Alfredo!

Hola familia y amigos!

We had another visit with Chano and Martha last week. María, Yamileth, and Johanna came with us. They were able to bear their testimonies of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. They have such strong testimonies, and it was neat to here them share them. It was also amazing to have Yamileth at the lesson with us since she is wanting to serve a mission. She loved being a part of it and getting to experience missionary work before she goes on a mission.

We had a few more exchanges this week, so Sister Marusiak came to my area with me. I was a little nervous because Sister Marusiak doesn't speak Spanish, and I'm still far from fluent. We had a visit with a man named Rafael. He had talked to missionaries a few times but never actually had a lesson with them. He is from Cuba, so his accent is a little harder to understand and he uses some different words. I was blessed with the gift of tongues during our visit. Although I didn't speak or understand everything perfectly, I was able to teach Rafael about the Restoration of the Gospel and the power of the Book of Mormon. I know that the Holy Ghost was giving me the words to say and touching Rafael's heart. He was completely focused during the lesson and told us that he is interested in learning more. During the visit, I came to realize that when we are doing God's will, He will not let us fail. We can have complete faith in Him because He will help us. 

We had a visit with a man named Alfredo. He had met with missionaries in the past, but it had been a few months since their last visit. We planned to teach him the Resoration of the Gospel. During our visit, we got to know him a little bit and talked about his past visits with missionaries. He still had the Book of Mormon that the last missionaries gave him, and he had been reading it. We started teaching the lesson and explained that Heavenely Father loves each of us and wants us to return to live with Him again. Alfredo kept telling us that he wants to be closer to God. Hermana Morgan and I felt prompted to change our lesson plan and talk about baptism instead. We told Alfredo that baptism is a way for him to be closer to God. We explained what baptism is and the purpose of it. He seemed a little unsure, so we showed him a video of when Christ was baptized. After the video, Alfredo looked up at us and said "maravilloso," which means marvelous or wonderful. He told us that he wants to be baptized and asked when he could do it. We invited him to be baptized on February 11th, and he said yes! He said that he is willing to do whatever it takes to be closer to God. It was amazing how that video brought the Holy Ghost into the room and testified to Alfredo that baptism truly is the way for him to be closer to God. Hermana Morgan and I didn't plan on inviting Alfredo to be baptized or even having a lesson about baptism, but Heavenly Father had other plans. Alfredo was so happy after seeing the video of Jesus Christ and accepting the invitation to be baptized. We have another lesson with him tonight. He told us that his wife will be joining us because she wants to learn more too! 

I've been reading a book called Believing Christ by Stephen E. Robinson, and it's incredible! I think that as humans, we sometimes wonder if we are doing enough and how we can know when we are doing enough. In Believing Christ, Stephen E. Robinson says that when we are able to feel the Holy Ghost, we can know that we are doing enough and that God accepts our efforts. I know that God loves us and that as long as we are trying to do our best, we are doing enough. Jesus Christ will make up the difference. 

I love you all!

Con Amor,

Hermana Kendrick