Email from Elder Lofthouse 5/19/14 Life is Great

We got to go to the temple today.  It was wonderful!  

We decided to wait on setting up the baptismal interview with R. He was going to get baptized on the 17th, but there's still a lot of things that he doesn't understand. I'm honestly a little unsure what to do with him, because he has a strong desire to be baptized so he can receive a remission of his sins and enter into God's kingdom, he has lots of member connections, has come to our church several times, and will most likely still continue to come for the rest of his life as long as he keeps getting a ride. We're just having a really difficult time helping him understand prophets and the restoration and helping him develop a personal testimony and not just the answers to the baptismal questions. He seems to think that there's supposed to be a specific answer to the question "What does that mean to you?" So, I'm not sure if we should baptize him and hope that he eventually understands and receives a testimony of the restoration or wait first. He meets every other requirement.

We had some great experiences with the Book of Mormon this week. One of our investigators, J, mentioned that the bible says stronger things than the Book of Mormon does. I told him, "Here try this chapter" and left him 2 Nephi 29 to read. When we followed up, he hadn't read it, so we read with him. As we were reading he looked up and said, "I realize that this book is true. The Spirit just entered into me." He received a testimony of the Book of Mormon right then and there before our eyes! My companion asked him if he believed the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ had been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and he said, "Yeah, based on what I just felt." Now we're just trying to help him have the faith to keep the Sabbath Day and also to set a baptismal date.

Another day, we were knocking doors and one man accepted our offer to leave a blessing on his home. As I said amen, he immediately asked, "Do you have a book called... Mormon?" I said, "Yeah!" He said, "Do you sell them?" I said, "No, but we can give one to you." "You mean, you'll lend it to me?" And I said, "No, it's a gift!" He said thanks and said that he reads the bible, but that the Book of Mormon was a different book, another testament, and he wanted to read it. We asked if he'd talked with missionaries before and he said, "No, not really." He had a co-worker who used to work with the missionaries and I think that's where he first heard about it. Then a couple days later we went to visit his neighbor, and her son was there laying in a hammock listening to something on his i-pad. As we walked up he asked, "Do you have a Book of Mormon? In Spanish?" We said, "Yeah, do you want one?" He said, "Yeah, I was listening in Psalms the other day where it talks about this book and I want to read it." I don't know where in Psalms he was talking about but we didn't question it. He's a less-active Jehovah's Witness. I'm excited to keep teaching him.

Also, for those who are interested, the Qs are doing well.  Sister Q is still very sick and hasn't been able to come to church the last couple of weeks.  But her husband has been coming with one of the sons (they switch off staying with their mom) and Brother Q and O received the Aaronic Priesthood last week.  They've started doing family history and have plans to do baptisms for the dead in the future and have a goal of being sealed onApril 11 of next year.  I'm so excited for them!

I also got to hear about all my recent converts in Merced last week.  I saw the Packs coming out of the temple (my stake center is right next to it) and they told me about them.  J is a ward missionary as is M.  She's also activities chairman and planned a great activity not too long ago.  I'm so happy for them!

I hope you are all doing well.  I know this church is true and that there are good things to come for the faithful.  Keep pressing on!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 5/12/14 The Atonement is the Center of it All

Surprise!  I'm actually e-mailing today.  President interviews got moved to next week.  I will be e-mailing on Tuesday next week though.

Yesterday was just fantastic.  I love the phone calls home we get.  They do exactly what I think they're supposed to.  I feel so re-energized and focused afterward.  We ended the week with 13 lessons with a member present and set a new baptismal date.  His name is M.  In our last zone meeting, our zone leaders had us think of an investigator and look over the baptismal interview questions, thinking about what they needed next to progress.  I thought about him and as I went through the questions the Spirit whispered to me that while he may say he believes that Jesus Christ is our Savior, he probably doesn't really understand that.  He wouldn't accept a date because he feared falling again after baptism.  I felt that question three, which is about repentance, is what we should focus on next and as I did so I realized that it went perfectly with the second part of question one (do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world?".  And then my mind was just illuminated with the thought, "He needs to be taught faith in Jesus Christ and repentance."  It felt so right!  Later, my companion and I role-played our lesson with him.  In our last lesson we had taught the plan of salvation but for some reason had skipped over the fall.  We weren't sure why, but as we were role-play we felt directed to teach the fall and the atonement.  We felt so strongly that if we could help him understand the fall and the need of the atonement, that his faith in Christ would increase and he would accept a date.  And that's exactly what happened!  That was one of the most revelatory experiences I've had on my mission.  It has been such a blessing to see Mateo's faith grow.  He said he will try to be prepared to be baptized on the 31st, but it was with determination not uncertainty.  

R is set on being baptized the Saturday.  He's a little older though and forgets a lot and it's going to take a lot of work and a miracle to have him ready for the baptismal interview before Saturday.  He has a very strong desire to be baptized though, he has lots of family in the church, he loves going to church, he reads the Book of Mormon, he prays, and I think that with Heavenly Father's help, we'll be able to have this baptism. 

I just want to share my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It has grown so, so much on my mission.  It grew even more last night as we taught M.  I was about to bear a general testimony of how Christ paid the price for our sins, but it came out like this: "Jesus Christ came to this earth to pay the price for MY sins and to rescue ME from the fall.  He did that to give ME the strength to overcome my weaknesses and to be able to get up over and over again even as I fall.  Because of Him we need not fear falling.  Because of Him it's okay to fall.  We can fall over and over again as long as we let Him lift us back up."  The Spirit bore a powerful witness to me of the words I was saying.  

We really were lost forever without an infinite atonement.  Death and sin are the two great obstacles to God's plan.  We cannot overcome those on our own.  But how great is our God who sent His son to save us from death!  How wonderful is His plan of redemption! "Repent all ye ends of the earth and come utno me and be saved."  Saved from death, saved from sin, saved from our fallen natures.  Let him heal you!  Let Him purify you!  He has all power and is all-loving.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 5/5/14 Hello

This was a long week. A lot of good things happened. We finally hit 10 lessons taught with a member present. I was super happy about that. And we have some good plans to get lessons in members' homes this week and to receive referrals from members. It's been difficult to change and start working more through the members, but we've been keeping at it and I think it's starting to work.

Yesterday we set a fairly solid baptismal date for May 17th. His name is R C and he's related to a lot of the members. He's gone to our church a lot in Modesto and he reads the Book of Mormon. But he was adamant that he had already been baptized. However, we couldn't find his record anywhere. We've been pretty sure for awhile that he was never baptized in our church. We had dropped him a couple months ago, but we were on splits one night and I was with R's grandson. He suggested we go visit his grandpa. We did, set a return appointment, and I felt very guided by the Spirit last night as I asked R about confirmation and explained the importance of record-keeping. It sounds like he was never confirmed and it just seemed to click with him that he should have a certificate or some kind of record to show that he did that ordinance. So he accepted a baptismal date and he seems excited about it.

Our recent converts, the Q family, are going through a really hard time right now. Sister Q's sister died a couple days ago and she's taking it really hard. Her husband and one of her sons came to church on Sunday and it must have been such a sacrifice for them to leave her (she's really, really overwhelmed). But it was the first time they stayed all three hours, the first time they paid tithing, the first time they had interviews with the bishop, and I'm sure they will be (and already have been) so, so blessed for it. And the members have been great in reaching out to them and giving them support. Sister Q should be receiving several visits this week. I love this ward!

Also, R showed up to church this week!  He was going to get baptized in April and then he disappeared.  But he's back in our area and we're going to start teaching him again.  I'm excited!

Anyway, I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse