Hello everyone,
It's been quite a week filled with lots of ups and downs. In short, it has been bitter sweet. It was a hard week with our investigator Cesar. We had found him and started teaching and contacting him again and he stopped talking to us. Yesterday, Hermana Wilbur and I went to his house to try and find him. He didn't go to church and he ALWAYS shows up to church regardless, so we were worried. We weren't sure what to do at first, if we should go and see him or not. We prayed about it and we both got such an overwhelming feeling that we needed to find him and see him. The lesson we had with him was not what we wanted, but it was the will of the Lord. We felt so much peace afterwards that we knew it was what we needed to do and say. He told us that he doesn't have the desire to change anymore and he doesn't think he can continue. We were sad, but told him that the only way he can figure this out for himself is if he does it for the Lord, and if he couldn't do this, there was nothing more we could do for him. We told him to pray and to wrestle with God until he found his answer. And when he did, we told him to call us. It was hard. He has been to church so many times and has made so many changes. There is literally only one more Word of Wisdom substance he has to overcome. But we can't do anything for him, only the Lord can. Cesar has taught me so much about accepting the will of God. I will be grateful to have known him.
Next, it was a week of miracles! We had an amazing training about using the pamphlets to teach lessons 1, 2, and 3 and only using questions to allow the investigators to teach themselves. It has been so effective! In fact, every lesson we have taught with the folletos (pamphlet is the word in English), we have set baptismal dates with people! It simplifies the gospel so much, and we are able to be so much more effective as teachers. It has been incredible and I can't wait to continue teaching this way!
Lastly, I was asked to teach the Relief Society lesson yesterday. It was such an incredible experience. It was all about prayer: the whys, the whats, and the hows. I decided that I only wanted to teach it using questions, while just lightly outlining what we would talk about in each point. It ended up working really well. Literally, it was an organized discussion about our experiences with prayer. The women had such incredible experiences about prayer! Everyone shared something. It was so incredible! In addition, I was able to include the Spanish sisters and translate their answers to the rest of the women. It was so guided by the spirit, I literally didn't have to do anything. We really grew closer as a ward. Everyone felt comfortable to share their experiences. There were also some investigators there and it was the perfect topic for them! It was just an awesome experience. Afterwards, several of the sisters told me how much they enjoyed the lesson because I didn't read out of the manual once and that it was a discussion. In addition, several other sisters said that participation in Relief Society has really been lacking, and it was the first time the women in the ward truly opened up about their experiences. Some who hadn't ever participated spoke up. It was incredible! The spirit was so strong. It taught me a lot. I have learned that I need to use more effective questions, especially with my investigators.
Anyway, nos vemos!
Hermana Failner
No comments:
Post a Comment