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.
Love you all!
Hermana Tapia
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