Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing great! This past week has been an awesome one. We've made a lot of progress. This past Monday, as we finished our consecrated finding time, we had the feeling to talk to one guy our age and the next day, Tuesday, we set a baptismal date with him. His name is [H________]. He is so ready for the gospel. There was a catch though. Although we found him and he wants to be baptized and he really wants to find God, his parents are quite against it. He is probably getting kicked out of the house to move to Erlangen (the area just south of ours). He's a student there anyway. Away from his parents, he can make those steps more easily to become baptized. He is super awesome. We should be meeting with him tonight, and when he is baptized, even if it's not our baptism, I want to go and support him. I'm proud he is so firm in coming closer to God and doing the right thing. I feel super lucky to have been a tool in the Lord's hands to bring him closer to Christ. There is really nothing better. So, I guess we'll have to find some other people to baptize, but we are really trying to come up with creative ways to find them.
This week we are doing a smoking workshop. We have a 15 step smoking program for 7 days. We did it with a girl named [S_____], last week, and she said all her friends want to quit as well, so hopefully they all come, and we can not only help them become physically healthier, but to the point where some will want to learn about the gospel and be baptized. [S_____], seems very ready actually if I say so myself. She is very curious, and is searching for her purpose in life. The young single adults are the open people, and they are the future leaders of the church. It's pretty exciting to be in the Lord's work here. It's taking off. We are in the process of getting a 9 year old girl ready for baptism, but their family doesn't come to church every week, and since it is a commandment, she must be ready and prepared to keep that for the rest of her life if she wants to make a covenant. The root of the problem is that the Father isn't a member. We are going to simply try and work with him and invite him to be baptized as well. It seems like a scary and daunting task, but with boldness we can show our faith to do miracles.
I learned a lot about chastisement and correcting oneself this week. I have lots to work on, and without someone correcting us, how can we know we did something wrong. It's great to have companions, leaders, parents, heavenly parents, etc. to help us become better and rise above. Correcting is a beautiful, and painful process. This week has been good, and we have 2 more Elders in our apartment now. They are opening a new area, Bayreuth, and they don't have a place to stay yet. Once they do, there gone, but it's fun to have a couple more missionaries there. It would be nice to have 4 in Bamberg, the work could move forward faster. I am really loving my mission though. It's really the best thing I've ever done. I learn and grow so much. I learn to sacrifice and forget about myself and get to work. I love it. I thank you for your love and support. I'm sending some pictures with this. It is a beautiful city, Bamberg, and we are going to see the huge Dome that was built in 1365 or something like that today. It's way cool. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves me. I know that Angels are bearing me up, whether I see them or not. I know that this is God's work. I know it because I've seen evidences of it, but most importantly I've felt it. I know the church is true. The covenants we make bring us power according to our faith and obedience. When it gets hard, it just makes us stronger. Jesus Christ is with us always. He promises.
Love,
Elder Matt Liddle
No comments:
Post a Comment