March 2 in Carlos A. Carillo

So I can’t say everything that happened this week but it was wild. First off I’ll talk about the work. 

Well, this last week I’ve never had so many investigators in my life. We’ve worked our butts off and we’re finally seeing results! Like I say, we’ve never had so much to do before. We baptized F. this week so his family is complete now! They’re all members and all very happy. He doesn’t live with his wife anymore because they’re not legally married, because he’s not divorced from another woman. Divorce laws are SUPER hard and expensive here, and he’s just a taxi driver, so right now we’re waiting to see what we can do. You cannot be baptized if you’re living together and not married. That’s against the principles of the Bible. That’s the thing about this area. EVERY SINGLE INVESTIGATOR that we have IS NOT MARRIED. And we have a bunch of investigators. Over 15. So yeah lots of legal work that I don’t understand. 

Anyways, cool experience this week. We found a family last week. They might actually be an exception to this “not married” thing that happens here. We don’t know if they’re married or not. (But hey, guilty until proven innocent here on that one... ;p) The dad is an inactive member, but his family aren’t baptized. We started talking to the mom and the son and taught a lesson. We haven’t been able to see them again, until Saturday night. Saturday, we saw the mom. We talked with her, and found out that she believed in God but didn’t want to go to any church. She’s really confused about why are there so many churches and doctrines. She’s also really worried about her son, who’s got about 16 years. She’s not happy about the choices she’s making and she wants to change, so that he can change.

We taught her about how Jesus came and taught the gospel for families, and how the gospel was revealed by prophets, and how necessary they are to us. Then we told her to pray and ask Heavenly Father if our message was true. She said she would. Then we invited her to say the closing prayer. Right then and there she asked. Her prayer reminded me of the prayer of King Lamoni’s father after Aaron taught him in the Book of Mormon. I don’t remember what verse it is but I believe that it’s in Alma 22. Where he says he’ll give all his sins. She asked for God to guide her and to show her and that it was her strongest desire to know, and she would follow the answer if He would just help her with her family. She finished the prayer in tears and said she felt warmth embrace her during the prayer, and that she’d never felt so comforted in her life. She came to church the next day with her whole family and we are just so excited for them. I know this is all true about what she felt, because I’ve felt it. Anyone who wants to know can ask. And if they have this sincere desire, they will know of a surety, just like her.

“Oh God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.” From Alma 22:18