December 7, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Lots has happened this week some good and some not so good haha, but I will just go over the highlights!

Last Monday, Elder Larson and I had a pretty interesting experience. We had tracted into a newly married couple a few weeks ago and we decided to go and see him that night. He is an engineer here in town somewhere so naturally we connected pretty well haha but he was happy to see us again and he let us right in! We chatted for a bit and then we sat down to talk about the gospel! He seemed a little hesitant about it, but he seemed okay with us teaching him. As we taught, he listened intently and understood everything that we taught him which was pretty awesome, but when we invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon he declined! I was honestly pretty surprised because the lesson that we had with him was very spiritual and I know he felt it! We persisted that take it and said that he would have literally nothing to lose if he just took it and read from it, but he still resisted! Finally we gave up and left. There were no hard feelings at all, in fact he sincerely thanked us for coming by and he said that he really enjoyed it! After the lesson, Elder Larson and I couldn't help but feel totally content with the lesson, which is weird because it didn't end the way that it should have! We came to the conclusion that it was not yet his time to accept the gospel. We felt content because we did exactly what we were supposed to do which is plant a seed that can be harvested down the road. I don't know how long it will take, but I know that eventually he will accept the gospel and then Elder Larson and I can know that we were apart of his conversion! Kind of a weird experience but it was pretty spiritual to me!

Thursday, we had an awesome lesson with a family that we tracted into last week! We taught them the Restoration and I asked them what it would mean to them if they knew that their family could be together forever. The husband said that family is the most important thing to him and that an eternal family would be the ultimate goal! It was an awesome lesson and they asked so many good questions and they totally agreed with everything we taught! It felt like a perfect lesson, and I was so grateful for that! This gospel blesses families so much and I know that it can bless this family so much! I pray that I will do my part to help them accept the gospel and be baptized! I have a feeling that they will! Haha :)

Friday was our Ward Christmas Party and that was a blast! There were a lot of less-actives there and getting to interact with them was so crucial! These kinds of activities are so awesome because they help people either become familiar with the church building, or help them remember the spirit that they felt when they were there! It was a lot of fun and the food was of course delicious! Then on Saturday, the town of Hillsville did a Christmas Parade so Elder Larson and I set up a booth to help people become more familiar with the church! It was a great success and we were able to pick up a lot of potential investigators! Plus the parade was super awesome! There were tons of hilarious floats and it was just a lot of fun! :)

Sunday was a pretty awesome day for me. During fast and testimony meeting, there were so many great testimonies from our ward! It was one of the most spiritual fast and testimony meetings that I have ever been in! I am so thankful the ward that I am serving in and for the amazing people that I get to work with! They are all so converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Also they announced that we will be getting a new bishop in 2 weeks! So crazy! Haha then of course we watched the Christmas devotional! We watched it at Mark's (our investigator preparing for baptism) house and it was so great! It was such a blessing to hear from our church leaders and I always love hearing from them!

Well, looking back at this week, we were able to accomplished so many amazing things! This work is truly such a blessing and I love doing it! I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and I know the He stands at the head of this church! True happiness comings from following His example! Always remember that! I love you all and have a great week! :)

Elder Barazoto