I have already given a few descriptions of the Northeast and I am sure you have all had a picture of amazing people in an amazing place. Here is one more visual.
We were knocking doors last night. A man and his wife invited us in. We start talking to the man, Damion, and we learn that he pretty much has the Bible memorized. He says that he left his church because they dont believe in tithing and he knows it is a commandment. So we start teaching....and teaching turns into a biblebash. A lot of biblebashing. a biblebash that is a little more tranquil than most but yeah it was a biblebash. i know there is absolutely no point to biblebashing but it happened and dont worry, i have already repented. When we finally got through the first lesson his wife started to make dinner and we continued to talk about beliefs. I was born in the church so i really dont know how the minds of "crentes" or evangelicals work. Sister Campos is a convert and i always ask her why they believe this and this and this. Well i listened to Damion explain his interpretation. Man I am so grateful that we have modern revelation. At the end of all this they both insisted on feeding us dinner. Yeah what i am saying is here in the northeast you can biblebash and leave with dinner. I couldnt help but laugh. And i got a little bit better point of view of another religion.
Also we have been teaching Ingrid and Wagner. We went back to see if they prayed and got a response. When we got there Ingrid was a little closed with us and they said they couldnt go to church this sunday because they were going to baptize there 3 year old in the Catholic Church. SILENCE. The first thing that popped in my mind was Moroni 8. But i thought man I dont want to burn them. Sister Campos was trying to think of a scripture and again i couldnt think of anything else. Heavenly Father truly wanted me to use it. So i just went with it. I read what it said about infant baptism and I explained every detail. That literally children are alive in Christ. That His atonement covers them. They are not subject to sin. There countenances changed. Yes i was sitting there, literally calling them to repentance or at least a recognition of the sin in baptizing children, but it also gave us an excellent opportunity to explain HOW we know these things. Because literally we have a connection with God, a prophet, modern revelation. We dont have to rely on our limited visions and ideas of how the world works or should be-WE KNOW HOW IT WORKS AND HOW IT SHOULD BE.
This week we had an activity/family home evening with recent converts and less active youth. We watched charly. Man i love that movie. As you watch the changes in that Girls life you see that living the gospel and keeping the commandments really is what leads us to happiness. Then you see the importance of living that way to lead you to the temple. That families CAN BE eternal. Death means nothing when you have made sacred covenants with God. A covenant is a promise we make with God. We promise to keep the commandments and do what he asks. He promises us an eternity of happiness. AMAZING.
This week all of these experiences have lead me to realize how INCREDIBLY gratefull I am for the plan of Salvation. For the gospel in my life. We also taught Fernanda, a 21 year old woman whowill be baptized this week, the plan of Salvation. The day before a good friend died. I saw how this knowledge opened her mind and consoled her heart. I was thinking, one day i will be a mãe. I cant imagine not being able to respond to my children when they ask: where do we come from? Or why are we here. or what happens after death. It kills me to think that so many people are looking for these answers but are lost because they dont know where to go to find the truth. I think a lot about one day i will be a mom. Really i will be so responsible to teach my kids about these things. I read in Alma 37 this week. That chapter is like my patriarchal blessing. I will use that so much as a standard of what and how i will teach my kids. Alma is myhero. He burns people with love and with urgency. what a gift.
Damion-the man we biblebashed with-tried to discredit my beliefs, the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. I told him that he could never say that they werent true because I had prayed and I received an answer. Who am I to lie against what God has given me? As Joseph Smith said, "who am I that I can withstand God... I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not edeny it." He then said, "I cannot say anything to that, if you received a response that you think is from God, I cant say anything else." The strongest weapon we have is our testimony. Beautiful and perfect.
Basically this week was great. I love sergipe i love my life. I love brasil and I cant believe that it is going by so fast. This is the only time in my life that i can do this amazing work and have this amazing authority. The gospel is true.
proud to wear the tag,
Sister Peterson
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