Hola mis amigos,
I had an awesome week!
First, we went on exchanges with other elders in our district and I went with elder Oliphant again! We both are new and gringos, so we were having a good time. A man walking down the street stopped us and asked us if we could help an alcoholic and we said sure. We talked for a bit and he said he wants to quit more than anything, so we told him to throw his alcohol into away. He said he couldn’t, haha, so we ended up chanting “Do It!” for like 15 minutes and testifying that he will be alright if he tossed away the bottle. He finally did it and we have a lesson with him and his wife coming up!
We helped some guy named Narciso shovel fertilizer and he told us his son had died last year, so we talked about eternal families and how he’s gonna see his son again. We have a lesson with him coming up as well.
That night, we bought Little Caesar’s and Elder Oliphant and me brought our mattresses to the roof and slept out under the stars.
We had our first lesson with Monse, a 20-year-old girl who didn’t believe in God. We talked about prayer and scriptures and what really helped her feel the spirit was our testimonies and the promises that if she wanted to know God lived, she could know just as well as we do. Then, she said something that made me so grateful to God and nearly brought me to tears. She said that she could feel and hear and know that, when I spoke, I really cared for her. She said she could not only feel my love, but God’s love for her through my words. I have thanked God so often for the blessing, even before my mission, of a deep and profound love for the people of Mexico. I cried when I saw the news of the earthquake in Mexico City a month before I left on my mission and I prayed desperately for the safety of the people down here. I pray daily that they can feel how much I care for them and I am beginning to see that they can and do feel my love. This was such a great and humbling experience and one that I will cherish throughout my life. After she felt my sincere love for her and God’s love for her in so personal a way, the decision to accept the invitation to be baptized seemed easy obvious for her. I am so grateful for the love that God had given me for the people I was called to serve. It felt so amazing to hear and see the answer to many of my prayers and more importantly see the impact of such an answer in an investigator.
This experience reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures, one that I have started sharing more frequently with investigators 2 Nephi 2:30:
“I have spoken these few words unto you all, my sons, in the last days of my probation; and I have chosen the good part, according to the words of the prophet. And I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls. Amen.”
I feel this so powerfully, I really can see a vision of eternal life for each of my investigators and I am trying each day to help them understand and see that same vision.
Love you all,
Elder Turner
