sergio began to cry as he shared his feelings with us. The sisters then asked Lucero if she had anything she wanted to say. She broke down in tears as she told us how she will never forget us and all that we have done for her. She told us how she had felt so far from God for 7 years based on decisions she had made but that now she feels closer than she has ever been before. Right then we kneeled down in that room all by ourselves and Lucero began to pray and that same love overcame us. It was almost as if our Savior was in that room, we could feel Him we just couldnt see Him. As we got up and left Sergio commented how he had neve Lucero looked and me and said "I know you have a question for me" to which I responded "yep" she quickly replied "the answer is yes, I am ready to be baptized". Lucero will be baptized on Jan 8th and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and place herself on the path that will lead her back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. I know this work is true, not only is the doctrine perfect but the Spirit is real and it has testified to my heart that all this is true. Once you have had this feeling you cannot deny it because you cannot get rid of the memory of how you felt. Only the spirit can make you feel that way. I know God loves us for I saw and was a witness of Him showing his love to one of His precious daughters. May we all place ourselves in a position to be instruments in the hands of the Lord, so that we may take part in bringing to pass His work and His glory.
Love,
Elder Jolly
No comments:
Post a Comment