We
taught Alicia this week, and she is super excited for baptism on the
18th! We taught her the word of wisdom this week, and it was one of the
coolest lessons I have ever taught! At first, she was really hesitant
about giving up coffee and her occasionally smoking. (She drinks a TON
of coffee everyday, and even bought a new $50 coffee maker the other
day). We had a member, Matthew (Chinese guy with a British accent) at
the lesson, and he said, "you should pray about it and try to live the
word of wisdom, and you will receive an answer of what to do." I said,
"that's a good idea, let's pray about it right now and ask God if you
should live the word of wisdom." To which she responded, "no, I already
know what answer I'll get." After sitting there for a few seconds, the
Spirit must have just lovingly smacked her in the face, because she then
grabbed her pack of cigarettes from her bag, walked over to the trash
can, and chucked them in the garbage!!! It was so awesome!! When she
went home, she sold her coffee maker online, and threw away the rest of
her coffee! It was a testimony to me that the Spirit truly changes
people's desires! She drinks hot chocolate now, and doesn't even want to
drink coffee anymore. Because she gave up coffee, I committed to give
up soda to know what it feels like to give something up... and it is
harder than I expected, haha. The next day at zone council, they were
giving out free boxes of Jarritos (my favorite Mexican soda) from a
restaurant that shut down, and I couldn't drink any of it! :'(
Funny
experience, we texted every phone number we had in our planners and
area books and invited them to conference. We learned that this
sometimes brings strange people to church... a guy we dubbed with the
name Dreadlocks Jordan showed up on Saturday afternoon, and after the
session started to bash with us and tell us all the problems he had with
Mormons. But he was against 4 missionaries and 5 experienced members, on
our turf, so he stood no chance, haha. But if there is one thing I have
learned on my mission about bashing and arguing doctrine with people,
it is that it often leads to feelings of contention, which often drives
the feelings of the Spirit away. It is important to stand up for what
you believe and maintain the Spirit by bearing testimony.
But
anyway, conference was sweet! What a special opportunity we had to
sustain three new brethren to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles! Their
testimonies were powerful! Some of the highlights for me were President
Uchtdorf at the beginning when he talked about how Jesus Christ uses our
weaknesses to help us become strong, while Satan uses our weaknesses to
discourage us from even trying. That was something I really needed to
hear. And of course Elder Holland's tribute to our amazing mothers. Mom,
you truly are amazing! I love you! We listened to the Sunday sessions
in Chinese with Alicia, but I still need to re-listen to them in English!
But the Spirit speaks all languages!! :)
That is all for now. Windsor is finally entering sweater weather! My favorite season!
Elder Holt
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| Elder Carroll |
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Elder Nugent and I are the new Tongan missionaries here...
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We were with Alicia between sessions of conference on Sunday,
making waffles and taking selfies :) |
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