Week 25: Brian's Getting Baptized!

Hello!

Brian had his baptismal interview yesterday and he's all set to get baptized on Sunday the 25th! I'm so excited for him!!! 

I got to go on exchange on Wednesday with my Sister Training Leader, Sis. Burton. She came to Manchester for the day and Sis. Craig went to Canterbury, NH. It was a lot of fun! Sis. Burton is awesome!

So remember our investigators, Vanessa and Herve? Well we stopped by to see them yesterday morning and they weren't home. But we got to teach their mom, Helen, and their sister, Saundra, and they're both investigators now! They're native language is Swahili, so we picked up some Swahili Book of Mormon's from the mission office today. I'll have to read it side-by-side with an English Book of Mormon and maybe I can learn some Swahili! This family is so awesome! They love Christ and have such strong faith! And they've met with Elders before! We're going to see them this week and hopefully we can have a lesson with the whole family!

We also got to see our investigator Lorena on Saturday. We read 1 Nephi 1 with her in Spanish! I definitely had to look of my English Book of Mormon, but it was so much fun to read with her in Spanish! Sis. Craig and I took Spanish in middle school and we don't remember like anything. But we actually didn't do too bad on the pronunciation haha! 

On Saturday we saw a less active and her family and it was so sweet! So the less active's name is Hilda, her husband is Roberto (non-member) and the kids are Alicia, Veronica, and Joey. We had a lesson with everyone except Roberto and Alicia. We made paper boats and read in 1 Nephi when Nephi's commanded to build a ship and it was super fun! Then right at the end of the lesson, Alicia came home and she ran to her room and grabbed her Book of Mormon and came out to read with us! How cool is that?! I love this family! They're so great!

Thursday we had Zone Conference and it was so great! We learned a ton about the spirit and it was super cool! Here's some of my notes from it:

-the purpose of prayer is to have a heartfelt conversation with God

-"If we start to entertain temptations, pretty soon they entertain us." Elder Neal A. Maxwell

-Alma 57:21 the stripling warriors obeyed with exactness because of their faith

-obedience brings blessings, but obedience with exactness brings miracles

-you have to be obedient to have the spirit with you

-the most important commandment is the one you're having the hardest time living

-3 things to have the spirit=search, ponder, pray (Moroni 10:3-5)

-searching, pondering and praying are critical for an enduring conversion

-2 Nephi 31:19-20 to endure to the end, we must feast upon the words of Christ

-when you study the scriptures, you will see yourself and others differently 

-1 Nephi 15:24 reading the scriptures will help protect you from temptations

-revelation comes when you ask questions

-care more about the amount of time you spend in the scriptures than how much you read

-1 Nephi 4:15 your heart should ponder the scriptures continually

-thinking makes your mind wander, pondering makes your heart wonder 

-pondering is and should be a spiritual experience

-pondering allows revelation to occur

-BD Prayer ask for things that God is willing to grant you, find out the Lord's will for you

-answers to prayers will speak to your mind and to your heart; it will make sense and it will feel right

-teach the Lord's way by the spirit; you receive the spirit by the prayer of faith

-to be an effective missionary, be prayerful, personal, and powerful

-the spirit always edifies

-doubt your doubts before you doubt your promptings

-God trusts you, so trust God

-2 Nephi 32:3 feast upon the scriptures and you will know what to do

-seach+ponder+pray+desire+obedience=revelation

-if you're uncertain in your direction, be certain in your patience

Oh my goodness zone conference was so good! Spiritual feast! Pres. Stoker talked a lot about search, ponder and pray. They seem so simple, but they are so important! It's what will open the door to revelation! 

I love the Bible Dictionary definition for prayer and this is my favorite section!
"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."

I'm running out of time so I gotta go! I love you all and have a super awesome week!

Love, Sister Harper