I am staying here in Bethlehem for another 6 weeks! So excited right
now. There are so many things happening in our area right now. I'm
happy The Lord is allowing me to stay with Elder Winegardner for
another 6 weeks (at least!).
We have found that when we leave commitments to read in the Book of
Mormon, most of the investigators don't even read, and when they do,
they don't know "how" to read the scriptures. They read it sometimes
like a novel, not applying it unto ourselves, identifying
similarities, or seeing patterns. Doing this makes the scriptures just
paper and ink. But as we seek the Spirit, liken the scriptures unto
ourselves, we gain power, revelation, and spiritual protection. This
is what we are trying to help people to do. Receive the witness from
the Spirit. We are trying to do all that we can to help people learn
HOW to read the Book of Mormon.
We went and saw a less active named Hipólito on Thursday. He is a cool
guy. When I first came, he was confrontational, would disagree, and
lots of other things. His countenance has completely changed. We had
an awesome lesson with him. First we showed him how to use his new
tablet. He is funny. Super old and couldn't really figure out how to
use it, but luckily we were there to help him. Downloaded the
scriptures and whatnot and made the text incredibly large so that he
could actually read it. We then read Ether 3 with him. We all learned
a lot. We explained that Jesus Christ is the Jehovah of the Old
Testament and the Savior of the New Testament. We got talking, and we
had a super revelatory experience. He asked us, "Why did Abram and
Jacob receive a new name in the bible?" Without missing a beat I said
the thoughts that The Lord put into my head. They received a new name
to symbolize their leaving behind an old life and beginning a new life
as a devoted disciple of The Lord. It's just like when we are
baptized. Who's name do we take upon us? The name of Christ. In
talking to a Elder Winegardner afterward, he said that he had the
exact same impression from the Spirit, even though I was the one that
said the words. I had never given the matter deep thought. It was
interesting because the question came out of nowhere, and the answer
came right out of my mouth with seemingly no effort on my part. It
made me think of what President Marion G. Romney said, “I always know
when I am speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost because I
always learn something from what I’ve said.” It was an awesome
experience, and I am thankful to God that He saw fit to bless me with
it.
We had a crazy super strong storm here. Hail the size of marbles was
falling here, and in other cities hail the size of oranges was
falling. A huge branch was ripped off a tree right outside our house,
and I shall enclose a pic. Crazy stuff. But now, this week, we got
some AWESOME weather coming up. Summer is setting in!
Ok, two solid new investigators. Coralie and Fabian. Coralie is a
daughter of one of our investigators, and Fabian is her boyfriend. We
did some service for them, then ate some food. It was about 8:30, and
we weren't sure if we could teach like we had planned, so we sang I am
a child of God for them. It was awesome. It gave way for the Spirit to
come in the room and for me to testify boldly. I left them with a
commitment to read in the Book of Mormon and to come prepared to he
lesson tomorrow. Every single person there felt the Spirit. We asked
each one of them. It was awesome! The lesson we had the next day was
awesome. They are really desirous to know if the Gospel is true. They
read in the pamphlets that we asked them to read the day before, and
came very prepared to the lesson.They were both attentive, interested,
and engaged, which is not something you see in an 18 year old couple.
They both committed to read, pray, and even to come to church
tomorrow. Man we are excited. After the lesson, Coralie offered one of
the most sincere prayers I have ever heard. She was really talking to
God, not just saying a prayer. I asked myself, "Do I really speak to
my Father in Heaven, or do I just routinely say prayers?" Good
question to ask ourselves very often.
We also had a good lesson with a man named Benny. A very good song
should come into your minds as you read that name. He is a swell guy.
Knows the bible very well, but he said that he has fallen into the
world, but we are going to try our best to help him out. He is always
wearing a du rag and then two hats. Kind of interesting, but more
power to him. But even more important than his hats was the Spirit
that we felt in his home as we taught him about the restoration of the
Gospel. He understood it perfectly. He asked some good questions about
the Book of Mormon, and upon further inquiry on his part, and strong
testimony on our part, he committed to read it and to pray about it.
It is going to be awesome to see him progress. Super chill guy.
MIRACLE TIME!!!!!!! We have been stopping by this less active, Hermano
Santana. The first time we met him, he told us glumly, "I WAS a member
of your church years ago in Jersey." Basically he has been inactive
for years. Well, over the last few weeks and months we have always
stopped in just to say hi. I have never entered into his home. I have
never shared a Gospel message with him. I have simply stopped by his
house whenever I was in the area, just because I loved him. Not to
pressure him into coming to church, reading the Book of Mormon, or
anything like that. Our only motive was our love for him as our
brother. I have never spoken to him for more than about five minutes,
but today, he told us that just because of our stopping by and saying
hi to him, he wanted to come to church. It taught me a great lesson.
It reaffirmed that people don't care how much you know until they know
how much you care. We should love him and show him that we love him
even if we knew for certain that he would never return ever to the
church. Our love shouldn't be conditional upon religion, gender, race,
culture, or anything. We are all children of our Heavenly Father, and
we should treat all as such.
Good stuff. Love life. Happy birthday to the best sisters in the whole
wide world. Love y'all. This gospel is super true
Elder Dial
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