This week was very special. My companion and I have been putting in a little extra effort to be able to have the baptisms that we have planned for this next Saturday. We were able to visit almost all of the investigators a couple times this last week.
You are all probably wondering why I put the lyrics of a Christmas song as my subject. I´d like to explain why. First off, it´s a fantastic song for the holiday season, but also it has a new spiritual meaning to me. Within the song, it talks about a voice as big as the sea. I´d like to say that this voice is the spirit. As members and especially as missionaries we try to invite the spirit to every conversation that we teach. Often when we speak to others, we are implying without saying, do you hear what I hear?
This last week we had a lesson with Blanca, who we are renting the house from. We started out the lesson with a prayer, after which she asked us if we could explain why we pray the way we do and why it´s different from the Catholic prayer. My companion had gone upstairs to grab something while I answered her question. I got to explain to her the relationship she has with Heavenly Father. I explained his desire to listen to us, and how much he truly loves her. I explained that prayer is personal, that it´s a way to build a relationship with our Father and His wish that we will use it to draw closer to Him. This is something basic that we all learn in the church, but I think it´s one of the things we teach that is the most powerful. When I saw the look on her face and the tears streaming down her eyes, I knew that it was something she had been looking to hear. We continued the lesson. We taught L3 including faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. However, we taught it a little differently. We included parts from all the different lessons and we did it in such a way that we knew we weren´t the ones teaching. We had talked with a member earlier on in the day that helped us find new ways of teaching. I had asked him what I should do to teach more calmly and with the smaller vocabulary that I have. He answered with this, ¨Do you believe that God is the almighty? Because if you do, you believe he can accomplish all, so what makes you think that he can´t help you with speaking more fluently and with power and calmness?¨ He said, "If you want to have a good lesson, close your mouth to what you want to say and let the spirit take over and our Father will speak through you."
This is exactly what we had done with Blanca. We know that there are things in her life from the message we shared that she has needed to understand. My companion talked beautifully of the repentance process and I spoke of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior. We then tag-teamed with baptism, the confirmation process and of the sacredness of the covenants we make. We shed more tears together through this spiritual and humbling experience. At the end of the lesson, after my companion finished with the promises and blessings of enduring to the end, I then took a minute for her to just feel the spirit, and then invited her to baptism. Then with tears in her eyes, she responded that she is scared because she doesn´t know everything, but that there is something that she feels so powerfully. We made a promise to her about how faith isn´t a perfect knowledge of things, but that it is a meaning of hope and of the love of our Savior. We promised her as representatives of Jesus Christ that if she prays, God will give her the answer and so she agreed to pray to receive her answer this week.
This is probably my favorite lesson that I´ve had so far in the mission. It taught me so much about the true meaning of what we teach. There are people that suffer every day with doubts and confusion. What they need is sincerity, love and the message that our Father has so wonderfully and freely given us. I am proud to say that I AM A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
We had many other wonderful experiences and I wish I could write them all but I think I will start and end with this one.
Now, just a couple of other things, I had my interview with my President and he wants me to train. So, this next change, which is next Wednesday, I will be preparing to train. It is an exciting experience and I think it will teach me a lot.
We had the twins attend church, so we are going to try and set their baptism date for the 17th of December! Pray for them!
I am doing so well, I am on a bit later because we went with our zone leaders and other missionaries to play soccer and eat! I love you all! Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! SHARE THE MESSAGE OF "DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?" There is someone that is waiting for us to share the spirit that we carry.
MWAH LES AMO! - Elder Harmon
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