Sister Brittany Robertson: Week 53

This past week, I got to attend Zone Conference and it was really good. President Sumagpao talked all about "dead works" as discussed in Moroni 8:23. He talked about what we may be doing as individuals and as a mission that may be considered "dead works." And how we need to get rid of all of them. It is interesting to me as he explained that only 20% of missionaries are considered exactly obedient on a mission. There's a letter I read, which I discussed in one of my past letters. It's called the "Ricciardi letter" and it says there that missionaries going out to the field expect that 80% of the missionaries in the field are exactly obedient and the other 20% are not. But it doesn't take very long to find out that it is the exact opposite. Only 20% are truly striving to be exactly obedient every day and the other 80% don't care enough. President explained that we need to make the percentage higher for the ones that care, so he focused on dead works. He talked about everything from the big obvious sins to the little tiny day-to-day sins that we may not recognize as big deals. I was able to find some dead works that I have been participating in and I have been working on making those right and becoming more in line with the will of my Father in Heaven. It's not easy to make sacrifices by no means, but I am applying the principle of delayed gratification in my life, which my dad taught me(: If we want something right now, we can get it, but we are sacrificing some of the blessings that could come if we just wait. My favorite quote as of right now is, "Do you want it right now, or do you want it right?" If we want it right now, it may not be right. But if we want it right, we need to be patient, make sacrifices, and wait for the right time. So that is what I am focusing on. I have made a few hard sacrifices this last week and know that waiting for the right time will bring more blessings than if I continued in my dead works just to get the result right away.

We also had three baptisms this last Saturday(: I know I said we were only going to have two but we got permission from President to have the other one that didn't come to church to still have him be baptized because his desire is there and President understood his situation. It was a happy, happy Saturday. I am slowly realizing my time is running out here in this area, and even on my mission so that is weighing on me a bit. I don't want to leave this area, but I must. Once again, I find myself trying to put the Lord's will above my own. At zone conference, all the elders that will be going home in a week bore their testimony and I totally cried cause I don't want that to be me one day hhaha. Time is too fast and time is running out so I need to give my all to this last part of my mission and make it the best part of my mission!! I have seen how sad people here are to see me go in a week and it is breaking my heart cause I definitely have a piece of my heart here in this area. A big piece of my heart. But I know that wherever the Lord puts me, that will be the right place for me.

Here are the conversion stories of the three that got baptized this last Saturday:

I will start with Leonil because his story took the longest. Leonil Aurelio's story is one of our favorites, because we got to see a 360 turn in him. We saw him sacrifice hard things to be able to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When Sister Taylor and I started teaching him, he was so shy about spiritual things. He would never want to answer questions or share insights of his own about what we were sharing to him. He mostly just listened and participated in being rowdy with the rest of the group. But Leonil's deep conversion to this gospel started the night we decided to do a Book of Mormon reading with them. We taught no formal lesson, we just read. After that lesson, he could not stop smiling. He expressed that he felt something in his chest he could not explain and his whole body felt lighter than usual. From that moment on, he has loved the Book of Mormon. He struggled at first to read out loud and especially to expound on what he had just read. But little by little, we saw the improvement in him until he was excited to read and share what he had learned in his personal study. When no one else seemed to read personally, Leonil was very consistent in his reading. He would always proudly raise his hand that he had read when no one else did. And then for the most inspiring part of his story. Leonil has wanted to be baptized for a long time. But July 20 ended up being his baptismal date because of his smoking problem. When I first met him, he was smoking 5-6 sticks a day. We really encouraged him to stop but he just didn't really think he could. Until Sister Garcia and I started focusing on him, and then we saw the progress. He lost his cigarette smoking by his own free will and then had a baptismal date back in June, but then he relapsed and got discouraged. So Sister Garcia and I bought him candy, made him a calendar, and every day followed up with him. He was doing it along with his friend Keith so they both helped each other to stop together. To this day, it has been over 4 weeks and he has not picked up a single cigarette(: He is so strong and we just cannot explain quite how happy we are to have witnessed his baptism. He was able to attend a Young Single Adult activity which was the beginning of his inspiration to lose his cigarette smoking. And from there, he gained friendships that have lasted and will last forever. He has been coming to church for months now, even if he was the only one to come and sit alone, he would do it so that he did not break his streak of coming to church consecutively. We asked him right before his baptism why he wanted to get baptized and he said, "Because I have changed through this church and I have lost my smoking problem and that is how I know that this church is true because nothing else has helped me change like that." Then at his baptism, he also bore his testimony about that very same thing. He expressed in front of a big crowd that his life has changed completely by his trusting in his Heavenly Father to overcome his challenges in his life, especially his smoking habit. He shared his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and thanked everyone who helped him get to that point. We were so touched and continue to hold on to that testimony he shared. We will not and can not forget how much a simple gospel taught by three young missionaries, who aren't quite qualified for this work, changed a 18-year-old boy's life forever. We love this work! Leonil will be the best addition to this true church! He already participated in stake choir last Sunday! Leonil is a true disciple of Christ our Savior.

And then for Keith. Keith Soledad is seriosuly a miracle of a person. He is a 16 year old boy that has come to know his Savior Jesus Christ. We love his soul to death because we have seen how this gospel has changed his life. Keith, at first, almost never sat in on our lessons. And when he did, he was the opposition being rowdy and loud and distracting everyone else in the lesson. Then randomly one Saturday, he sat in on the lesson, was quiet, dignified, and even helpful. He, himself, came to us and said he would be coming to church the next day, which he did. And since then, he has not missed one Sunday. He started becoming the reason the others would come to church because he was the first one ready. He started wearing polos and a tie to church and we started recognizing him as a Christlike example to his friends around him. He all of a sudden became very serious about this gospel. He expressed his desire to stop his smoking habit, to be baptized, to serve a mission, and to someday go to the temple. His friends told us he did not want to join the lessons at first because he did not want to pray. So for the first few lessons he sat in, we did not have him pray so he would feel comfortable to sit in on lessons. And then one day, he out of the blue asked to be the one to pray! He said the most heart-felt, sweet prayer that touched our hearts. He cried praying for his sister to recover from her sickness and oh man it was so sweet. From that moment on, we have not stopped being inspired by Keith's conversion. He, along with his friend Leonil, stopped smoking together through candy, calendar, and constant reminders. He has been involved in all activities at the church and even has been attending our baptisms, even though he didn't have anyone with him. He has been working with us as well and we are always blown away at his testimony that he shares to those we are teaching. We asked him, as well, before his baptism why he wanted to get baptized and he said "Because this is the only thing in my life that has changed me." Oh our hearts! So full of joy. Before we asked permission to his mom to get baptized, he said, "Even if she says no I am getting baptized cause this is what I want and need." Hahha he is so dedicated to this church. He is so converted and we are more than happy that we got to witness the day of his baptism. His baptism itself was a great and happy day. He was so so nervous when he got to the church and I said "You can do it!" And he said the best thing back. He said, "I know I can do it because God gives no hard thing in our lives that we aren't able to do." That touched our hearts. We have already shared that testimony to others in our lessons because it was so sincere and the truest! He also bore the sweetest testimony that he knows this church is true and this gospel has changed him and he is so grateful he sat in on our lessons and became serious about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Keith is so special to us and a conversion to remember forever.

And then Jason! Jason Sastre is 11 years old and has come to know for himself that this church is true. He is the little brother of Hazel, who got baptized on July 6, so just two weeks ago. Jason is totally matured in his thinking and thinks like an older teenager. We have loved getting to know him and teaching him about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jason had never sat in on a lesson when he came to church the first time. He was not invited or asked to, but he just showed up at church with his friend Rinel and then we later heard that he had gotten ready and waited outside of Rinel's house at 7 am ready to go to church haha. And our church doesn't start until 10:30!He was the one who would prompt all of them to go to church and would get frustrated if they were late because he wanted to be on time. He actually got so frustrated that if they were not on time to sacrament, he would not come. Until, of course, we started focusing on him and started to discuss baptism with him. His desire to get baptized was there from the beginning, he was just too shy to express that. He would always read the book of mormon by himself even if he did not quite understand everything he was reading. He was the one who kept encouraging his friends Leonil and Keith to stop smoking because he would watch out for them all day to make sure they stayed away from any place that they could buy a cigarette. Jason is our little watchguard. He has set an example to us as he has applied our teachings into his life and stopped drinking coffee, stopped playing little games that involved money, became more obedient to his parents, and continues to come to church and read the Book of Mormon. He explained and we saw how happy he was when we explained that his baptism would be on July 20 with his friends Keith and Leonil. He explained that he was excited to have all his sins washed away to become clean. Then at his baptism, he bore his sweet testimony as he expressed, simply but powerfully that "I am so thankful that I was baptized into the true church." That was all he said but it was so sweet and he truly overcame his fear because he was so afraid to stand in front of everyone, at the microphone no less, and speak. But he was great and is just the best! We love Jason! He is an example to all(:

Well, that's all I got for this week. If y'all want shorter letters let me know cause I feel bad if they are so long but I appreciate that time I have to give y'all details into our work here! I have one week left here then I will almost surely transfer so I am struggling with the sadness of that and sadness of missing my best friend's wedding. But I will be okay, cause there is no time not to be okay on the Lord's errand(:

Sister Robertson