Salama friends and family! Another week gone by. Yeeee doggy. The mission is the best!
This week was so awesome!! My companion and I have been working really hard and we are seeing it pay off! We had 6 baptisms and it was wonderful to see these kids enter the waters of baptisms and choose to follow the example of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In addition to that, we were able to find two father led families that want to hear our message! We are so excited.
Funny story.... So at the baptism this Saturday, my comp was baptizing this little 8 year old kid. We didn't teach him our anything but he was ready to be baptized. He walked into the water and the kid said "Mangatsika be io!" or "Thats really cold!". He jumped into Elder Bess' arms and wouldn't get into the water. So Elder Bess had to duck down and go into the water with him haha. The other baptisms went great so that was good.
The other day I read a short story with my district and I would love to share it with you all. Here it is...
an unselfish sacrifice in the timeless lessons taught by the Lord to His disciples as He walked toward the treasury of the temple. You know the story. Elder James E. Talmage taught that there were 13 chests, “and into these the people dropped their contributions for the [different] purposes indicated by [the] inscriptions on the boxes.” Jesus watched the lines of donors, made up of all different types of people. Some gave their gifts with “sincerity of purpose” while others cast in “great sums of silver and gold,” hoping to be seen, noticed, and praised for their donations.
“Among the many was a poor widow, who … dropped into one of the treasure-chests two small bronze coins known as mites; her contribution amounted to less than half a cent in American money. The Lord called His disciples about Him, directed their attention to the poverty-stricken widow and her deed, and said: ‘Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living’ [Mark 12:43–44].3
The widow did not appear to hold a noticeable position in the society of her time. She actually held something more important: her intentions were pure, and she gave all she had to give. Perhaps she gave less than others, more quietly than others, differently than others. In the eyes of some, what she gave was insignificant, but in the eyes of the Savior, the “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,”4 she gave her all.
I love that story so much. It had such a strong impact on me. I know that we have a Savior that can discern our thoughts and desires of our hearts. I know that he knows when we give it our all and blesses us for it! I know Christ lives! I will never deny it and I am eternally grateful for my older brother.
I love you all! Go serve someone and build up the kindgom of God! These are the last days and we have work to do.