Hey Mom and Dad!
This week was a really cool week for Spanish. It all got started
last Monday. We've been teaching these English classes for like 8 weeks.
We always share a spiritual thought at the end of the classes and we
try to talk to people to ask if we can share a message with them. It was
going well, but not like we had originally hoped. So we decided to go
big or go home. For the spiritual thought on Monday we passed out a copy
of the Book of Mormon in Spanish to everybody there. I volunteered to
teach the lesson on it. So here I am, standing in front of 40-some
Hispanics, just testifying of the Book of Mormon. It was awesome. I
explained how it can help us strenghten our faith in Jesus Christ and we
read some of the introduction. Then we read Moroni 10:3-5 and I
explained the promise that they can know for themselves if the book is
true. Then I asked them all to read chapter 10 of Moroni and pray about
it. It lasted about twenty minutes of me testifying to these people in
Spanish. I've never felt so cool in my entire life.
We saw the first fruits of it, two days later. On Wednesday, we
were on the way to the classes, when Elder Mitchell texted us. He said
there was a woman waiting for us at the church. We showed up and asked
her what she needed. We had never talked to this woman before. I had no
idea who she was. She told us she was waiting for the classes. I said
great, the classes start at 7, then I went to go set up. Elder Mitchell
talked to her a bit and she told him that she was waiting for me and my
companion. He came over to me and said look, this woman is here to talk
to you, go teach her now. I don't know why she's here, but this is God's
hand at work. I said great, we're on it.
We sat down with her and two other people waiting for classes
joined us. I really had no idea what to do with this lesson here. Elder
Hart started talking about the Book of Mormon and the woman pulled out a
copy of it. I asked her where she got it. Turns out she was in the
class on Monday when we passed them out. I asked if she had read any of
it and she said that she read the chapter I asked them to. I asked if
she had prayed about it. She told us that she knelt and prayed and after
the prayer she waited ten minutes and didn't get an answer. Then as she
was about to get up, she felt this warmth and she said that she gained
faith that this book is true. I looked at Elder Hart and we were both
blown away. This was a miracle as far as I'm concerned. We talked with
her about what she needs to do now and that we wanted to meet with her
to talk more about the Book of Mormon. She said I don't have time this
week, but I want to come to church on Sunday. We got her phone number
and were super excited about it all. The sad ending to this awesome
story is that she didn't come to church yesterday. But hopefully she'll
come to the classes tonight and we'll be able to talk to her about it.
It was a testimony to me that God really has prepared people to hear our
message.
Last week my companion got pretty sick, so we had to take it easy
for a few days. We didn't quite get to teach as much as usual, but we
had another miracle yesterday when Lisa came to church. I have never
been so happy on a Sunday. For almost five months I've been trying to
get her to church and it finally happened. I was so nervous that it
wasn't going to go well. It was dangerous because the sacrament meeting
topic was geneology and it was going to be all in Spanish. We have
headphones that the English speakers wear and a live translator as the
speaker is going. So it works, but it's not the same. But all my fears
and worries were for naught. At the end of the meeting, she told us she
enjoyed it all and she is actually interested in geneology work. Her
only question was about the coming of Elijah, which we'll have to
explain some other time. She is going to be out of town next week, but
asked us to find a chapel in the area she's going to be in so she can
take her husband and kids there next week. I am so excited about it all,
I can't even describe.
There's not too much else going on. We did some service last week,
that's always good. We cleaned up a house that had yet to be touched
since the hurricane. It was pretty gross. In other news, I read today
that tomorrow is the beginning of the law that restricts beverage sizes.
It's the end of the world as far as I can tell. I'm not excited about
it. But that's life I guess. I hope you guys are doing well! I'm really
excited to be working more in Spanish! I am getting a lot better at the
language. I'll be fluent someday, I just need to get better at
understanding people and I'll be there. I know this is the Lord's work
because I can feel his hand guiding us every day!
Love,
Elder Erickson
Elder Erickson
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