Conversion has Begun

I have so many miracles and things that I want to share with you this week, too many to write, but I will do my best! 

So I first want to talk about my new companion, Sister Bairulla, she is awesome and we are just loving our time working hard and having fun!  She just reached her one year mark yesterday :)  She is from Davao and I love her!

We have seen many miracles this week and have had many spiritual experiences.  

Here is the first and it is about the Jorge family.  We had an appointment with them on Thursday and it was very spiritual.  Brother Jorge had not drank alcohol in quite a while and we could really see the light that he and his family had.  We were able to give them a bap date for May 28 and we committed them individually one by one.  I know that Brother Joven can really prepare himself if he just continues to forget about himself and his desires and pushes forward with faith that the Lord will help him.  I really really love this family and I am so excited for them to get baptized.

Another experience this week we had with Daisy, Bernadette and their children.  Daisy and Bernadette are sisters and we can tell that they are those that Heavenly Father has prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel.  Last lesson they told us that they had heard some things about word of wisdom and how they drink coffee so they feel like they are not welcome into the church.  We left them behind with the Word of Wisdom pamphlet and promised them that they are always welcome into the church.  So we entered into the lesson and began with reviewing the restoration and the role of the prophet to understand that as a prophet of God, Joseph was able to receive revelation from God himself to help us in this life.   They really were able to understand why the word of wisdom is important and they believed it as a commandment of God as they realized themselves that Joseph Smith was really called as a prophet of God to lead and guide us.  They committed to stop drinking coffee and they committed to come to church on Sunday.  And good news...they came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it :)

Here is the last one that I have time to share.

One of the members of the ward, shared to us that he had a friend that he wanted to share the gospel with.  He shared some things with us that his friend had done and asked if he would be able to be baptized.  I won't share the things, but they are very serious sins.  We told him that there was nothing impossible to the Lord and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can work miracles in people's lives to become cleansed from sin.  After a few days, we texted Brother Mendoza again to see if we could come to their house and meet his friend.  As we showed up to the house, Brother Mendoza talked to us real quick and told us that "his friend" he was talking about, was actually his older brother.  He told us that he knows that we can help him and welcomed us to his brother.  When we walked to his house, his brother welcomed us right into their house.  Throughout  the lesson the spirit was so strong.  I saw the gospel creating a light that slowly grew within him.  He shared that he felt far from Heavenly Father and that he was dirty and not worthy to pray to Him.  I just testified to him that the Lord loves him and is waiting for him to come back to him.  We were able to share about what happened to Enos in the Book of Mormon where he prayed mightily unto the Lord for forgiveness and the Lord told him that he was forgiven because of his faith.  Brother Albert  was filled with hope that the Lord could carry him through his repentance and guide him to the right path again.  He was very hesitant when we invited him to church, but in the end he knew that he needed to take that step.  When we invited him to say the closing prayer he refused and said "no sisters, I'm not ready to face Him.  I'm too dirty, I can't do it."  I prayed to Heavenly Father in the moment to know what He wanted me to say and it is as if Heavenly Father took control of my words.  As I lifted my head and looked at him in the eyes I told him that "as a representative of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, I know that you are worthy to talk to Heavenly Father and He wants you to do so.  He is waiting for you."  After years and years of not praying, Brother Albert prayed and gave thanks to Heavenly Father for all the blessings that he has received.  As he ended his short, but heartfelt prayer to the Lord, there were tears in his eyes and in the eyes of his whole family.  Conversion has begun and the power of the Atonement has started to take power and action in their hearts.  And as they came to church on Sunday, Brother Albert said..."next week I am bringing my whole family with me."  The church is true. :)

This past Sunday we had 12 investigators at church, and out of those 12 there are 4 families :)  I love this work and I know that this gospel blesses families in every aspect of our lives.  

Speaking of families, I look forward to skyping you all in just 2 weeks!! The time has come so fast!  I love you all so much, keep up the hard work and I will keep praying for you all! love love love you!

Sister Latham

Pictures:  one day mission with the ward :)