July 7, 2014
Another week in Babahoyo with Hermana Toledo just loving
this grand work and getting wrinkles from smiling so much!
The biggest smile of the week came because…Carlos came to
church!!! :) Hermana Toledo and I squealed for joy because he came all on
his own, we didn’t have to pass by his house or anything! After 20 years of not coming to church, the many
prayers of his family were answered this week as he finally entered the doors
of the chapel again.
This week we have also seen Carlos’ prayers answered as he
said, "Hermanas, I prayed and I know that Joseph was a prophet and this is
the true church of Christ!" Ahh it was perfect! His son who is
active in the church (he is actually the stake president’s secretary) said,
"Who are these missionaries that are teaching my dad? I want to meet
them. We have had missionary after missionary try and help my dad over
all these years! I want to meet these Hermanas!!" So, to any
of you out there who are reading this, who are praying and waiting for a
wayward son or daughter or mother or father to return, your prayers will be answered
in HIS time. Carlos truly is the man in the red plastic chair
reading the Book of Mormon!
We also had some tender and spiritual experiences working
with Luz and Jenny this week that strengthened my testimony and understanding that
trials in our lives are given to strengthen our faith. Luz always has
millions of challenges when she tries to return to church, but persevering with
patience she came to church this week with her daughter and granddaughter. She is the sweetest lady whom we just love! Another reason to smile.
Well, these two snippets from our week of less-active
members returning to church were definitely highlights. Sadly, we are lacking in investigators right
now who either desire to attend church or didn’t get drunk the night before and
were too out of it to come to church. Derian "Dear Johned" us
over the phone and told us he just isn’t ready to make this kind of commitment
but still wants to be friends. But like Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum
of 12 Apostles said in his past general conference talk, we have learned the
importance of persistence. Like him, we
are going to try once more this week with Derian and pray for a miracle!
As of July 1, we have a new Mission President! President and Hermana Riggins! They are
amazing and I feel that they truly are called of God to come and serve here in
Ecuador at this time. We had a meeting in
Milagro along with a few other zones this week to meet the new president and to
be taught and edified. And boy were we edified. Wow! President Riggins taught an amazing lesson
and it fit perfectly with what I have been studying recently during my personal
study time in 3rd Nefi [Nephi].
President Riggins said something that I just love. In speaking of how to best connect with
investigators, he said, “Help them remember what they already knew. You
are here to help them remember their divine nature as a Child of God.” He told us that everyone on earth today made
a choice in the pre-existence to follow Jesus Christ and his plan for us. We were taught the lessons of the gospel
before we came to this earth. We
knew Christ personally.
In the letter Mom wrote me in the package, she reminded me
how there was a time when I was little and I was inconsolably crying and there
was nothing my sweet parents could do to calm me down. As my mom was
walking around the house with me in her arms, she passed a picture of the Savior
and I stopped crying and just gazed at the picture of Christ. In Mom’s
letter, she said, "You knew His face...you didn’t know me as well at that
time. I remember holding you up to look at Him...it strengthened my testimony
of knowing that we lived with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ before
coming to earth..."
I have had similar experiences here in Ecuador with children
seeing the picture of Christ and becoming more reverent and teachable. As
a missionary and representative of Christ I am here to help others gain a
testimony of the Savior, so when they see a picture of HIM, they truly
know and recognize HIS face.
Yesterday, I spent the whole day with my favorite picture of
the Savior in my hands. (I got this idea from a video I saw before I left
on my mission. The video was made by a
member of the church back in Utah named Al Fox and is on YouTube called “Always
There”.) I carried the picture around as
a visual lesson or reminder for me to truly see that as a missionary
I am serving shoulder to shoulder with The Perfect Missionary who ever
lived.
 |
| The Picture of Christ in my Hand - All Day Long! |
With the picture of Jesus in my hands, HE was with me while
walking under the hot sun. HE was with
me when I placed the cap back on my pen after writing down the name and
address of a new contact who we are going to teach and baptize right?
:) HE was with me while eating my
lunch prepared by the ward. HE was
with me when we walked into church without a single investigator. HE was with me when I shook the hand of Carlos,
with a huge smile on my face, as he entered the chapel for the first time in 20
years. HE was with me as I stood up in
Fast & Testimony Meeting and shared my testimony of HIM. HE was and
is with me always. I looked at the Savior’s face many times yesterday and
many times throughout my life I have seen His face. Like the story mom shared in her letter about
me as a baby - I truly know my Savior, and I know that HE is always with me!
Getting back to our meeting with Presidente Riggins, he also
shared with us a story from when he was a bishop that will forever change my
reverence and feelings for the Savior during the sacrament. President Riggins once walked into the chapel
on a Sunday morning before Sacrament Meeting with a visitor. This man turned to President Riggins (then
Bishop Riggins) and asked, "Oh, who died?" President Riggins looked
at him thinking, that is a silly question, and then realized that the visitor
was looking at the sacrament table with the bread and water covered by a white
cloth. Without thinking, he quickly
replied, “Oh, no one died, that is just the sacrament.”
President Riggins recounted this experience to us with shame
and said, "¡Que terible!" [“How
terrible!”] Indeed someone did die. Our Savior and Redeemer Jesus
Christ." It is not "just
the sacrament", it is our covenant with the Savior to ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM
and His great atoning sacrifice. When we partake of the sacrament, the
bread and water enter our bodies, and through digestion, literally penetrate
our whole body. May we all be more reverent and remember that truly someone
did die for you and me.
After Christ was resurrected, he visited the people living
on the American continent and instituted the sacrament. You can read about this in the Book of Mormon
in 3 Nefi chapter 18. In speaking of the
sacrament Christ told the people, “And this shall ye always observe to do, even
as I have done, even as I have broken bread and blessed it and given it unto
you.
And this shall ye do in rememberance of my body, which I
have shown unto you. And it shall be a
testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have
my Spirit to be with you.”
He then gave them wine to drink and said, “and ye shall do
it [drink the wine] in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that
ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me, ye shall
have my Spirit to be with you.”
As part of Jesus’ visit to the people in America, He also
gave each of them a chance to spend a minute with Him and come to know for
themselves that HE was their personal Savior by feeling the wounds in his hands
and feet. This happened right after he
appeared to the people for the first time and is recorded in 3 Nefi chapter
11.
I like to imagine this encounter as a profound and intimate
moment physically to be embraced by the Savior. His arms are always extended
towards us. As important as it
was for those individuals, one by one, to touch the Savior, it was as
important, if not more, for them to know that HE touched them. I invite
you all to imagine what you would do with that one moment with the Savior.
I also invite all of you who read this to take one day this
week and carry around a picture of the Savior to truly see we are never
alone. HE is ALWAYS with us. I know my Savior. I know His
face. My love for Him and His atonement grows each day. We are never
alone when we rely on our Savior.
I love you all family, have a wonderful week!
Con
muchisimo amor,
Hermana
Bartholomew
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