Olah!
How was your week? I heard it is hot hot hot out there. We are sitting at
about 64 degrees here in Tacoma. Summers here are like Utah's springs, not to hot
and it rains every now and again. Besides the weather update, the work has been
going good. It has been on the more stressed out level this week, but there is
always good that comes from them. We also celebrated Pioneer day with the Tacoma
Stake and had a wonderful sacrament meeting commemorating the faithful pioneers.
I'll start off on the good note first....
Lawrence is doing great. Every time we meet with him he thinks I need to
learn Spanish, so he has now started speaking and translating what he says in
Spanish...haha. He's a character! Lawrence has been a stubborn one to work
with. We have been teaching him for about 4 months now, we met him when I first
arrived in Tacoma. Slowly he has been opening up and following through with
commitments, which shows us he is serious:)
He called us Thursday night to ask a few questions and while we were
talking he paused and said, "Now I am going to tell you the honest truth
sisters. I have never felt the way I do right now as I have been meeting with
you. I studied with the Jehovah Witnesses for over two years and didn't even
come close to what I feel now. I know what it is and I know why-it's just me
making the commitment. I know I didn't meet you on accident and God knew that
Sister Phillips was suppose to be a Bronco's fan-haha" (that is how we met
Lawrence. He was wearing a bronco's beanie and I had to comment on it).
I had a smile from ear to ear on the other end of the phone, I was so
excited! I always knew he knew, but when they say it, you know they realize and
know it for themselves. He has been understanding the principle of
repentance very well. He is a single man who does well for himself in his 40's
and had many women who he talked to. Last Sunday after our lesson he said he
called them all but one, and told them he couldn't talk to them anymore. Then
yesterday I mentioned that we had a temple where his girlfriend in Mexico lived.
So what did he do? He is contacting the missionaries on mormon.org and is going to send them
to her and his mom is Laramie, WY :D The word echoed in my mind what our
Patriarch said to Lawrence when he met him, "Don't forget to invite me to your
baptism!" I pray that he will get baptized before I leave Tacoma, but either way
I know that one day he will be a worthy priesthood holder who will make those
sacred covenants in the Lord's Holy Temple!
On the bad/good note...
Julian did not get baptized this weekend :( Friday night we were all
waiting for him to show up and Debbie called and said that his dad just came and
picked him up for there family reunion. what??? I was devastated and even more I
was sad for Sister Douros. She was so excited for her first baptism. I felt so
confidant that Julian would be there, he was more excited about getting baptized
than anyone I have ever met. That entire day I kept getting these
little promptings that we needed to call him and I kept brushing them off
because "I" was sure that he was good to go.
I was reminded that Heavenly Father's will is not always ours. Just like
Jesus Christ we have to learn to trust and do the will of the Father.
"Father, if though be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my
will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). What a great lesson our Savior
Jesus Christ teaches us. That we have the power to over come the natural man, we
have the choice, and when we do the will of the Father-all things will be for
our benefit! Will Julian still be baptized? Absolutely, I have no doubt. He is
so prepared and the Lord will make a way possible for him, but one the way the
Lord took time to teach us some very valuable lessons. Julian is still not home
and we are praying he will be home today, so we can talk to him. Fingers
crossed!!!
This last Sunday in sacrament meeting we had great speakers that reminded
me of our heritage. I am so proud to say, that I am a member of, The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We watched the Prophet of the Restoration
after Church and the sorrow and devastation that those early saints went through
touched me deeply. I reflected upon the revelations that Joseph Smith received
in Liberty Jail. During that time was some of the darkest moments for our
prophet Joseph Smith, but with out sections 121, 122, and 123 how empty would
our lives be? Jeffery R. Holland says, "They are contained in a mere six pages
of text, but those six pages touch our hearts with their beauty and their power.
And they remind us that God often “moves in a mysterious way His wonders to
perform.” He certainly turned adversity into
blessing in giving us those sacred writings and reflections—so pure, noble, and
Christian in both tone and content, yet produced in such an impure, ignoble, and
unchristian setting."
How grateful I am to represent such faithful and pure people who laid a
straight path for us to continue on our work for the Lord in these last days. I
know Christ is our personal Savior and that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that
every page of the Book of Mormon speaks truth!
I love you all,
Sister Phillips
WA-TAC
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