Starting off with the thankful moment: My fav. investigator DJ.
I have to start this week with DJ. I had NO IDEA I would love my investigators as much as I do! Our awesome, 40 year old Bolivian DJ is such a champ. He suffers a lot with depression, anxiety and temptations. But he is working so hard to overcome that rely on the Lord. His baptism is in 2 weeks and he is doing so so well and preparing so much! We had a lesson with him everyday this week and he LOVED church on Sunday. (President Swift, the president of the DC temple came and spoke with his wife. I got to translate for Sister Swift and that was awesome! Everything they said was exactly what DJ needed.) We really just love him and he tells us how much we mean to him and how much he loves us. I am so overwhelmed at how well he is doing and progressing. Our ward just loves him! He in teaching the young men how to DJ and the stake asked him to DJ for a stake dance coming up, he says he finally has friends and he finally has the Lord's true church in his life and how it has brought joy to his life after being so alone for so long. He is the greatest person, I can't tell you guys how much he means to me. Here's us and him taking a #churchselfie.
Go back a couple weeks and you will learn about a cute recent convert from Peru who is pregnant and prayed I would get transferred to Little River. Welllll, we visit her almost every week. And at every visit she would talk about how much she is struggling with her marriage, how her husband suffers with addictions that started as a young boy that he never took care of. It broke my heart. So I made it a goal to teach his husband and we have been for the last 4 weeks and guess what... He has not missed a day of church, their marriage is so much better, he is now overcoming his addictions and changing. This week he said he was ready to be baptized and will be baptized NEXT MONTH!! I love them so so much! They are one of my favorite couples I have gotten to teach. Lessons with them are incredible, I look forward to the one tonight!
I want to take the opportunity to share with you how I teach the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ using these simple cups along with great references from the Bible. Here it is:
I really want all of you to know that I believe this, that I have read the Book of Mormon and I have asked Heavenly Father if it is true and THAT is why I know. Not because a friend told me, not because a family member told me or an acquaintance but because my Heavenly Father has let me know through the holy ghost. I encourage you all to get an answer in that way as well. Asking Him and reading the book. I know you will get your answer. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Another highlight of this week:
We had another mission conference Friday with Elder Arnold of the quorum of the 70 and it was amazing. I love him and his wife so much. They were mission presidents in Argentina then lived in Brazil and have gorgeous Spanish/Portuguese. Their training and talks were exactly the council I needed and I grew to love them very much! Here is Hermana Doyle and me with Sister Arnold who is now one of my favorite women ever!
Go back a couple weeks and you will learn about a cute recent convert from Peru who is pregnant and prayed I would get transferred to Little River. Welllll, we visit her almost every week. And at every visit she would talk about how much she is struggling with her marriage, how her husband suffers with addictions that started as a young boy that he never took care of. It broke my heart. So I made it a goal to teach his husband and we have been for the last 4 weeks and guess what... He has not missed a day of church, their marriage is so much better, he is now overcoming his addictions and changing. This week he said he was ready to be baptized and will be baptized NEXT MONTH!! I love them so so much! They are one of my favorite couples I have gotten to teach. Lessons with them are incredible, I look forward to the one tonight!
I want to take the opportunity to share with you how I teach the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ using these simple cups along with great references from the Bible. Here it is:
1. This is the church Christ established on the earth when He came, the principles, His teachings and His 12 apostles. We know this because of the records of the life of Jesus Christ found in the holy scriptures.
2. Following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the death of His apostles came the great apostasy that the Bible talks about in Amos 8: 11-12. During this time the fullness of his church was lost, there were no men that held the priesthood, without it ordinances could not be done properly.
3. Although the gospel was no longer found on the earth there were still good people that wanted to follow Christ. So, they all took portions of the Bible and tried to interpret it, took some teachings and started churches of their own. These are some of the many, many churches we have on the earth today. They were started by great people that wanted to follow Christ but simply didn't have the fullness. This is part of the great apostasy found in Amos.
4. But, God loves his children and planned the restoration of the gospel to take place through a prophet by the name of Joseph Smith. Through him we now have the fullness of the gospel that Christ establish when He was on the earth. 12 apostles (There have been changes recently so this isn't up to date), a living prophet, the priesthood (that gives men the proper authority to baptize and act in the name of Jesus Christ himself) and the same principles and commandments Christ taught during His earthly ministry. This leads to the conclusion that there are many great churches that are guided by the Savior's teachings but only one that has been restored by them and has the proper authority and the completed set of scriptures referring to the Bible & Book of Mormon. Because of the many translations and interpretations of the Bible there needed to be a second book mentioned in the Bible in Ezekiel 37: 15-17. As you can see Christ is still at the head of the church but leads and guides us through a living prophet that receives revelation.
Another highlight of this week:
We had another mission conference Friday with Elder Arnold of the quorum of the 70 and it was amazing. I love him and his wife so much. They were mission presidents in Argentina then lived in Brazil and have gorgeous Spanish/Portuguese. Their training and talks were exactly the council I needed and I grew to love them very much! Here is Hermana Doyle and me with Sister Arnold who is now one of my favorite women ever!
Hermana Tapia
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