Seriously, a great week of work. We were all over, many different miracles and also many hectic experiences, but all in the spirit of the work of salvation:) It was great!!!!
This week we had the baptism of R... and his son E.... Two great children of God! They are a dad and his son, and they were so excited for this week. Just the story...what happened is we had a less-active member who was reactivated in our ward. Well...she brought her friend R..., who had just suffered the death of his mom. And that particular day they talked about the plan God has for us and why we can make it through those sad times. R... loved it! R... then brought his son to church, who also loved it. The next week, his son said, "I want to be baptized so I can be clean of my sins and my grandma can be pround of me." It was a special time! And of course, that baptism is what followed. R... and E... continued going to church and learning but also having some trials. They made it through with help from members of the ward and the gospel! Last fast Sunday, R... gave his testimony, as an investigator. He testified that he knew the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes families happy and that the Lord never gives up on anybody. It was seriously awesome... to see the change, to see the joy the Gospel brought R... and E...! Really amazing!
Also, we were happy to see something special in sacrament meeting this week. Sometimes, as always, people in the church make mistakes, and that is ok. But people get offended and their misunderstanding of the Gospel leads them to make unwise decisions. We talked about that in Sacrament meeting and classes this last Sunday. It is something I have seen many times this week, because as missionaries we also make many mistakes. We talked about what really is the principle here, forgiveness. I loved it because for me, it is an action we have to learn to become more like God. The Lord forgives us weekly. He forgives us every day. We hurt Him, make Him sad, or make bad choices multiples times a week and He forgives it all when we repent. With that, it is hard to say as members, that we AREN'T going to forgive somebody just because we don't want to or don't think it is possible. It is a different perspective and I really do love it. We say it is hard to forgive at times, but I think it is harder for God to forgive His sons and daughters, who took the life of their own older brother and his beloved son, Jesus Christ. That is what I have seen and that is what we explained in the classes. None of us are perfect or even close, and as Jeffrey R. Holland says, "Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it." Imagine the practice. He forgives billions of times a day, billions of His children. So how can I not forgive 1 of MY brothers or sisters for the 1 sin or mistake they made? It is incomparable, and I love it that way. I love the chance the Lord gives ME to be clean. I really do love it and I can feel it weekly. I promise and testify of that cleansing power of the Atonement. Through Jesus Christ, we can forgive and be forgiven, for the sins or stains we make in our life every day. I love that, and that is what I want anybody I talk to to understand. As a missionary that is my purpose, to invite others to be clean. And who wouldn't want that? That includes to have that burden of dislike or hate lifted from your shoulders. I love it! I love my Savior who made that sacrifice for me, so I could be clean again.
Hope that makes sense....my mind is really stuck in Spanish these last weeks...we don't have many English-speaking missionaries in our zone, so I can't practice talking English very much:/ But I do love you all! And I hope what I learned, can help somebody this next week!!!
Love you all.
Prayers your way!
Elder Goodman!!
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