It feels like life has just been accelerating these last few weeks. It is certainly never dull. This week seemed to feel extra special. Maybe it was partly because we heard that the Prophet is coming to the Dominican Republic next week and will have a special meeting with the missionaries. This has made all the missionaries (including us) very excited with anticipation. Back to our week, Most of the week was filled with visits to members and investigators with a few people that need physical assistance. One of the highlights was a lesson we had with Hermanas Duffy and Hill in a small village called Las Lomas. They started teaching a man that is 50 or 60 and a neighbor who is in her late 20's. They taught the message of the Restoration and the first vision, which always has an amazing spirit. They were both visually touched by the spirit. One accepted the invitation for baptism the other wanted more time to pray and ponder.
I'm going to part from my usual banter. I want to tell you the story of the couple that was baptized yesterday in Padre Las Casas. Since the missionaries were taken out of the area for one transfer we have been going there with the Zone Leaders (Elders Harmer and Falls). We knew the couple before the last transfer when we were able to go with Elders Green and Terrel to teach them. They have an amazing story of conversion that I want to share.
Almost 3 months ago at a 2 day ( half day Friday, half of a day Saturday) Zone Conference, the missionaries were challenged to go back to their areas after the first day and place a Book of Mormon, then come back the next day and share their experience. Elder Green and Elder Terrel returned to Padre Las Casas and went to work. Sometime in the afternoon a man approached them and in English said that his name is John and then he took them to a house and said: I live right here and I want you to come back tonight at 7:00 and teach my family. Someone coming up to the missionaries and asking for their family to be taught doesn't happen very much anywhere in the world.
At 7:00 the Elders went to the house and knocked. Someone else answered the door so they asked for John. The people that were there told them that no one named John lived there and that they have lived there for over 2 years. They then told the missionaries that they could come in and share their message with them. The missionaries shared a message about the Book of Mormon and invited them to read the introduction and made a return appointment. They wanted to bring them along slowly. This couple was Ramon and Ernestina. The Elders told us that from the very beginning there was an amazing spirit in the home. When the missionaries came back the first time they weren't both there so they asked them to read the testimony of the witnesses and then made another appointment. Every time the Elders went into that area they asked if anyone knew a man named John that speaks English. No one they asked knew anyone named John.
Here is where we came into the picture. We had felt a need to go and do some visits with Elder Green and Terrel so we invited ourselves to go out with them. One of the visits that they had scheduled was the visit with Ramon and Ernestina. Our first discussion with them started out very slow. They had read some of the introduction but had some questions and we could see from their questions that they had not been taught the Restoration discussion. The Elders were going to spend time answering questions and teach the Restoration in the next discussion. We told them that they needed to teach the Restoration right now. They did. The spirit was strong. Hermana Borup and I were able to bear our testimonies of the restored gospel also. This started our relationship with them. We met with them another time before the area was closed and taught them about faith. So over the last 6 weeks, we have been traveling to Padre Las Casas with the Zone Leaders and teaching Ramon and Ernestina. On the first visit with the Zone Leaders, they challenged them to prepare for baptism on the 25th of August (yesterday). One of the big stumbling blocks was getting married. When we offered to help them with their wedding they accepted, even though before they told the missionaries that they were not sure. (look at last weeks blog to see about some of the drama around their marriage)
Last week when we went to church with them the District President said that he had a dream that one day there will be a Stake in Padre Las Casas. This is a problem since right now Padre Las Casas is only a Branch in a District. I had the feeling that Ramon is going to be the first Stake President.
Back to the story of John telling the missionaries where to go. I shared with Ramon and Ernestina section 11 of the Doctrine Covenants where Joseph Smith received revelation about John the beloved. I don't know if John the Beloved showed the missionaries where to find this family. If he did, that would be an amazing miracle. But if it wasn't him it was an amazing miracle. They don't know if it was John the Beloved but they do know that God sent the missionaries to them. The Missionaries were lead to a home where a couple was ready to hear the message of the restored gospel. They accepted what they were taught and they acted in faith. They accepted the invitation of servants of the Lord to repent and be baptized. They don't have perfect knowledge but their lives have been filling with light as they have accepted and acted on the invitations.
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is inviting all of our Father in Heaven's children to come to Him. It is really fun to be part of this great work!
We can't wait to see what happens this next week.
Your friends
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