Monday, March 23, 2015

A sad and hard week


March 16, 2015

            P-day!!!!! There rarely is anything super exciting about our p-days.  But today I got to play one on one basketball with a super cool, and super athletic Brasilian.   I won two games and he won one.  It is weird because he LOVES basketball and that is very rare here.  He even has an original Miami Heat jersey.

            We were planning to take M. to visit in the Relief Society President’s house, but she rescheduled for tomorrow.  M. appears to be a  lot happier and she is preparing a family night activity for this Wednesday.  She volunteered to teach this lesson. Elder C. and I are planning a fast for her. 

March 17, 2015

            I hate the bus system here.  Elder Anderson wanted to get to the office early today so that he could resolve some problems in order to get a bus pass-card.  We left the house at 6:30 and we didn’t get to the office until 8:30.  Normally it is a one hour trip…ugghh!

            We taught this guy this afternoon who is addicted to crack and alcohol, and he told us that whoever could tell him what his two greatest fears were, then he would go to their church. As we  kept talking to him,  we quickly figured out his fears.  His first fear is that he is afraid of confronting and resolving his problems.  His second fear is that he is afraid to become a part of a community because that would mean that people would depend on him and he doesn’t thing that he can follow through with responsibility.  So he told us that we were right about his fears, but that he still doesn’t give a hoot and wouldn't go to church with us.

            Anyways, we helped M. plan her activity and she seems super well prepared.  I have a good feeling about the activity.

March 18, 2015

            Well………That was one of the biggest let-downs of my entire mission. So this is how it all went down.  M. gave the family night and it was one of the best that I have ever seen in a long time.  It was really well organized, lots of people came to support it, and her message was great.  I felt the Spirit really strongly, and that is one of the reasons why I am so confused and disheartened.  She talked about trust, specifically, trusting in God.  She used Joseph Smith as an example of someone who trusted in God and then God blessed Joseph with an answer.  Seriously, all of the members were impressed with this lesson. 
 

            Then afterwards, M. gave Elder C and I ties and said that she wanted to talk to us to thank us for everything.  “When you knocked on my door, I was really needing help.  I felt this void in my life and I didn’t understand why.  Now I feel like it is not empty anymore.  It’s  been great to know you and I love your church, BUT I can’t be baptized.  It has been great to know you, really really great…”  Yeah that’s it.

            Working, teaching, fasting, praying, finally finding someone who listens, learns, follows through, and beyond that – someone who actually develops a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, but then turns their back on it.  I am not going to lie, I felt like my feet were swept out from under me.  And as we walked home in silence, completely deflated, I cried to myself.  One of the things that our mission president told us is that the devil should shake in his boots when we wake up every morning (in honor of that scripture about Captain Moroni). However, I just feel like in this past week the devil was just thinking: 'let's see what we can do to mess with these two this week'. It's a sad situation, but it is especially sad for M who we care about so much because she is making such a life limiting choice.  I pray that it'll all work out somehow.

March 23, 2015

I didn't have the heart or the time to write a lot in my journal for the rest of this week, so I'm going to have to catch up.  We met some other people this week who loved our messages and said that they would be baptized, but a lot of them have to get married before they can get baptized. Here in Brasil it takes a LONG time to marry someone.  The other elders baptized a man, and he's super cool. He already knows about the first and the second resurrection before the other elders started teaching him because he likes to read Isaiah. What? Cool, huh? His baptism went well except for the part when the font’s pump broke and we had to empty it by hand. On Sunday, we managed to have an investigator at church! BUT she got a phone call and had to leave immediately.  What a week.

My most productive work this week.

Elder Carmo's reacton to transfers.
 Transfers happened.   I stayed in my area (I'm happy about that) I got demoted (not so happy about that) and the other elder's area got shut down and we're absorbing it (not sure about that). There was a consolidation of two districts, Elder Anderson and Elder Dorneles both got transferred. I know my new district leader, Elder Cooper (he's also from my MTC group.)  

            Also, I'm going to be working in a triplet with Elder Shelton (also from my MTC group) and Elder Carmo (I am REALLY not sure about how I feel about working in a trio, but I am glad to stay with Elder C.) I'm going to have to keep the situation under control because I am the senior comp.  We are the weirdest looking trio on the streets because, Elder Shelton is a big boy, huge actually, then I am average sized, and Elder Carmo is tiny!  I am trying to figure out how to work efficiently and effectively in a trio.  In our mission we aren't allowed to go on divisions with the members. At all. It's rather annoying.  One of the things that I have to figure out how to solve right away is the amount of English that is being spoken between our leaders and the other American elders.  It is not right because the Brazilians don’t speak English so they feel excluded, rightfully so. Everything's going to be fine. We've got lots of cool stuff that's going to happen in the near future I hope.

I have no idea why the president changed things up the way he did.  We were (and still are) working super hard, but whatever comes our way, it's what president wants, so I'm not going to let myself feel hurt about it. I just think that it's weird. I think that the President has a plan, but I still don't know what it is, so the only thing that I can do is work.

I am thinking about selling my guitar to another elder and just buying a new one when I get back in the states.  It has my old comp's picture in it, but I'm thinking of putting mine in it too, and writing something on the back of the guitar before I sell it and then telling the next missionary to do the same thing when they get ready to leave. Who knows, maybe it'll be a missionary guitar that'll make it's way around the mission for years ;)
This is not my guitar, but one of the members who we visited with.  The glasses were his daughters.
We took pictures at one of my favorite member's house. Her kids are super funny and her husband is a recent convert, a really nice guy.



Sunday, March 22, 2015

Sabbath Day - the hardest lesson


Typical encounter during the day.  Donkeys just roam the streets here.
Friendly little donkeys,  Usually they are afraid of people, but we got along great!

A giant icecream cone
March 9, 2014
         We ended up playing a lot of basketball with some Brazilians who actually know how to play!  Elder Andersen and I were still the best, but there were some guys who weren’t too far behind.  During the game, one of my glass lenses popped out, but I was able to put it back in.  I ended up playing most of the game without my glasses, which was a challenge.  In the end, we had what we called “a religious conflict”, missionaries vs. home team.  We won!  With Elder Dorneles playing it was a big enough handicap that it was actually hard to win. 
         We had 4 appointments marked for tonight, but not a single one worked out.  That is totally normal, but a really frustrating start to our week.
March 10, 2015
         So last transfer I asked President Bonini if we could have a special training about planning more efficiently.  Today he sent the mission assistants to train us on this topic and it really helped me and my district.  We had a bunch of good lessons today.  One of our couples read about Lehi’s vision of the tree of life in The Book of Mormon by themselves.  They had many good questions and are progressing a lot, but it is like pulling teeth trying to get them to go to church. 
         We also had a good lesson with another couple about the law of chastity and they both said that they would live the law in preparation for baptism. 
March 11, 2015
         Elder Muniz was at my district meeting today.  Today was his last day on the mission, so we trunked ourselves out a little bit. He was with me in the very start, and now he is leaving.  It is kind of scary how time flies by.  He is planning on studying at BYU so we will definitely see each other afterwards.  He speaks English really well.  I am going to miss him a ton.  He has been a great friend and zone leader.
         We taught M. again today ad she is so hung up on the whole marriage thing.  She already lives the law of chastity and the word of wisdom, and she attends church meetings regularly.  She is sure that she wants to be baptized, but she is still holding off.  We took a member couple there and it worked out really well.  They have a pretty strong relationship and they definitely helped to settle her fears.
March 12, 2015
Most streets here are either dirt or cobblestone.
         I don’t know why, but for some reason we started teaching people who live right next to the canal (ie. open sewage drain).  I found this one road while out working one day and it turns out that several families live there.  They are very poor, but very nice people.  This one little family that we are teaching lives in a 12X12 brick box with their 3 little girls.  There is nothing in the states that compares to the poverty here.  It is humbling.
         We had another appointment with a woman whose husband greeted us by shouting, “Did you come to hear the word of God?” and a bunch of other stuff from his church. All the while he is yelling a the top of his lungs, and I am just like, “oh brother.”  Then he asks us for our Bible to read a scripture and I he read:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We explained that scripture a bit to him, but he just kept yelling .  So then I showed him
Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
In Portuguese ‘clamour’ is “gritaria’ and it was super funny because once I pointed out that he had done nothing buy yell at us, he toned his voice down to almost a whisper.
March 13, 2015
         Today I went on splits with Elder T. Anderson and it went pretty well.  A ton of appointments fell through, but we managed to teach some super cool people.  There was this one family in particular that stood out.  They have a 6 month old Rottweiler and I have decided that I love that breed.  The lesson went smoothly and they accepted the message of the Restoration readily.  They even committed to baptism.  When we got back together with the other missionaries, we asked how their lesson with M. went and it went really well.  We studied this morning for her and picked 5 talks specifically for her to read from the last general conference.  I hope that it will help her.  The other elders only did 10 contacts today.  It is hard for them because they are both junior companions and it is a skill that you just get better at with practice and time. Also, neither one of them are all that excited about the work.  This week I have been working hard to contact and we average about 16-17 per day.  That is pretty good.  One of the interesting things about trying to talk to absolutely everyone is that we find a LOT of inactive members who are not on the membership list from church.  Well this week just flew by.  Tomorrow we have  very busy day planned with appointments schedules for every half hour of the entire day. It is going to be crazy if everyone keeps their appointment.
March 14, 2015
         I am tired of appointments falling through, but on the bright side, only half of them fell today so that still left us with plenty of work to do.  First of all we taught the English class.  Right now we have 3 students who are regulars.  None of the members are interested at all.  We worked really well today, but we only had a couple of good lessons.  We taught a less-active member’s daughter’s boyfriend and he really liked the lesson.  We invited him to be baptized and he said really softly, “I think so, maybe.”  He said that he would come to church tomorrow, so we will see about that.
         Also we taught another less active member’s girlfriend.  This kind of thing happens a lot.  This couple is progressing a lot.  They have quit smoking, they are reading and understanding scriptures, but they are not coming to church.  They always have plans for Sunday.  What can we do?  It is odd that it is easier for people here to give up a serious addiction than it is for them to keep the Sabbath day holy.  They already told us that they won’t be there tomorrow because they have plans to celebrate a birthday.
March 15, 2015
         Ever since we contacted M. she hasn’t missed a single Sunday!  We haven’t had to go and get her a single time.  She even showed up in the pouring rain when half of the members didn’t even come.  I hope that she decides to get baptized soon because I will really feel sad if I get transferred and miss being there for that.
         Today we brought a 13 year old investigator to church along with her 10 year old cousin.  I really hate bringing kids to church without their parents.  On the plus side, when we got to church, two f the young women basically took care of them for the entire church block.  The young women were so amazing, they even set up for the 13 year old to attend mutual with them. This was a little miracle for us.
         Then we had a real miracle happen when we were teaching. and L.  C. is very serious about studying the Book of Mormon.  She takes it to work with her so that she can read on her breaks. L. has been inactive for a long time, but with the energy and enthusiasm of C, he is coming along.  She has told us that she is praying for an answer about whether to get baptized.  The next lesson will be on the law of chastity, which will be hard since they are not married and living together.         

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Wet Feet


Constant Rain lately
March 2, 2015
         I think that it is super cool how in Portuguese the days of the week translate to literally mean “second day”, “third day”. Etc. And this week, it just so happens that the days correspond to the date, today was the “second day”, March 2. 
         Today was pretty dang chill. We had lunch at a member’s house which is a rare treat on p-day, and it was really nice.  This sister has a bunch of family that lives in Utah.  She is going to give me their names so that I can visit them when I go to school.  Her brother served his mission in South Africa and is now studying at the U of U. 



March 3, 2015
         Today I had to go to the office to grab material and it is really annoying because it takes up a huge chunk of time from my studies.  But, I was able to read a large chunk of “The Articles of Faith” by James E. Talmage on the bus.  I actually really like that book.  It explains the doctrines of the church in simple but eloquent language.  The trip to the office turned out great for me because I got a package from Mom.  It was the Valentine’s package with lots of treats and a new white shirt for me to wear home!  The sad part about that is that she told me it was my last package on the mission.  Man, I love those packages!
         We found a less active member of the church today when we were talking with A. She works at one of the depots here and she seems really intelligent and she told us that she has the desire to come back to church.  She doesn’t live in our area, so we passed her information on to the missionaries in her area.  Other than that, it was kind of a dud day.  We didn’t teach very much, and we didn’t even contact that many people. 
March 4, 2015
         Today we actually made the goal of doing 20 contacts!  Up until now, we have never been able to reach it.  We have come close, but today we did it with a little help from the other Elders.  We had this activity (the starch and faith example) and we made a huge mess.  Everyone loved it, but we asked the other Elders if they would stay and clean up for us because they had already gotten their 20 contacts.  So we were only missing 5 and we still had 20 minutes left in our day.  We managed to do it!  Because it was the very first time that both companionships reached that goal on the same day, I bought us all pizza!  It was a good day.
         There was a super funny thing that happened earlier this week that I forgot to write about.  During our email time, Taylor sent me a video of our cat pawing the sliding glass door to get in the house.  Just at that moment, Elder Dornales showed up at the internet café and pawed on the glass of the café door exactly like our cat.  Elder D. is so crazy about cats that he actually behaves like one. Elder D. offers a lot of comic relief in the mission.
March 5, 2015
         Today when we were preparing for the baptism of Marcos and Marcelo, I was reviewing their records and noticed that Marcelo is actually 8 years old.  He and his parents thought that he was 9.  How is it that parents don’t know the actual age of their child????  This is sad news for a missionary because the baptism does not count as a missionary baptism but as a ward baptism.  But still he will be baptized so it is no big deal.
         We managed 22 contacts today and it was easy.  You just have to take advantage of every opportunity you can have to talk to someone. Stopping someone on the street usually isn’t my thing, but sometimes you just have to push back your fears and do it. We got to know a bunch of people and we even found a few new investigators.  It is raining like crazy here now and it is annoying because ALL of my shoes have holes in them.  L But, it really is amazing how the Lord puts people in your path, but in order to find them, you have to go outside of your comfort zone.  It is definitely NOT comfortable walking around with wet feet.
So when it rains like crazy, there are these water spouts here that are like gutters. It was raining so hard that everyone basically just acted like they were at a water park!

March 6, 2015
         Exchanges with Elder Medrado!  It was actually really really good.  First of all, Eldr Carmo and I had a couple of appointments in the morning, so we were almost running to get there on time.  As we were hurrying on by, this guy just says, “Hey Elders!”  I felt the impression that we had to talk with him and as it turns out, he is a returned missionary and he has a co-worker who is super interested in the gospel.  He is going to introduce us to him.  Throughout the entire day, Elder Medrado and I talked to everyone we met.  We filled up next Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with appointments. Elder Medrado gave me a couple of tips on how to improve and organize our house better.  He also taught me a couple of cool songs to play on the guitar which will keep me busy on the next p-day.  One of the annoying things right now is that this week Elder D. found the soundtrack on the phone for the “Primary Colors” acapella.  I don’t know if you remember that CD, but it brought back a lot of good childhood memories for me and made me a little homesick.  But that was quickly cured after listening to “The eensie, weensie, spider” for the tenth time.  Ugh, of all the sound tracts, that was Elder Ds favorite!  Not even Vocal Points soundtrack won out against “The eensie, weensie, spider”.
         We have a great investigator who has a very interesting difficulty.  She wants to remain a virgin forever.  She told us that she never wants to marry for many reasons. This leads then to her biggest hangup in the church and that is the principle of exaltation in the celestial kingdom.  She is very bright and has a really strong testimony, plus she keeps every commitment we give her, and she has been to church many times.  She says that she wants to be baptized but she feels like she has already lost exaltation because she never wants to marry. 
March 7, 2015
         Elder Medrado has even less time in the mission than I do and during exchanges we didn’t ever talk about home or other trunky things.  We were always talking about the mission and the things related to the mission…up until we were waiting for the other elders at our meeting point.  They were 40 minutes late so yeah, we talked a LOT about home during that time.  Haha, still we are both doing great in our work. 
         Today went really well.  We taught a lot, but unfortunately we did not do very many contacts.  We did contact this guy who asked us to teach him and he was SUPER interested.  We left him a pamphlet on the restoration and he asked us a ton of questions.  We had Jose Victor with us and he thought it was pretty awesome. 
This super cute little kid at the baptism!
Then we had the baptism and we had a ton of visitors and investigators there to watch.  M. and B. and a bunch of their family showed up to watch. The baptism turned out really nice. The boys were both baptized by their uncle.
March 8, 2015
Oh my gosh, I have never seen it rain so hard before in my life!  AND we still went looking for our investigators before church.  There was no way around getting soaked and sometimes we had to wade through puddles that went to our knees.  The canal was actually overflowing (with sewage).  None of our investigators we looked for came, but M. came again all by herself in the rain. 
One of our recent converts walks with a picture of the missionary who baptized him in his triple combination. It's pretty funny.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

The Power of Music


Elder D. and the killer ant monster
February 23, 2015
Well, today we emailed and then we wet straight from that to practice the choir pieces. That was basically our entire p-day. It just so happen that I had to sight read one of the accompaniments and it was one of the hardest ones of them all! Ugh!!!  And unfortunately I am a yes man, so I told her that there was no problem and that I’d get it down.  I sure hope so!  I know that I will have to dedicate one of my days of studies to practicing this music.  So me and the other elders were starving because we hadn’t even eaten breakfast OR lunch and it was already 5 pm.  I ended up going to McDonalds with Elder Anderson and Elder Smyth.  It’s weird, because McDonald is a nice restaurant here! I took some pictures because it seemed so nice. I have a feeling that I have completely forgotten what it is like back in the states.
         The best news of the day is that I finally got the camera from Taylor.  I am so excited that I will be able to take some pictures of the last part of my mission.
February 24, 2015
         Wow, it has been a long time since I have sat down and practiced piano for an extended period of time.  I was able to sit down and play for 3 hours!  It didn’t even seem like it was anything. I miss that.  Before my mission I wasn’t able to appreciate just how nice it is to play instruments.  I am actually excited to play the viola again.  Guitar as well….Oh it is going to be nice to have access to the internet and as much time as I want to play.
         We taught someone today and he has been bedridden and is waiting for surgery of some type. He is very faithful, reads the Book of Mormon, knows that it is true, and wants to be baptized.  But he can’t come to church for a good long while.
         The big news down here is that it actually does rain here in Fortaleza.  In fact, it has been pouring for the past 4 days.  I had to buy an umbrella because mine got all rusty and broke.  Water is leaking through our ceiling with all this rain. 

February 25, 2015
         Zone conference was really good today.  Up until today, I didn’t have a lot of faith for the future of this mission.  Don’t ask me why, but I didn’t feel it from the leadership.  I have had a hard time feeling mutual love and respect that existed with President Sousa,  But this conference was a turning point and felt perfectly inspired and uplifting.  With these changes I think that the mission will definitely start to make progress.  

         It was weird watching all of the Elders that I have known for so long bear their last testimonies as they get ready to finish their missions.  Some of them have been with me from the start.  Elder Muniz, for example, was in my zone when I first got to Brazil, and then again at the halfway mark, and he is currently my zone leader.  What is even stranger is to think that at the next conference it will be my turn to say goodbye.

          After the conference, we were planning to grab a bus, but one of the brethren from our ward passed by on his way home from work in his VW van.  (There are a LOT of those here.)  It was perfect for us because we fit almost our entire zone inside…12 elders.  The bus would have normally taken over an hour to get home and we made it in 15 minutes. 
         We held a special activity tonight at our ward mission leader’s house.  We had one of our investigators come and at the last minute I was asked to present the message.  So, I asked everyone there who was a convert to share their conversion story, specifically how they came to know that the gospel was tru.  Everyone told their stories and each one was very different except for one thing that they all had in common: they each applied the test in Moroni 10:4-5 personally and sincerely.  The cool part about the night was that I finally got to here my companion’s conversion story which was cool.  He said that his answer was completely based on the Book of Mormon.  Before, when I asked him how he got baptized, he would just say, “Oh it was normal.”  I guess that it is true because even something that is so special and sacred is at the same time normal here on a mission.
February 26, 2015
         I am thoroughly convinced that every single week as a missionary has to have as least one day where everything falls through.  Today was one of those days.  One the plus side, I made the most of the zone conference and tried to hit the standard of excellence as far as the contacts went.  We should have made our 20 contacts, but on contact #17 we ended up talking a long time so we had to hurry home before 9:30.  We made it home just in the nick of time.  The other Elders made it back late because a member gave them dinner and they brought home some extra crab for us!!! YUM, I have never eaten an entire crab before, so that was a new experience for me.
February 27, 2015
         Today was almost the exact opposite of yesterday. We taught a ton of people, and it was kindof sad because we had to drop a lot of investigators and we also had a big family drop us because they don’t want to give up praying to Mary or their saints.  I really had thought that they were going to change, but they ended up telling us that they didn’t have any desire to change their religion. They told us that if they were to change, it would be to become a Mormon. It was a hard day for us.
February 28, 2015
Evaldo and his wife!

Evaldo's new family!
         Wow, that musical activity that Sister Evans had us do turned out amazing!  It was a stake activity for the Fortaleza stake.  I have already passed through both the Nova Aldeota and the Aerolandia wards, so I saw a bunch of people that I knew.  Mainly, I saw Evaldo!  He was baptized almost a year ago and he got  married to another member and they are planning to be sealed this summer.  Only Taylor and Dad would be able to understand the pure joy I felt at this moment.  Levi is going to feel this too, and it will make all the moments of hardship and sacrifice worth it.  Also, I found out that one of the investigators that we had to drop, got baptized one year later.  I was able to visit with Bishop Amorim and his son, Bruno.  It was great!  I should have taken more pictures than I did.  I think that it is kind of funny because I spent very little time in those wards and still everyone remembered me and I have such a love for them.  It was by far my favorite place to be. 


         As far as the actual activity went, the chapel was full to the brim and it is a huge chapel/stake center.  We pulled it off much better than I thought we would.  I messed up on a few parts, but I have developed the ability to keep going and cover up mistakes.  Before my mission, that was one of the hardest things for me.  Sister Evans got after me a TON, but it was actually really fun in the end.  We have an interesting love/hate relationship that usually exists between the pianist and the chorister, especially when the pianist isn’t all that great.  We didn’t get any missionary work done this week because of all the practicing that I had to do, but I think that it was worth it.  I know that this activity was inspired and for me it was a special gift.  I would never have been able to see these people again had it not been for this activity.  It was just sooooo good for me. 
         On the bus ride home we got to talk to some other elders in the neighboring zone to the zone that I was in when I served in Jatoba, mainly Elder Evangelista and Elder Pereira. Elder Evangelista told me that he was surprised at how much I have changed since the Jatoba days.  Well truth be told, I was suffering a lot during the days that I served in Jatoba and that suffering shaped me and changed me into a more mature and better person.
March 1, 2015
         Where did February go?  That month just snuck right past me!  We started off the months super well.  We did the normal before church routine of running around trying to get investigators to come to church, but no one came.  However, I am convinced that God wants to see our efforts despite the outcome. Ultimately we had 4 investigators show up late and 2 kids of less actives that we are teaching. One of our investigators came by herself, and another came and brought her cousin (who is a member) with her. Another person came to church that lives on the other side of the city.  We referred him to the elders in his area.   Ultimately, we had a great Gospel Principles class about exaltation.  I am always apprehensive about potential anti-mormon propaganda that can come up during this lesson.  We read a bunch of scriptures that teach the doctrine simply and clearly: Romans 8:16-17, Revelation 3: 21, Psalms 82, and a few others.  Everyone seemed to comprehend the lesson and one of the recent converts asked me a question that led us to go to his house after church and teach her a really meaningful lesson.
         In fast and testimony meeting today, I bore my testimony and got a little emotional (which never happens to me). I also had a bad cold so I was snuffling and snorting…I was a mess.  One of the reasons that I was emotional was because a less active member came to church and bore her testimony about the stake musical activity.  She went to the activity because her less active brother told her about it and she described the choir as a choir of angels. I felt so touched that something that I participated in would have such an impact on others.  I was able to testify to the ward of the power that we have to touch people’s lives without even knowing about it simply by living the gospel and serving the Lord.
         After church we taught M. and she committed to baptism.  She really loves the Plan of Salvation and had a lot of questions about it.  I expressed some impressions to her about the three degrees of glory.  I told her that everyone is going to be happy and receive according to their desires.  I compared it to fish in a tank.  A small fish needs a small tank and is content in that place.  A bigger fish needs an aquarium and a whale needs the ocean.  Each fish is happy in the environment that fits his desires and needs,.  The Celestial Kingdom is created for people who have enlarged their capacity to be like Christ and be obedient to his gospel. It is the best place for celestial beings to live. M. has such a great spirit and understanding of the gospel. I could see her serving a mission someday.  I really hope that she does.
         After that lesson we taught another really GOOD lesson to B.  Seriously, it has been a long time since I have had a lesson like this.  She read the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 11 and had questions about baptism and what would be the right baptism.  She expressed her desire to be baptized and asked us what she would need to do to prepare herself.  Well, she lives with her boyfriend so we taught he about the Law of Chastity which is usually a very hard topic to teach.  It went perfectly and she committed herself to living the law from now on.  She decided right then that she would move out and keep the commandments.  As a missionary, it is a great feeling when you can help someone to change and become closer to Christ.