About a Year Ago...

Hola a todos!

Hope you are all having a great end of summer and have a great school year! It's so weird the summer is ending. I HIT MY ONE YEAR MARK ON THURSDAY! The mission has been quite the experience and I honestly think that no matter how hard I try it's too hard to put into words the experience I am having. It's so hard, amazing, rewarding, crazy, etc. And I love it so much! This week I pondered a lot on the importance of the spirit and making sure I move out of its way when I teach.

Our investigator "Pitbull" has been investigating for almost 3 months now. He has a strong testimony, is overcoming addictions, comes to church every Sunday and is preparing for baptism this coming week. This week a member of a different faith who he also meets up with found out he was getting baptized soon and instantly shared lies about the church and tried to talk him out of it. Pitbull became very confused and started doubting everything because he was told the Joseph Smith is secretly our God, that the Book of Mormon is our replacement of the Bible and you know, all the things people say that don't know very much about the true doctrine of the church... luckily Pitbull doubted his doubts before doubting his faith and opened up to us about all this man had told him. In that moment I was SO ANGRY! I was frustrated that he was being confused by complete LIES and twisted doctrine and that someone could have such evil intentions. I wanted to completely tear apart everything this man had told Pitbull but something stopped me. I had a million things I wanted to say but all that came out of my mouth was. "I know this is the true church. And that through the holy ghost we can know the truth of all things. So, is it okay if we say a prayer so that the holy ghost can answer your questions and not me? Because I know the holy ghost is the true teacher here." He accepted and the lesson went SO WELL! I know its because every word my companion and I said was inspired from God. It didn't target any other religion, it was not filled with lies or anger, it was 100% true doctrine and love and respect for God and all His children. Pitbull said he has felt a peace meeting with us he hasn't felt in any other church or meeting with any other missionaries of other faiths. He also said that he knows this is the true church and that meeting with the other man gave him bad feelings.

This brings me to the spiritual thought of the week: Personal revelation. Revelation is communication from God directly to His children. It can be as simple as finding answers to questions in the scriptures, thoughts and impressions during prayers, dreams, etc. This is ESSENTIAL for having a testimony. If we don't have personal experiences asking for confirmation on what we believe we are actually just following what other people believe. This is something we emphasize a lot with our investigators. Not ONCE on my mission have I taught someone who was converted because of what I said or because I was good at speaking. It is all purely 100% the holy ghost that converts. And this is possible when a person makes the decision to personally address God and ask for themselves if this is true. Without revelation anyone can make us question everything we believe from one moment to the next. The prophet Russell M. Nelson said in his most recent conference talk:

"You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true."

I would highly advise each and every single one of you to seek revelation for these things. I am so grateful for the holy ghost and personal revelation. Because this means I am not doing missionary work on my own, this is God's work. He is the one that provides answers and teaches His children. I am simply just an instrument in all of this.

ALSO!!! My cousins were baptized on Saturday and I was able to give the talk on baptism through technology. I am so grateful for their decision and that my family is receiving their own personal revelation of these things as well.

The holy ghost + the restored gospel + my family members are coming to know of the truth + amazing investigators + amazing companion = the work of the Lord. It doesn't get better than this!

Love you all!

Hermana Tapia

"The B Word, Baptism."

Hola amigos y familia!

It's been an amazing few weeks being a servant of the Lord. Here are some quick updates:

• We had transfers last week, I am still in Spring Lake and am training a brand new and incredible Hermana, Hermana Hasek from Iowa! 
• I have two cousins from back home getting baptized this week and I am giving the talk on baptism by sending in a video that will be showed at the baptism and I feel so blessed and am so excited!
• I wore pants the other day for a service project and I don't know if I will ever get used to wearing pants every day ever again. They felt so uncomfortable! Have pants always been that uncomfortable? I guess I'll find out in January.
• I hit my 1 year mark next Thursday. Where has the time gone? Time is literally nonexistent on the mission.
• We are teaching a lot of people that are progressing and gaining testimonies, the Lord is really helping us and sanctifying our flawed efforts. 
• A couple we are teaching are working to quit smoking and drinking and they have been sober for a whole week! 
• I still feel like I'm going to die every morning when I wake up at 6:30, I think people lie when they say you get used to the schedule...
• An investigator tried to hold my hand at church last week and I still cringe when I think about it. (I'm not a believer of the motto "flirt to convert" Jajaja)
• AND One of my best friends and investigators was baptized and confirmed yesterday!

The subject line is a quote from a church production called The District. It's a show about missionaries in San Diego California. The camera crew goes in and follows them around to show how missionary work is done. When you are new to the mission you watch the videos with your trainer as an example of how to do missionary work. There is a video where two elders teach a young girl who is afraid to commit to baptism. The elders realize it is because she doesn't understand the spiritual meaning behind baptism. This is often a problem in missionary work. People not understanding baptism and what it means.

To be brief, baptism is a covenant with God. A covenant is like a "pinky-promise" with God that you are going to do your best and keep His commandments and in return He blesses you and helps you. So it's a two way street; you do your best and the Lord does the rest. Baptism is the first great covenant we make with God. When someone goes into the water all their sins go in with them but when they come up the sins are gone. But that is not it, you aren't clean forever after and suddenly have a perfect life. You are still tempted and have trials, the difference is you have God's help more abundantly. I love helping investigators understand this.

The sister that got baptized this week understood very well the importance of baptism. She had a rough past and really wanted to change. She has consistently come to church, prayed, read her scriptures and made changes in her life to come to this amazing day. She has such a strong testimony of the gospel. Yesterday she was baptized. When she came out of the water her smile was bright and wide. As she came up out of the font I wrapped her towel around her and hugged her and she instantly started crying in my arms. She whispered to me "Hermana, I did it! I'm clean." Almost immediately I started crying as well and hugged her tighter. The spirit was so strong and I knew in that moment that she had been baptized by someone holding the power of God and that she really was clean.

I'm so grateful for my experiences here. The miracles, the hard days, stress, the blessings, the tears both good and bad. It is all worth it to bring souls unto Christ. I cherish every second I have here and know this is nothing less than the work of the Lord.

Los quiero muchísimo!!!!

Hermana Tapia