Never will I have a normal week.
First off, the most exciting news is that...drum roll please..
SILVANA WAS BAPTIZED!!!! After so many months of struggling with addictions and well, lack of real desire to change this past weekend with the change of the new year Silvana had an epiphany moment where she just finally felt like God told her its time to change. We arrived Tuesday and she told us I decided. I want to be baptized. I gave up alcohol and smoking. We all jumped for joy and taught her the rest of the lessons(the higher ordinances and commandments) she was interviewed by our new super ethusiastic district leader Saturday and was baptized later that night by her husband Matuzalem, his first time baptizing anybody. Matuzalem and their epic musical prodigy son have been waiting three years for her to be baptized, and to go to the temple together. It was a really special baptism and everything went so smoothly.
We were pondering about what changed in the last few months for her to decide, because surely it wasnt some new doctrine we taught, some gimmick to quit smoking and the other day Matuzalem confessed that during the chaos of the New Year he went to the only room in their house with a door, knelt down and fervently prayed that Silvana would have a change of heart and join the family in the gospel.
Prayer really works.
I learned on the mission, but even more ever presently with Silvana that overcoming weaknesses, progressing, improving, any kind of change is not produced by gimmicks, by catchy sayings or even behavorial suggestions. As Elder Bednar teaches along with many other apostles it is doctrine and our desires that determine our destiny. When we change our understanding of the doctrine, when we really look into our souls to find what we really want and align that with our goals, our perspective and paradigm will change and all the related behavior easily goes with it.
You can not navigate Atlanta with a map of Detroit. You can change your attitude, your behavior, your speed but without the correct map you will never go anywhere. Change your map, change your direction.
Beyond the lovely miracle of Silvana, we were stopped by a man who spent a good amount of time trying to convince us that we are a mental/spiritual threat to all the people we encounter and we are proclaiming and supporting the religion of the devil. We thanked him and moved on resisting the temptation to debate or make sarcastic remarks like " Oh my gosh THANK YOU you saved me! I am going to go home RIGHT NOW and pack all my bags and go home! What would I have done without you!" -_- and we started discussing how amazing life is as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and even if it was all lies we would still want to be members because the life we are taught to life is so fulfilling.
But, as we know. Its not all lies. This is the truth, and you can only receive spiritual knowledge through spiritual means. The spirit testifies to us of truth and when we receive such a testimony it is a treasure nobody can take from us. So, let us all seek a little more to augment our testimonies, seek truth from God and from the spirit, and not earthly sources.
Sister Holmes
First off, the most exciting news is that...drum roll please..
SILVANA WAS BAPTIZED!!!! After so many months of struggling with addictions and well, lack of real desire to change this past weekend with the change of the new year Silvana had an epiphany moment where she just finally felt like God told her its time to change. We arrived Tuesday and she told us I decided. I want to be baptized. I gave up alcohol and smoking. We all jumped for joy and taught her the rest of the lessons(the higher ordinances and commandments) she was interviewed by our new super ethusiastic district leader Saturday and was baptized later that night by her husband Matuzalem, his first time baptizing anybody. Matuzalem and their epic musical prodigy son have been waiting three years for her to be baptized, and to go to the temple together. It was a really special baptism and everything went so smoothly.
We were pondering about what changed in the last few months for her to decide, because surely it wasnt some new doctrine we taught, some gimmick to quit smoking and the other day Matuzalem confessed that during the chaos of the New Year he went to the only room in their house with a door, knelt down and fervently prayed that Silvana would have a change of heart and join the family in the gospel.
Prayer really works.
I learned on the mission, but even more ever presently with Silvana that overcoming weaknesses, progressing, improving, any kind of change is not produced by gimmicks, by catchy sayings or even behavorial suggestions. As Elder Bednar teaches along with many other apostles it is doctrine and our desires that determine our destiny. When we change our understanding of the doctrine, when we really look into our souls to find what we really want and align that with our goals, our perspective and paradigm will change and all the related behavior easily goes with it.
You can not navigate Atlanta with a map of Detroit. You can change your attitude, your behavior, your speed but without the correct map you will never go anywhere. Change your map, change your direction.
Beyond the lovely miracle of Silvana, we were stopped by a man who spent a good amount of time trying to convince us that we are a mental/spiritual threat to all the people we encounter and we are proclaiming and supporting the religion of the devil. We thanked him and moved on resisting the temptation to debate or make sarcastic remarks like " Oh my gosh THANK YOU you saved me! I am going to go home RIGHT NOW and pack all my bags and go home! What would I have done without you!" -_- and we started discussing how amazing life is as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and even if it was all lies we would still want to be members because the life we are taught to life is so fulfilling.
But, as we know. Its not all lies. This is the truth, and you can only receive spiritual knowledge through spiritual means. The spirit testifies to us of truth and when we receive such a testimony it is a treasure nobody can take from us. So, let us all seek a little more to augment our testimonies, seek truth from God and from the spirit, and not earthly sources.
Sister Holmes