Week 36: A Pretty Incredible Experience

Well this cycle comes to an end. Tomorrow are the transfers and I'll be senior companion and training! Yep! I'm gonna be a father! I still don't know who I'll be training, if he's a Mexican or an American. But I'm just excited to be training! Of course there are a bit of nerves... He'll be looking to me to know everything, and the fact is I still don't know a lot of things. But I'm excited because I know that I'll be learning a ton this next cycle. All I hope is that my new companion has the desire to work hard and everything will be great :)

This week we had a pretty incredible experience with our recent convert Beatris who just barely got baptized. They didn't go to any of the conference sessions and we were concerned why, so we dropped by on Tuesday to find out. Omar (husband of Beatris) came out to greet us and when we asked how things were going he said "mas o menos" and told us that they were having some issues at the moment. We asked if we could talk with his wife and when she came out she was pretty emotional. Turns out that they are having financial issues. My companion invited them to pray and study the scriptures, and if they did so with faith they would find their answer. 

The next day came and we started the visit out by watching the talk by David A. Bednar in this last conference. It lead to a great discussion and the spirit was super strong. Elder Reyes extended the invitation that they could share their testimonies in church the following Sunday, and then Beatris said something that made my heart drop. "I won't be able to come to church this Sunday."... What? We just had a super powerful discussion about relying on the Lord and keeping his commandments, and you're telling us that you don't plan on coming to church? We asked her why and she told us that the night before she had read a scripture and felt that she received an answer, the following morning she received a phone call with a work offer over the weekend. We asked her to share the scripture and she opened to D&C 59. When she opened to that section I got a bit confused as to what kind of answer she had received. She read verse 13 "And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full." and then told us that she believed she needed to fast. We both sat there just kind of smiling and told her to read from verse 9.

"9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

 10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;

 11 Nevertheless thy avows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;

 12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High,confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord."

She sat there for a while and then said " I know what I need to do" 

On Sunday they all came to church. She had turned down this job opportunity so that she would be able to keep the Lords commandments. I learned a lot of different things from this experience. 

1. We can always rely on the scriptures to help answer questions. I'll admit that I doubted a bit when my companion said that if she prayed and then opened the scriptures she would find an answer. I will never doubt that again. If we truly seek an answer from our Heavenly Father with faith, all things are possible. 

2. Satan can even tempt us with what appears to be a blessing from God. If anything requires us to do something contrary to the commandments of God, it simply is not from him. He will never bless us in a manner that will require us to break one of his commandments. Beatris believed that she had received a blessing with this job offer, but her blessings are yet to come. She first had to make the sacrifice, but because she chose to turn down the job offer in order to keep one of Gods commandments, I have complete confidence that the true blessings will come now. 

3. That my faith still lacks a lot. I have so much to learn in relying on the Lord in all things. This whole experience has helped me strengthen my faith! We really can rely on the Lord to fulfill all of his promises, if first we do our part.  

I'm excited to go into this next cycle with a new companion. Especially someone that is new in the mission! I hope that we can see more miracles like this one. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support! I chuckled to hear the family is finally going on a trip with the Simpsons while I'm on the mission. I hope that you all have a wonderful time! Take lots of pictures for me! The play looked like quite a success from the pictures! That sure would have been a fun one to be in. I definitely plan on continuing theater when I get back! 

Love Elder Twede

My hero pose when I found out that I'm going to be a dad! (going to train)