Hey y'all, we had a good week last week. We've been knocking
a lot of doors, pounding the pavement. Elder Jeppsen and I tracted into two
lost members. We met the first person, Fred, while he was working on a car
engine in his garage. And let's just say he had a lot of innapropriate
"worldy" pictures and items in his garage (after we left I named his
garage Sodom and Gomorrah haha). So we tried to scram out of there as soon as
we could, but not before Fred talked our ears off and gave each of us a huge
bullet and some shrapnel (he's got a lot of military/Vietnam War memorabilia).
Thanks Fred!
The second person was a lady we tracted into (actually lives
a few houses down from Fred) named Linda. She loves the Church and the restored
gospel; she still watches General Conference with her kids. But when she went
through the temple to receive her own endowment and be sealed to her converted
husband, she was freaked out by what takes place in the endowment session. She
had to leave the middle of the session with her husband because she was
traumatized, and so ever since then she's been afraid to go back to the temple,
and therefore she's scared to go back to church. As she was telling us all
this, she just started crying, and I was so sad to see her fear and sorrow. She
knows the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and very real, and she wants the
blessings of the Gospel for her two special-needs children. We told her that we
all have fears and trials in this life, but our Heavenly Father always has and
always will love us, and He knows what we're going through. We invited her to
church and tried to set a return appointment. Hopefully we can see her again
and bring our Relief Society President or the bishop of our ward with us. But
she's moving to a nearby city with her family soon, so we've got limited time
to do so before she's no longer here.
We were also blessed to be able to finally meet with a less-active
recent convert we've been trying to get together with for several weeks now. He
opened up to us a little and we found out why he's not coming to church. We
were able to meet with him twice last week, and teach about faith and
repentance and watch Elder Renlund's October 2016 conference talk about
repentance. He likes watching the conference talks.
Transfers are today, and I'm happy to say I'll be
serving at least another transfer with Elder Jeppsen. We have some good elders
and sisters coming into our zone this transfer, I'm looking forward to serving
alongside them. I CAN"T BELIEVE I'VE ONLY GOT 18 WEEKS LEFT STARTING
TODAY!!!! What the heck? Can't time slow down a little, please? My mission is
going by way too fast now haha. I'm trying to make the most with what time I
have left. I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and I know he loves each and every
one of us. He loves YOU and knows YOU personally. When all hope seems lost,
when we are going through hard times, when it seems like victory over the
difficulties of life is not possible, we should focus our lives on the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the source of true, real, lasting joy and peace. I know
this to be true because I have felt true, real, lasting joy and peace as I've
sought to come closer to my Savior by learning about His Gospel and teachings
and incorporate His perfect attributes. My life would be so miserable and dark
if it wasn't for the knowledge and belief that I have of our loving Heavenly
Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I have become a better person as I've made
Jesus Christ the focus of my life and sought to strengthen my personal
relationship with my Heavenly Father.
I love you all and hope you have a good week!
Elder Ruiz
Elder Morton and I at transfers in Rancho
Cucamonga today. We were companions for four and a half months in Chino last
year. He goes home at the end of this transfer. One of my favorite companions!
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