This week has been great. There was a big theme that came out of the week: Heavenly Father's expectations are very high for His children and there is no doubt that in this life, we will fall down. One of our recent converts, brother Greg, opened up to us this week that the temptations he had been facing at work have been just too much for him, so he fell back into drinking. He was crying in front of us saying how hard it is, and what makes it even harder is that his relationship with his wife is suffering because of the mistakes he's made. We had a powerful lesson with him about Peter and how even though he was one of the most powerful and strong apostles of Christ, even he fell. We told him over and over to not give up hope and to keep going. He's done so well and he's just going through some tough trials.
Brother Michael Ruiz's baptism was great!! Just like what happened at his wife's baptism a few weeks ago, it rained hard! I couldn't help but think of the cleansing effect of baptism. Just like that primary song "When I Am Baptized." He had asked that I baptize him so I had the privilege of being able to do that ordinance for him. He said afterwards that his life has totally changed since he started taking the lessons and keeping the commitments.
Other than that, we just had splits with some Elders from Tuguegarao. I had that career workshop, which was really all about preparing for a job, teaching us life skills, and also encouraging us to finish strong here in the last stretch of the mission. Elder Jones (Sister Jones' husband) taught it and it was really an awesome experience.
Well... The work continues on. I'm so thankful especially this week for the Holy Ghost. All this week, the Holy Ghost has led us to things we needed. Whether it was a scripture verse, a person to talk to, fellowshippers to come work with us.. anything like that. He's been there for us.
Brother Jack has also made a lot of progress! We taught him again about the plan of salvation and again he had a lot of concerns about the reality and validity of what we were teaching. He said, "That seems very out there to really believe it." But I think we really caught his attention when we talked about the judgement. I think one of the biggest reason he's listening to us still after all this time, is he's afraid of what would happen if he dies and finds out that the Church is true. We asked him, "Brother Jack, how would you feel if you stood before Jesus Christ, knowing that you didn't follow Him, even though you knew you should?" That really made him think for a while. He said he'd be very embarrassed. A little later in the lesson he asked, "What would happen if I am baptized, but I can't live up to the expectations of the church?" We then testified of the Savior's grace. That Heavenly Father knew we wouldn't be perfect and we would make mistakes. So He sent His Son to die for us. It was a powerful lesson. He said at the end, "I won't commit to baptism yet, but you've really got my attention." And by the way... He's stopped drinking coffee as well! :)
It has been a great week! Love you and have a good week as well! :)
Nagmamahal,
Elder Navarro
